Learning how to identify Syrian colors

[souffle]

Ham 1- SH satin BEC CORRECT
Ham 2- this one is tough, I was going to say choc dom spot, but then I thought I saw some other colors on her. My final guess is SH choc tort dom spot? CORRECT
Ham 3- this one stumped me too, SH rust?
Ham 4- SH satin cinnamon CORRECT
Ham 5- SH? BEC
Ham 6- LH BEC
Ham 7- Rex REC
Ham 8- LH cinnamon CORRECT

Tips : Remember female long haired hamsters are sort of fluffy all over and don't have skirts.
Eyes and ears must match - Black eyed hamsters should have very dark almost black ears. Black eyes also show a rim of black pigment around the eye. Eyes can appear very dark but if the ears are pale or brownish it is almost guaranteed to be a red eye you are seeing.
Coat types will change the appearance of a colour. Satin coats look darker and the satin hairs often don't show ticking well.
Long hairs often look more washed out colour wise and rex dilutes the colour quite a lot.

[Vectis Hamstery]

Originally Posted by Drago

Vectis alright, try number two

Tristar- how about sable roan? After a bit more research into roan coloration, I realized only cream based colors can be roan- i.e. the certain colors you mentioned
Wyeside- sable banded?

Perfect
Sable roan and sable banded!

[SKB_Hamsters]

Originally Posted by Drago

SKB

Cotton- This one really stumped me! SH yellow black? I'm really not sure on this one
Cookie- SH cinnamon broken banded
Toffee- This one was very difficult too. LH yellow banded?
Sherbet- SH Cinnamon dom spot? I know that there is a difference in appearance between homozygous and heterozygous dom spot, but I can't quite remember which makes it look a bit like this
Pumpkin- SH cinn satin

Thank you for the resources! I'm going to go study those and quiz myself. I will retry AP's first two later tonight

I thought I would also share these thread I created which I asked about my hamsters colours - Confusion With Colours and Patterns
Even though you got Pumpkin's colouring correct I thought I would share the thread where I asked as well -What Colour is Pumpkin? -

I was informed that ...

Cotton - was a SH Golden Umbrous

Cookie - you were almost correct - she was a Cinnamon although she not a broken banded but instead a dominant spot. These photos don't really show too well but she was a LH - she was more noticeably LH female when she was younger and only had small tuffs of fur when she was older.

Toffee - LH Satin Golden Umbrous tort banded (I was told she could have been a possible tort due to her lighter nose)

Sherbet - at first it was suggested she might have been a cinnamon but from a photo of her face and her eye colours I was informed instead she may have been a SH rust or a SH light golden. Although it hard to tell for certain due to the very little colouring.

Pumpkin - Correct, yes she is a SH satin cinnamon banded


A breeder may be able to confirm these colourings - as this is what I was told my girls could possibly be.

[AprilPearl]

Originally Posted by Drago

FelicityAnn

AP, lots of hams! I'm going to give it my best shot...

Alfie- LH cream banded
Kevin- SH gold banded
Pip- this one is tough, I'm going to guess, a SH golden dom spot?
Jordy- SH cinnamon
Scamp- same as above
Sooty- SH sable?
Mushu- oh he is a tough one! I'm probably way off, but I'm going to guess, LH satin mink? I don't think this is correct, but I can't really determine anything either
Quigley- LH golden

Thank you so much for all the pics for practice!

No worries

Think you are right about Alfie, Kevin, Jordy, Sooty - and you are definitely correct about Quigley. With Pip, I really had no idea myself but your suggestion is a good one.

As for Scamp, he had all that black ticking so I’m not sure about him being cinnamon if Jordy was also cinnamon as Jordy had no ticking. I thought maybe Scamp could be a melanistic yellow? But, I am no expert.

Mushu is really tough isn’t he? The best description I can give was that he was almost (but not quite) cream with a white line down his tummy and in some lights looked to have cinnamon ticking - though that could have been an effect of his satinisation. Perhaps he was mink! Nobody else has suggested that one before, but I thought mink was usually more grey - like dove? I probably have that completely wrong, though. I've seen some pictures of mink hamsters which do look quite similar to Mushu. But, then I have also seen photos of Minks which look grey! So, I've no idea what colour mink actually is.

