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Fluffagrams · 06-03-2017, 03:36 AM

So today I thought I'd talk a little bit about show standards. All members of any National Hamster Council affiliated club will have received a copy (either digitally or in print) of the exhibition standards for each section and these outline what is considered to be the ideal that breeders and exhibitors are aiming for. The standards are set by the Standards Committee

Hamsters are judged on six criteria: Colour, Type, Fur, Size, Condition, Eyes and Ears and are allocated points based on how closely they meet the criteria.

I'll cover the standards for Normal Chinese as I have the most examples to show you (and those are the ones I know best).

Colour: The ideal you're looking for is brown with a chestnut tinge and is ticked with dark brown. Have a look at the photo of Matthew:

You will see that his colour is brown rather than grey however he's a little bit on the pale side so would lose marks for that. A judge would also be looking at the belly fur to make sure that it is off white with a slate grey under colour. In a Dominant Spot the belly fur would be white to the roots but some Normals that have BEW or Dom Spot in their ancestry may have white patches on their chest or belly. They may also have white spots on their cheek as you can see on this photo of Daniela:

Type: Type basically refers to the hamster's shape. In a Chinese, the build should be long and slender - they should not be round but should be firm rather than thin. The judge will also look at the hamster's head and ideally the eyes will form an equilateral triangle with the nose. To illustrate the difference here, have a look at the photos of Jessie and James:

You can already see that James's eyes are set further apart than Jessie's and are closer to forming an equilateral triangle with his nose. Jessie would lose marks on her type for her head shape and although you can't see it on this photo, would also lose marks because she is too thin.

Fur: A judge will be looking at how long the fur is, whether there is any bald patches, moult lines (or hedgehog stripes) and whether the coat lies smoothly against the hamster's body. In Chinese the fur should be short and dense.

In this photo of James, he's not displaying his hedgehog stripes however you might see that it's not quite lying smoothly in some places across his back. There are a couple of moult lines that the photo doesn't show very well but they're visible in this photo taken back in the winter:

Size: This is pretty self explanatory but unlike Syrians, female Chinese are expected to be smaller than the males. Have a look at the photo of Victoria and Luna:

Luna is a better size than Victoria and would be expected to score more, however unlike Syrians, a hamster that is too large will lose points.

Condition: This refers to the hamster's temperament, whether there is excess fat, staining, injuries and whether the nails are of an appropriate length. A poorly presented show pen may lose the exhibitor a mark (although not if it's a hire pen) and marks may be taken off for unauthorised beddings and foodstuffs.

Eyes and ears: Again, pretty self explanatory and in a Chinese, the eyes should be round and not too prominent and the ears should be in proportion to the head (no bat ears) and rounded.

These scores are added up to give the final mark which will be out of 100. Some judges will have different levels at where they set the scoring so don't worry if one judge scores your hamster a 66 and in a previous show they've been a 78. It's better to look at their position on the table but don't be too disheartened if you're nearer the bottom end. Different judges may notice different things and it doesn't necessarily mean that your hamster's show career is over.

I hope that this has been of interest to you. I've found it beneficial in writing this out for you as it's encouraged me to look at my hamsters more objectively which is not easy when you love them all so much but as a judge you need to be objective and not let yourself be dazzled too much by cute (that's Victoria's usual trick - to try and dazzle the judges with her cuteness).

06-03-2017, 03:36 AM
Fluffagrams Moderator Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Bath, UK Posts: 3,640	Re: 30 Days of June So today I thought I'd talk a little bit about show standards. All members of any National Hamster Council affiliated club will have received a copy (either digitally or in print) of the exhibition standards for each section and these outline what is considered to be the ideal that breeders and exhibitors are aiming for. The standards are set by the Standards Committee Hamsters are judged on six criteria: Colour, Type, Fur, Size, Condition, Eyes and Ears and are allocated points based on how closely they meet the criteria. I'll cover the standards for Normal Chinese as I have the most examples to show you (and those are the ones I know best). Colour: The ideal you're looking for is brown with a chestnut tinge and is ticked with dark brown. Have a look at the photo of Matthew: You will see that his colour is brown rather than grey however he's a little bit on the pale side so would lose marks for that. A judge would also be looking at the belly fur to make sure that it is off white with a slate grey under colour. In a Dominant Spot the belly fur would be white to the roots but some Normals that have BEW or Dom Spot in their ancestry may have white patches on their chest or belly. They may also have white spots on their cheek as you can see on this photo of Daniela: Type: Type basically refers to the hamster's shape. In a Chinese, the build should be long and slender - they should not be round but should be firm rather than thin. The judge will also look at the hamster's head and ideally the eyes will form an equilateral triangle with the nose. To illustrate the difference here, have a look at the photos of Jessie and James: You can already see that James's eyes are set further apart than Jessie's and are closer to forming an equilateral triangle with his nose. Jessie would lose marks on her type for her head shape and although you can't see it on this photo, would also lose marks because she is too thin. Fur: A judge will be looking at how long the fur is, whether there is any bald patches, moult lines (or hedgehog stripes) and whether the coat lies smoothly against the hamster's body. In Chinese the fur should be short and dense. In this photo of James, he's not displaying his hedgehog stripes however you might see that it's not quite lying smoothly in some places across his back. There are a couple of moult lines that the photo doesn't show very well but they're visible in this photo taken back in the winter: Size: This is pretty self explanatory but unlike Syrians, female Chinese are expected to be smaller than the males. Have a look at the photo of Victoria and Luna: Luna is a better size than Victoria and would be expected to score more, however unlike Syrians, a hamster that is too large will lose points. Condition: This refers to the hamster's temperament, whether there is excess fat, staining, injuries and whether the nails are of an appropriate length. A poorly presented show pen may lose the exhibitor a mark (although not if it's a hire pen) and marks may be taken off for unauthorised beddings and foodstuffs. Eyes and ears: Again, pretty self explanatory and in a Chinese, the eyes should be round and not too prominent and the ears should be in proportion to the head (no bat ears) and rounded. These scores are added up to give the final mark which will be out of 100. Some judges will have different levels at where they set the scoring so don't worry if one judge scores your hamster a 66 and in a previous show they've been a 78. It's better to look at their position on the table but don't be too disheartened if you're nearer the bottom end. Different judges may notice different things and it doesn't necessarily mean that your hamster's show career is over. I hope that this has been of interest to you. I've found it beneficial in writing this out for you as it's encouraged me to look at my hamsters more objectively which is not easy when you love them all so much but as a judge you need to be objective and not let yourself be dazzled too much by cute (that's Victoria's usual trick - to try and dazzle the judges with her cuteness). Last edited by Fluffagrams; 06-03-2017 at 03:42 AM.