Cute Alert!

Pendragon · 03-04-2006, 04:19 AM

Having a bad day? Down in the dumps?

Here's a little chap who's guaranteed to bring a smile to your face!

He's just a baby, 4 weeks old on Monday. He turned up in Nora's litter, and is a soft ashy grey with white/silver eye rings and underfur... quite a rare colour known as Silver Sable. The colour gets lighter towards his bottom, so that on his rump he is silver-white tipped with grey, with the light underfur showing through.

Here's another of him showing the lovely ash-grey shade:

He may possibly stay... although the litter has thrown some amazingly pretty babies including two Silver Grey Tortoiseshell Satins, a Silver Grey Satin male, umbrous Silver Greys and heterozygous Silver Greys. (Links to more baby pics on my site under "Latest News").

Very hard to breed hamsters sometimes... you just want to keep them all!

**pophammy** · 03-04-2006, 04:49 AM

Aww, he's gorgeous! Such a beautiful colour and what a pretty face!

Awwww!

**babyboos** · 03-04-2006, 01:04 PM

Oh definitely Sue if I had your hamsters I would keep them all - they are just so gorgeous. How can you ever let them go to new homes

Emma · 03-05-2006, 02:20 AM

Oooohhhhhhh.........that is a GORGEOUS colour, wow, stunning. What is the genetics of that then - eeU*Sg* ? Why is it not a standard - it's just stunning!!!

I'm just so wowed by that colouring.......how much would I give to be able to breed hamsters like that!

Pendragon · 03-05-2006, 02:46 AM

Thanks Emma!

Yes - it has to be eeSgSgU*

With only one Sg gene it wouldn't be so pale; the silver would be creamier and the top colour much darker. Although he may develop a cream tint later, I'm not sure.

Definitely going to produce some more, I have fallen for it as well! Sables don't do anything for me normally but this is different! I too think it would be a nice addition to standard colours.

I had both Het and Homo SG colours in this litter - dad has two SG genes, mum has one.

Emma · 03-05-2006, 03:54 AM

I've always thought about breeding hamsters one day, and have toyed with various colours I'd like to try........now I know that my life hamster-breeding aim would be to get silver sable standardised!!!

It'd be quite good too as I could start off with 'easier' beginner colours cream & sable and then work Sg into the line (I'm guessing).

*sigh* one day!!! Sue you'll have me pestering you for breeding animals in a year or so

Would it be standardis-able? I remember seeing a "sepia silver grey" on a sales table at a show once - Chris Logsdail explained to me that it was cinnamon and het silver grey I think, and that it'd never be standardised as it wasn't distinct enough.

Pendragon · 03-05-2006, 04:06 AM

I'm sure it could be standardised if the work was put in!

"sepia silver grey" is another term for Heterozygous silver grey - having only one SG gene. It produces a greyish hamster, like a silver grey but with cream/brownish wash in the silver - not the clean bright silver of a homozygous Silver Grey (with two SG genes).

When you outcross SG's as I have done, you get Het SGs...

So if you did start with normal Sable and put SG into it, you'd be working with Het Silver Sables and Het SGs to start with; it would take a while to produce clean-coloured ones.

I just need to see if I can produce more Silver Sables, and to see if the colour varies much - it might, as the Umbrous gene is variable. I like the ash-grey colour but I don't know if they will reliably come out that shade, or darker, which might not be so attractive.

It's interesting that the father of the silver sable is one of the "Little Brown Jobs"... that line has produced so many unusual colours. I think I may have a Little Brown Job Tort & White in Violet's litter.... looks to be colouring up that way, and a LBJ Banded boy! Seems to be that the Brown is the aa (non-agouti) version of our Silver Greys.... though why ours are brown, and those in Sweden and the USA are a slatey-grey, I have no idea

Emma · 03-05-2006, 04:55 AM

Given that there isn't another eeSgSgU* handy, what would be the best mate for a silver sable?

Just exercising my hamster theory!

Pendragon · 03-05-2006, 05:04 AM

Hmmm.... Probably a normal Sable. You would get heterozygous sables from that.

Or possibly a black-eyed white from Silver Grey lines - these are most likely SgSgee, but that's still being investigated.

The father of this silver sable is a Brown (looking likely aaSgSg) with a Black-eyed White parent.

I have a female Brown (litter sister to the Silver Sable's father) so I can test mate later on by putting her to the Silver Sable - that should give me some more, and maybe even some BEWs...

**babyboos** · 03-07-2006, 03:16 AM

A heterozygote is an individual having two different alleles at a genetic locus; a homozygote is an individual having two copies of the same allele and it is fascinating seeing how these all not only interact with each other, but other alleles too (known as epistatis if anyone wants to read a bit more). Got to love hamsters

I am so excited to have you here as a member Sue so we can learn more of this fascinating area of hamsters. There is a very serious online forum which discuses Hamster Genetics for anyone interested - Yahoo Hamsters in Focus. It can get quite complicated at times, although the members usually explain everything well and happily elaborate if requested.

Crossing the Silver Sable to a Sable will give homozygote Sables and heterozygote Silver Sables? Two identical forms of "eU" (Cream and Umbrous) from each parent to give eeUU (Sable) and eSgU combining with eU to give eeSgsgUU (Silver Sable) - Is that right?