Sounds like you are doing really well at learning your colours! It can be so difficult to do just by looking at descriptions and pictures online. I know, as I looked at every website on hamster colour when trying to figure out Mushu’s!

[Cinnamon Bear]

I haven't read thru this thread yet but I'm hoping that somebody might be able to tell me Heaven's coat color? Would you post for me on her thread? Thanks, CB

[Drago]

Originally Posted by AprilPearl

No worries

Think you are right about Alfie, Kevin, Jordy, Sooty - and you are definitely correct about Quigley. With Pip, I really had no idea myself but your suggestion is a good one.

As for Scamp, he had all that black ticking so I’m not sure about him being cinnamon if Jordy was also cinnamon as Jordy had no ticking. I thought maybe Scamp could be a melanistic yellow? But, I am no expert.

Mushu is really tough isn’t he? The best description I can give was that he was almost (but not quite) cream with a white line down his tummy and in some lights looked to have cinnamon ticking - though that could have been an effect of his satinisation. Perhaps he was mink! Nobody else has suggested that one before, but I thought mink was usually more grey - like dove? I probably have that completely wrong, though. I've seen some pictures of mink hamsters which do look quite similar to Mushu. But, then I have also seen photos of Minks which look grey! So, I've no idea what colour mink actually is.

Sounds like you are doing really well at learning your colours! It can be so difficult to do just by looking at descriptions and pictures online. I know, as I looked at every website on hamster colour when trying to figure out Mushu’s!

Looking back on scamp, I want to say golden, as he has dark ears and darker cheek flashes, but the ticking doesn't quite match tbh. He has the typical gray undercoat of an agouti (golden) so that would match too. I'm going to guess again and say he's a SH golden. Melanistic yellow would have a lot more black mixed in with it so I don't think it's that personally. Perhaps someone who knows for sure could clear things up a bit.

Mushu was tough, but the reason I chose satin mink was due to the fact that I had a ham called Spider who looked very similar to him. I could never figure out her coloration, but I am now pretty sure she was a satin mink.

Here, this site shows mink to be the non-grayish version
Colours and Coat Types - Satine Hamstery

Mink, from what I've gathered, starts out looking quite similar to dove (including the red eyes) but darkens to the brownish yellow color of an adult as do the eyes.

I'm glad I don't seem to be failing too miserably lol! I have a lot more to learn before I can begin my hamstery, but I definitely don't mind waiting. I want to do everything correctly and gain as much knowledge as I can

[AprilPearl]

Drago you are doing really well - much better than me!!! I think you may have finally pinned down Mushu’s colour, actually. So, well done I always assumed mink was similar to dove, but Mushu did look very much like the non grey version in that link. I think that fact he was a LH and also a satin did complicate things too.

Yes, I used to think Scamp was golden when we had him. But, then I thought the ticking wasn’t quite consistent with a golden so changed my mind. But, maybe goldens can have ticking after all?

[Vectis Hamstery]

I find it easier with Syrians to decide first if they are a self hamster or an agouti hamster. It cuts down the number of standards to look through - and the NHC standards are handily arranged by self/agouti! I find that most helpful with the 'orange' (cinnie? mink? copper? rust?) hamsters! When you've decided it's agouti (cinnie/rust) or self (mink/copper) then it's easier to check eye colour/ear colour/eye rings to tell which of the two options it is.

[Jeir]

Oh, oh, I wanna join in. =D


Fluffy IV (RIP)


Fluff (at night with laser vision).


(Fluff. With daylight - true colours. Sorry for potato quality.)

And a bonus d'aww: Sleepy ham hates heat. And again. And again.

[Burakki]

Hi Drago! It's cool that you're going to be a breeder!!! I dream about doing it as well some day! I have only Marti, but she's a tricky little miss!