Awh, thank you Artisans
My main goal as always, is just to breed healthy hamsters! I cannot remember if you were around when I first got my two tort and white girls. Both were sickly, small, and passed within 2-3wks from getting to me...
Sadly I am sure their genetics live on in the pet market, and the first, Cora's, sister was bred several times.
I never want anyone to have to go through the few weeks of hell we did, when we did our absolute best for those two girls! So my number one goal will always be health and improving the health and longevity of our hamsters. Of course correcting type too is just as important, then incorporating new colours. North America is pretty lacking in many varieties and mutations which are quite common in the UK - rex, rust, recessive dappled to name a few. So hopefully by incorporating these they'll be a bit more prolific as well!
It's a large task but needs to be done by someone. I often feel a little daunted, but I keep the bigger picture in mind. Even if we provide an alternative to just a few people, it is better than none! And I'm so pleased as we have at least 7 reservations for these pups, with one being a previous adopter who just couldn't get enough, and one being an ex-show breeder from the NHC who I hope to work with as she builds up hamster breeding over here. She is hoping to even do a UK import, and we have discussed things that would be great to enrich the fancy over here with. I hope to learn from her, especially as her eye for type is likely much better than my own!
Ahhh, I'm very excited to see what happens. I do plan to pair Habib to Pekoe, as Pekoe carries for the extreme dilute gene, so we should actually see it expressed in 50% of their pups. Then it's kind of going to be a huge planning session after that.