Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamsterita
They're gorgeous!!!
I found your posts really interesting, even sometimes I only understand @#¢∞¬÷“`#$´´?¿][, you know? 
I'm curious about something. It's not that I want to breed or anything like that, I don't have the room, neither the time, but I always wondered, If it isn't good to start to breed with regular pet shop hamsters, and there's no breeders at all where you are from, how do you start a new line? |
It took me a REALLY long time to learn those! Here, check out this topic I posted when I was just a wee little newbie.
Help me with learning my hamster colours?
I didn't get that then either!
That is a great question. I think it's tougher over here in the USA and Canada... given how BIG North America is, the breeders are REALLY fragmented around here. I have been really lucky that I'm not *too* far away from other breeders - about 5hrs, and when I first started, they came partway.
Breeding a unique line has a lot to do with the person as well, and your eye for selection. I'm incredibly lucky to have the support network I do, with Zika, Holmden Hill, and Snowcreek. They've really helped me find an eye for type and push me towards selecting the absolute best from my litters.
A lot of lines however do start from pet shops... and it's certainly not ideal, however I kinda get it. I'm assisting two lovely ladies in Ontario with the beginning of breeding ethically raised roborovski hamsters. In Ontario, we don't have robos. We have about 2-3 really terrible backyard breeders who breed them for $50 each at a profit, and I have heard deplorable things about their health.
The only other breeder of robos is in California. That's a two day drive!
So, unfortunately the lines are pet shop based. While I don't personally breed robos, I've chatted extensively with the California breeder, and so one of the ladies and I went down to the USA and scoured the pet shops. We went to about 15, looking for what we would determine to be the best type and temperament. It's absolutely far from ideal, but I think we did manage to pick some good foundation stock.
I'm also helping them to coordinate a cross-country shipment of robos from the gal in California; sadly, she's taking a hiatus from breeding, so only has one male for us.
Ideally, in the next 3-5 years the group of us throughout Canada and the USA are planning an European shipment though. So the hope would be to bring some proper pedigreed hamsters in.
I think that's a really long winded answer, and I'm not entirely sure I completely answered your question...! But I hope I did. I know in North America, there is a lot more line breeding than in the UK, simply due to this fragmentation, and not having other amazing breeders to get and loan hamsters from. Again, I reiterate how lucky I am to be close to Holmden Hill Haven, but it's not an easy path we have here.
One day, I hope that changes and we have an overarching body like the NHC to govern how people breed and raise hamsters. Geography makes that hard, so that's one of the reasons I'm working on the Ontario Hamster Club. I'm actually mentoring several newer "soon to be" breeders in the area, as I can't wait to have people who I can work with and support.
