Hey there!
I was wondering some things really and I hope this is the right category for it (Sorry if it's not moderator!)! But, here goes!
I have been interested in breeding hamsters for about 2 years now. I've owned hamsters for about 9 years as pets. My main goal with breeding would be to produce show quality lilacs with a pinkish tinge as per the colour standard. For this my base starting colours would be Cinnamons, Dark greys, Lilacs and Possibly Goldens.
However before all of this I will obviously need a mentor and to know Syrian Genetics through and through - my knowledge on hamster genetics is quite good I know what not to breed together, I know the genetic codes for some colours and the patterns and fur types (lilac being dgdgpp, rex being rx, ect. ect.) I know what colours bred to what will produce what.
I am unsure how to go about finding a mentor... I have literally all this time just been picking things up from Strongbrew Hamstery's genetics site, Hamsterlopedia and other Syrian Hamster websites that discuss genetics.
I have tried networking via facebook but that hasn't gone very well, though a year ago Doric Hamstery was nice and answered some questions back when I expressed an interested in breeding Tortoiseshell hamsters, in fact they said to start by breeding Cinnamons and other easy colours (Lilac has the Cinnamon Gene, lol. Same thing
) which I found very helpful.
I have attended a Hamster show this year which was Dawlish, sadly couldn't attend Othery like I had planned but next year I plan to attend Dawlish, Othery and Bath. My dad had to go to work so had to leave early during the Dawlish Show this year, though so I couldn't really talk and get to know people and ask questions like I wanted to.
I am well aware the colour I wish to produce will be very difficult to produce to correct type, size and standard, maintain, and show. I expect it to be a painstaking process that will probably take years to achieve the result I want if what I have been told is correct - there are no lilacs currently being shown... Which is kinda why I'm not rushing into it.
I hope to buy a Cinnamon Male or a Dark Grey male before Dawlish next year and start showing him and networking with a lot more breeders then, but until then, does anyone know how to find breeders willing to answer questions and mentor me before hand on some basic stuff?