Random Genetics Question?!

[Holly]

Is the quality of Dom Spots random - like good/bad bands are random and you can get a good band from a poorly banded parent and vice-versa?

Or do Dom Spots tend to be evenly marked if their Spot parent is?

I've looked everywhere for the answer to this question and meant to ask Pete at Thame but forgot :roll:

[Bourne Valley Hams]

Yes, completely luck of the draw I'm afraid!!

[Tammy22]

I was wondering about that too :)

Also, how perfect can a banded hamster be? I mean can the band be perfectly staright and have completely parrallel edges??

And from what you said, Sue, does that mean that even if a hamster does have a perfect band, it might not be passed on to young??

Thanks,

Tammy x

[Bourne Valley Hams]

The show standards says
' The white band shall completely encircle the body and be centrally placed and not skewed. The width shall be approximately one third of the body length, completely unbroken with sharply defined and parallel margins.'

See...easy!!! :lol: I do have a hamster with an almost perfect band - in retirement now though - and no, he hasn't passed on his perfect band to any of his offspring!! :roll:

[Spuds Mum]

And I have Manny (see my avatar), who has a lovely band, but is the smallest longest pet shop hamster in the world. When we got him we thought he has potential as we were told he was 6 weeks old.
He hasn't grown a cm since then - so we think we were fibbed to, and he was already fully grown, though still a youngster! :roll:
As well as a nice band, he also has perfect banded ears - not mottled - they are dark - with a flesh band in the middle, and very pretty.

Of course if the band thing wasn't random we would have considered breeding him anyway into some of our larger creams, but as it is, we would probably just get a litter of beautiful though puny, broken banded babies! :? But we love him anyway of course.

[agatecrystal]

Completely random :)

[Holly]

Thanks Sue - now I know that just how perfect do the spots have to be for them to still be showable? I know, from reading the standards, that they need to have even amounts of both colours.

Does anyone have any piccies of any really good show standard Dom Spots of any colour? I have seen two lovely ones (Towy Vale) at a show recently but it's hard to remember exactly what they looked like! :oops:

[nooboo]

from what i hear dom spots seem to be more on standard when they have the white belly gene...which is worrying,would be interested in doing some breeding with good dom spots to see if they carry it or not, and compare to not so good ones... but hmmm not really a dom spot person myself, had one but..hmmm like my bands too much alone!

[Bunsey]

do you breed bands noo? what colours do you have bands in?

[Holly]

from what i hear dom spots seem to be more on standard when they have the white belly gene...which is worrying

But if you knew they carried the Wh gene and made sure that they only went to other people who knew and understood what that meant would it be so bad? That's what I'm doing with any Roans I have in my litters - or is breeding Spots whith the Wh gene different ethically to breeding Roans (because it's not instantly obvious they carry it)?

[Bunsey]

i'm writing a guide for people who buy my hams and there's a different version for roan buyers containing a warning and very simple explanation of why not to breed them

[nooboo]

ah i should elaborate more... i feel its worrying if a standard does not depict the true animal...if you have to add something i find that...worrying it unsettles me.

so if to get a good dom spot by standard you need to have white gene in it i would find that worrying as then to be right for a certain pattern you would need another one in there....equally then if a good band needed white belly i would worry, or if a good band needed dom spot (i know not likely trying to illustrate)

same to me is the issue with torts on the show bench, a black tort should have yellow black patches, but i believe it says yellow, as yellow black is not a standard colour, now i guess judges just ignore this and judge the spots as yellow black?? either way it worry me :P

maybe i am easily worried!

oh and band colours i have of cause my silver doves and doves...though seems mainly silver doves at the moment, and a cinnie boy, oh and a yellow black satin longhaired, who hopefully sheryl may be mating to one of her girls!

[Holly]

I see what you mean, yes - I suppose that is a bit dodgy :?