[Nancy's Hamsters]

Yes I am a hobby breeder, Being in the UK you have a very good source to buying great quality show line hamsters and that would be my first suggestion. Go to as many shows as you can and get to know the show breeders(note they will not be able to chat until they have all their Hamsters on the show bench and had a chance to get settled themselves so if they simply can't chat when you hope to just have patience and wait till they have time for you.

Observe the show animals and see if any color shown interest you. Then attempt to locate a breeder of that color. I hear tell that in the UK the better color for new hobby and possibly show breeders to start with is Black Eyed cream. It is a very established color and will make it a bit easier for you to obtain a good show quality pair.

Next try to get to know several show breeders as many have quality without inbreeding. The breeder you select to purchase your breeder hamsters from should be someone you can trust as they will become your Mentor, your friend, and if you succeed in show quality pups may become your competition. A good mentor wants you to succeed and will be thrilled for you in winning. Their also someone you'll feel comfortable with for asking many many questions you'll want to learn, as well as a comforting shoulder should a litter go wrong.

Breeding for quality is much more work then quantity but the rewards are great. There is no profit in breeding Hamsters and often you actually will spend money and take a loss. Pups eat like a windstorm when young and one litter of 7 could cost you well over $200.00 by the time the litter has been placed in new homes with extra cost for Bedding, Food, and cages, plus wheels and toys and nest house etc. They will take up a lot of your time with all the handling lessons needed to keep the pups super friendly and tame.

As for genetics it takes a lot of studying and questioning a good Mentor to really learn it and your never done learning as new genes appear on the scene so yet more genes to learn. For instance I know a lot about Genetics but I recently began working with the Rust gene by having the opportunity to acquire several Chocolate Hamsters. What I was unaware of was they also had a gene known by two completely different names which I had very little knowledge on. In the USA they call this gene Polywhite, in many other countries it is called White Bellow on non cream based colors and White Speckled on Cream based colors. So these Chocolates sent me back to school so I could ID those pups with the gene.