2017 comes in with a bang - Welcome L17s! - Page 3

Hekomi · 02-23-2017, 07:46 AM

Seven days old now, and Starbuck is still being an awesome mum. She takes breaks from the pups now. They're starting to get a little fuzzy, and their pigment is quite strong. At least four torts, who all appear to be golden. There are some black pups, though none are particularly splotchy, so either are male or just poorly marked torts.

We also have these light pups that I'm still a bit unsure on. I'm still guessing they're ED golden, but I'm only gauging based off what I see. Once they're bigger and eyes open it'll be much easier to tell for sure! Haha.

I don't believe them to be dove, though they do have kind of a grey cast to them. I don't believe their eyes are red, but who knows. We will find out soon.

Drago · 02-23-2017, 08:00 AM

How exciting! It must be so endearing to watch a bunch of hamster pups grow up. I'm definitely looking forward to pictures once they're old enough

Hekomi · 02-23-2017, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drago

How exciting! It must be so endearing to watch a bunch of hamster pups grow up. I'm definitely looking forward to pictures once they're old enough

It is, though most litters I see only glimpses of if mum just so happens to leave a hole in the nest, haha. It's been neat to watch their development, as we can even do so without being near the bin she's in at all. Nesting is hard, I guess! :P

Eyes open can't come soon enough! I'm excited to meet them all properly.

cypher · 02-23-2017, 09:06 AM

It must be hard waiting for those eyes to open!
Lovely to be able to see so much of them at this early stage though, I don't think I'd be able to tear my eyes away

Hekomi · 02-23-2017, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

It must be hard waiting for those eyes to open!
Lovely to be able to see so much of them at this early stage though, I don't think I'd be able to tear my eyes away

It is! I'm not a super patient person, so it's hard to wait through the pregnancy and then until eyes open! But of course, the best things are worth waiting for.

We try not to watch them too much - just as we don't want to stress mumma by watching her too much though usually she doesn't seem to mind. It's definitely hard not to lie under the bin and watch them all day!

Hamsterita · 02-23-2017, 09:55 AM

I'll be waiting for those photos too!!

I'm glad that things are running smoothly

Hekomi · 02-23-2017, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hamsterita

I'll be waiting for those photos too!!

I'm glad that things are running smoothly

Thanks!

I chatted with Starbuck's breeder, and she agreed I was on the right track. It is entirely possible though that Starbuck carries for dark eared white - Cc(d) instead of extreme dilute. She assumes her mother was a DEW carrier, so if that's true Starbuck definitely will only be able to carry the DEW gene.

DEW and ED are both allelic, and interact. The mystery light pups are probably Heterozygous Extreme Dilute - possibly either golden or black. I've only had Homozygous Extreme Dilute pups, which are much darker.

Here is a beautiful example of a heterozygous extreme dilute, from the watermarked source:

And a homozygous extreme dilute:

The DEW gene lightens up the animal even more.

And for comparison, here is a heterozygous extreme dilute black:

SBH's Hamlet is a homozygous extreme dilute black, and you can see how much darker he is:

I'm fine with either, though I will want to tread carefully with the DEW gene as I'm not positive I'd like to create DEWs:

From HHH. While I personally don't mind the phenotype, my partner isn't a lover of red eyes.

flowerfairy · 02-23-2017, 11:50 AM

I love red eyes. That last picture of the fluffy white red eyed hamster ... *sigh*.

I am looking forward to seeing the babies once their eyes are open.

Hamsterita · 02-24-2017, 02:33 AM

I don't understand a thing about genetics, that all sounded to me like chinese

I didn't like red eyes and I'm not a fan, but in the end I think that what really matters is their little personalities. They'll grow in your heart red eyes or not.

Hekomi · 02-25-2017, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flowerfairy

I love red eyes. That last picture of the fluffy white red eyed hamster ... *sigh*.

I am looking forward to seeing the babies once their eyes are open.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hamsterita

I don't understand a thing about genetics, that all sounded to me like chinese

I didn't like red eyes and I'm not a fan, but in the end I think that what really matters is their little personalities. They'll grow in your heart red eyes or not.

Thank you both! Hamsterita, you're so right, haha. Starbuck has red eyes (as she is cinnamon of course) and my partner did warm up to her.

She's been lovely, and spending longer times away from her pups (who are SO loud). We had an *almost* escape (one of the torts wiggled her way after mum) but otherwise they stay in the nest well.

As more colour comes in I'm fairly confident the light ones are all Het-ED, with three Het-ED black tort girls and one Het-ED golden boy (based on the fact I see no colour interruptions, but it could be a badly marked tort). As colour comes in, we seem to have four golden tort girls and two black tort girls... which leaves three black boys (again, unless badly marked tort).

I'm lucky I get to see in this well, haha.