New want-to-be-Breeder - Need some advice.

[Lilac_Dreams]

Hey there! I was wondering some things really and I hope this is the right category for it (Sorry if it's not moderator!)! But, here goes!

I have been interested in breeding hamsters for about 2 years now. I've owned hamsters for about 9 years as pets. My main goal with breeding would be to produce show quality lilacs with a pinkish tinge as per the colour standard. For this my base starting colours would be Cinnamons, Dark greys, Lilacs and Possibly Goldens.

However before all of this I will obviously need a mentor and to know Syrian Genetics through and through - my knowledge on hamster genetics is quite good I know what not to breed together, I know the genetic codes for some colours and the patterns and fur types (lilac being dgdgpp, rex being rx, ect. ect.) I know what colours bred to what will produce what.

I am unsure how to go about finding a mentor... I have literally all this time just been picking things up from Strongbrew Hamstery's genetics site, Hamsterlopedia and other Syrian Hamster websites that discuss genetics.

I have tried networking via facebook but that hasn't gone very well, though a year ago Doric Hamstery was nice and answered some questions back when I expressed an interested in breeding Tortoiseshell hamsters, in fact they said to start by breeding Cinnamons and other easy colours (Lilac has the Cinnamon Gene, lol. Same thing ) which I found very helpful.

I have attended a Hamster show this year which was Dawlish, sadly couldn't attend Othery like I had planned but next year I plan to attend Dawlish, Othery and Bath. My dad had to go to work so had to leave early during the Dawlish Show this year, though so I couldn't really talk and get to know people and ask questions like I wanted to.

I am well aware the colour I wish to produce will be very difficult to produce to correct type, size and standard, maintain, and show. I expect it to be a painstaking process that will probably take years to achieve the result I want if what I have been told is correct - there are no lilacs currently being shown... Which is kinda why I'm not rushing into it.

I hope to buy a Cinnamon Male or a Dark Grey male before Dawlish next year and start showing him and networking with a lot more breeders then, but until then, does anyone know how to find breeders willing to answer questions and mentor me before hand on some basic stuff?

[Cinnamon Bear]

I don't know anything about breeding but you make me want my Lilac RCD back. She was sickly so I didn't take her as my pet after vet visit. She had a beautiful coat!

[WinnieTheHam]

The best way to find a mentor is to talk to as many experienced breeders as you can and find one which happily answers your questions. The way I found my mentor was through this forum, I asked soufflé if I could borrow her Orlando to be the father to my litter, due to her pairing him to Myrcellas sister she happily recommended another lovely boy and things just went from there and we started chatting. She was there for me through the litter and I guess she became my mentor unintentionally and I'm very glad things went that way as she's extremely knowledgable and such a lovely lady.

Going to shows is also a great way to find people who would happily mentor you

It definitely will take a long time! I want to specialise in Dove as I've not seen them being shown before and I don't know of a breeder to specialise in them yet. I'm starting with creams at the moment to start my line with a strong type as creams are known for their type and size. I'll then go into cinnamon at some point as well as black and then hopefully dove. It'll take a lot of time and space due to the amount of unrelated lines I need as well as breeding to perfect each colour but it's the best way to achieve A great show line!

Good luck to finding a mentor and for breeding, lilacs are lovely and I'd love to see them being shown.