Is this a Satin Coat?

[AprilPearl]

Do you think that Mushu is a satin? Still trying to determine his colour too!

https://youtu.be/-kVYSyGjAEg

https://youtu.be/WU_GOziOpdE

https://youtu.be/zz5IGYp5jEs

[souffle]

Yes it is Satin. He is a long haired cream satin I;m almost certain. He has a nice skirt there and it looks paler because the hairs are much finer at the ends so reflect the light differenty

[AprilPearl]

Thank you. Wow, I always thought you would have to go to a breeder for a satin. Didn’t know pet shops ever had any.

Can’t wait to tell Mushu. I am sure he will be very indifferent - I mean thrilled. He will be thrilled to know that the mystery has been solved

[souffle]

They do pop up from time to time as the rodent farms out source lines. They likely have a satin stud male on the go just now! Satin is a dominant gene so he will only have one satin gene. You shouldn't breed two satins together as double satin gives a very sparse coat or sometimes no coat at all which is not good for a hamster.

[AprilPearl]

I’ve heard that about satins! Not looking to breed Mushu though.

If satin is a dominant gene, would all hamsters in a litter be satins? I find genetics really interesting - too bad I don’t remember my GCSE biology lessons on it so well.

[souffle]

No each hamster gets one gene from mum and one gene from dad. A satin hamster would have one satin gene and one non satin gene. An egg or sperm would get one or the other. When mated to a non satin hamster the ones who get a satin gene (which shows as a satin coat because it is dominant over a non satin gene) will have satin coats and the ones who don't will be normal. Each egg or sperm in theory has a 50% chance of getting satin so in theory 50% of the litter should be satin but in practice it seldom works that way.
You didn't support the rodent farms in that these hamsters are born and need homes. The main issues are the lack of human contact and the chances of illness.
UK rodent farms are strictly regulated and pet stores do not want to get a reputation for stocking poor quality pets. Remember they are only there for a short time and the life you give them when you adopt them is what matters. They will always exist because of the demand for pets and in my experience pet stores are on the whole very caring of the animals they stock.

[AprilPearl]

Huh. Why did I drop Biology? That’s fascinating. And also explains why none of his siblings looked very shiny, though I did not look at them closely because they were all sleeping in nests. But he was definitely the only long haired one.

I am glad rodent farms aren’t so bad. I probably jumped to conclusions because of the name.

[souffle]

I have a litter here The Halluperts . Mum is a Red eyed cream satin and dad is a cinnamon and I have 6 normal coats and 8 satin coats in the litter. You can see the colour of the mother is very similar to your hamster just in short coat version.
The babies are cream and cinnamon because dad carries cream (ppe) and mum is a red eyed cream (ppee) so it depended if a baby got an e gene from both parents as to whether it would be cream as both cream and cinnamon are recessive genes so they need two to show the colour.

[AprilPearl]

Awww they really are stunning, aren’t they? Many congratualtions, you must be very proud!

By the way, is there any reason why you don’t intend to use aubiose on your current long haired male? Have you experienced any problems with it in the past?

[jopop]

Wow he's beautiful!!