A Strong Brew Update

[Hekomi]

Hello everyone, I trust you've all been well! I very infrequently pop over to HC (sorry!), so I thought I'd give everyone an update on how I, and the rest of #TeamHamCanada is doing.

We are going into our third year of breeding which is exciting. We've built such an amazing network up here of followers, adopters, and even rescues. I've created close ties with a local rescue, All Creatures Rescue, as well as, of course, The Pipsqueakery, whose owners are dear friends of mine.

Through our work in the area, we've created the Ontario Hamster Club! It's small right now, but growing steadily. We're hoping we can provide some semblance of authority for hamster care in our area. So far so good! I am also in the process of becoming judge trained over here, so we can eventually hold some shows. I am slowly working on our type (it's an uphill battle really) but I've always put temperament and health first, of course.

Breeding plans have gone well. We lost Arya and Amaretto this year, sadly. Arya had cancer, and Amaretto had a stroke he just couldn't come back from. We still have Dusty, who is going strong. I'll post photos of everyone at the end.

We are working primarily on extreme dilute and yellow. We have some other genes in our lines (cinnamon and cream) both of which we are attempting to breed out. We have hamsters all over Ontario now, have had them in Quebec, and we have pups as far south as Kentucky.

We have been planning several litters this fall, and have had two, with two more coming. Our latest litter was with a loan female, Gus, who was from an earlier litter this year. Hamlet, who is Arya's grandson, was the lucky dad. The two of them had a whopping 18 pups! 15 of them survived to wean, and we have them here and they are a delight. We have quite the long wait list, so luckily all these little ones have homes.

I hope everyone here is doing wonderfully. Best wishes to everyone and their hammies, especially coming into this holiday season. Please don't hesitate to PM me (I'll try to reply tout suite) or email me ([email protected]) if you ever do want to chat.

Without further ado, here is the clan! In age descending, Syrians first.

Dusty (Golden Male, 26mo)


Cady (Black Tort Female, 18mo)


Dulce (ED Black Tort Female, 16mo)


Toby (ED Black Band Male, 16mo)


Gillian (Black Band Female, 12mo)


Ginny (Golden Tort Band Female, 6mo)


Gus (Black Tort Band LH Female, 6mo) *On Loan*


Gherkin (Black Tort Band LH Female, 6mo) *On Loan*


Starbuck (Cinnamon LH, 6mo)


Huckleberry (Black Band, 2mo)


(continued in next post, as I've used too many images...!)

[Hekomi]

Jubilee (Black Tort Band LH, 1mo)


Jack Daniels (Melanistic Yellow, 1mo)


Plus our resident dwarfs...

Pumpkin (Dominant spot Chinese, ? 12mo+)


Fishsticks (Pied Robo, 8mo)

[Cinnamon Bear]

Oh my gosh, they are all so adorable! You even have a chinesey and a robo That's a great variety of beautiful hammys you have!

[Hekomi]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Bear

Oh my gosh, they are all so adorable! You even have a chinesey and a robo That's a great variety of beautiful hammys you have!

Thank you! We had a Campbell's hybrid but my friend hammynapped her, haha.

[Cinnamon Bear]

You'll have to get another Campbell hybrid as a Christmas present to yourself

[Hekomi]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Bear

You'll have to get another Campbell hybrid as a Christmas present to yourself

Haha, perhaps. I think I'm holding out hope a rescue will get in a black mottled one. I know there are some campbells hybrids in the rescues I work with, but luckily they all have awesome fosters.

[Cinnamon Bear]

Black mottled Campbells is my favorite coat color. A store had a couple for sale but they both were real agressive. That's great you are rescuing too!

[Coco61]

Lovely to have an update Hekomi. Did wonder what you were up to with the hams as I couldn't believe you had abandoned the world of hams! Sorry to read about the loss of two old friends but delighted to see Dusty is still with you. Of the babies I think Jack Daniels looks a stunner in the making. Interesting progress with the hamster club, that is such a worthwhile goal. Don't disappear for so long again!

[Hekomi]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Bear

Black mottled Campbells is my favorite coat color. A store had a couple for sale but they both were real agressive. That's great you are rescuing too!

Oh dear! That's too bad. I love the colour. I wish we had some purebred Campbells over here, but no dice.

Originally Posted by Coco61

Lovely to have an update Hekomi. Did wonder what you were up to with the hams as I couldn't believe you had abandoned the world of hams! Sorry to read about the loss of two old friends but delighted to see Dusty is still with you. Of the babies I think Jack Daniels looks a stunner in the making. Interesting progress with the hamster club, that is such a worthwhile goal. Don't disappear for so long again!

Hi Coco! Nice to hear from you. Yes, I'm still around, just busy.

I was really heartbroken to have Arya and Amaretto die. Amaretto's death was very sudden and unexpected. Bleh! Dusty is doing great. He had some minor surgery in the spring but is still doing just fine.

Jack Daniels (JD) is very handsome. He's the darkest melanistic yellow I've produced to date. I'll grab some more pictures of him today. When you contrast him to his twin, you can really see the difference.

I hope the club takes off. It's hard work, but will get there. I'll try to pop in more often!

[souffle]

Nice to see your update Hekomi - you must stop by more often! I love the little reindeer outfits!