Question!

[Hekomi]

Was wondering this morning - pens should have a dog biscuit and a cucumber for obvious reasons. What does a judge do if the hamster stuffs the biscuit in their pouch and has full pouches for judging? Just roll with it?

I was just watching one of ours with giant stuffed cheeks this morning and realised "what if" and figured you guys (Souffle and Vectis!) would probably know. Totally random, just curious!

[Pebbles82]

Lol! I'm guessing the judge would ask the owner to remove the biscuit from the Hamster! Or the owner hides the biscuit just before the Judge comes round?

[Vectis Hamstery]

The owners aren't allowed to touch the pens or otherwise identify their animals to the judge during the show. If a ham has full pouches at the time of judging, they may be left until the end of the class to see if they'll depouch in the meantime. It's not unheard of for hamsters to bring a 'packed lunch' to a show and you find not only the dog biscuit and veg, but also a little mix of hamster mix in the pen that has obviously been transported by a cheeky ham! I haven't seen many hams pouch the dog biscuits. They could be judged with the biscuit/veg in their pouches but it would have to be taken into account when assessing type.

[phinox]

i have a question what do you mean by "type"?

[Vectis Hamstery]

Type is the shape of the hamster

[souffle]

Syrian's are more likely to present with a whole dog biscuit in the pouch on occasion. I'd see if they will depouch if possible however often they won't. Some judges can get them to do it however I personally don't and just try and judge as best I can as it does distort the shape of the animal.
Phinox - each species has a standard that they are judged against at a show. You can read it here : NHC Exhibition Standards - Syrian - National Hamster Council

In the section type, for Syrians, the standard calls for 5. TYPE (25 points) - The body shall be broad and cobby. The head shall be large in proportion to the body with a broad skull, short face and blunt nose. The head shall be well set into the body, the profile showing a smooth curve from nose over head, to nape of neck.

The hamster would be allocated points depending how how 'well' the judge thought the hamster matched that perfect type.