Register FAQ Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Navigation
Front Page
Forum
Gallery
Wiki

Ads by Google


Go Back   Hamster Central > Hamster Species > Hybrid hamsters

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-21-2022, 07:02 AM   #1
Tomichi
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Mar 2022
Posts: 2
Default Are my hamsters hybrid?

Hi. so I have a pair of WW as informed by a breeder that I have met. I am pretty sure he is just a novice breeder.

at that time my hamsters were only 2/3 weeks old. They get along so well. I really hope people in here don't get mad at me for being ignorant about having pair of hamsters together in a cage. This is my first time having hamsters as pets.

Now the female WW (Michi) has already given birth to 7 babies. and I let the father help his partner to care for the babies. everything is good, no problem at all. Tomi is such a lovely dad. I guess maybe because both of them have been together since younger age.

My concern now is, why does the litter have different colors? Both of my WWs are agouti and have the same pattern. Did not expect that their litter will have various colors from darker black to some kind of white/cream.

Are my hamsters hybrid???
Attached Images
File Type: jpg photo1647869277.jpg (26.9 KB, 22 views)
Tomichi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2022, 09:04 AM   #2
souffle
Moderator
 
souffle's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Yorkshire, UK but my heart lies in Scotland!
Posts: 28,184
Default Re: Are my hamsters hybrid?

If they are from a genuine breeder they should have come with a pedigree. Do they have a name registered with the National Hamster Council?
Winter whites come in three 'colours' though one is more a pattern. You get the normals which you have then there are Sapphire and then Pearl which is White with either normal or sapphire marking on the coat. You sometimes also see a marbled pattern which is a non standard.
You don't get any of the orangy colours you see in Campbells like the Argente cambells but if those are hybridised with WW it shows as orangy colours and that would be a definite hybrid. The two agoutis however could produce sapphires and pearls though.
You must separate them now though because the female will already be pregnant with another litter. They mate immediately after birth and if these are siblings this is not a good set up. It's also not good to allow females to have back toback litters till it kills her.
Take the male out with a son to keep him company. Separate the male and female pups into two different groups as they can breed at 4 weeks and they will! You must not let them inbreed any more.
Home the pups you cannot keep else you will be overwhelmed as they will all have babies every few weeks!
If mum delivers another litter you can leave one female with her but it's often better to remove them all as the older pups still compete for milk and try and nurse from mum.
souffle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2022, 11:02 PM   #3
Tomichi
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Mar 2022
Posts: 2
Default Re: Are my hamsters hybrid?

Quote:
Originally Posted by souffle View Post
If they are from a genuine breeder they should have come with a pedigree. Do they have a name registered with the National Hamster Council?
Winter whites come in three 'colours' though one is more a pattern. You get the normals which you have then there are Sapphire and then Pearl which is White with either normal or sapphire marking on the coat. You sometimes also see a marbled pattern which is a non standard.
You don't get any of the orangy colours you see in Campbells like the Argente cambells but if those are hybridised with WW it shows as orangy colours and that would be a definite hybrid. The two agoutis however could produce sapphires and pearls though.
You must separate them now though because the female will already be pregnant with another litter. They mate immediately after birth and if these are siblings this is not a good set up. It's also not good to allow females to have back toback litters till it kills her.
Take the male out with a son to keep him company. Separate the male and female pups into two different groups as they can breed at 4 weeks and they will! You must not let them inbreed any more.
Home the pups you cannot keep else you will be overwhelmed as they will all have babies every few weeks!
If mum delivers another litter you can leave one female with her but it's often better to remove them all as the older pups still compete for milk and try and nurse from mum.
Omgg thank you so much for the reply. I already separate the male. So 2 agoutis could produce sapphire and pearl? I see. No wonder i saw some kind of white babyy. For sapphire i am not sure is it really sapphire. Cause the babies is still young so i cannot post it here. Maybe i have to wait for the fur to grow completely.
Tomichi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2022, 01:08 AM   #4
Axeriax
Hamster Pup
 
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: Norway,Lofoten
Posts: 72
Default Re: Are my hamsters hybrid?

Honestly, The rules are very strict about weather or not a hamster can be called purebred WW. It only takes one Campbells way back to muddy the line and create hybrids. The chance of you getting the pedigree seems unlikely given that they where 1:wrongfully sexed resulting in inbred pups and 2: this is a as you call it ‘novice breeder’.

Good, reliable and serious breeders of pure dwarfs take pride in their lines being pure and have no issue showing their records. Some , atleast in my country , go to great lengths to get pure animals and even imports from other countries to make their lines more genetically diverse. They do great reasearch into the lines they are crossing into their own line to make sure the animals are pure.

I would seek out this breeder and ask for the information regarding these hamsters, it is good to know for sure in case of dietary needs (predisposition to diabetes)and the fact that you need to sell the pups as pet only so no more hybrids will be produced. Until you get the confirmation of them actually being purebred and see the pedigree yourself I would highly recomend treating them as hybrids.
__________________
✿ Axeriax ✿

Keeper of D.Va the Leopard Gecko
Axeriax is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2022, 01:41 AM   #5
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Default Re: Are my hamsters hybrid?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomichi View Post
Omgg thank you so much for the reply. I already separate the male. So 2 agoutis could produce sapphire and pearl? I see. No wonder i saw some kind of white babyy. For sapphire i am not sure is it really sapphire. Cause the babies is still young so i cannot post it here. Maybe i have to wait for the fur to grow completely.
I would be a lot more concerned about the hamsters welfare than colours. You need to leave the pups alone and not disturb their nest or the mother may cull them.

Give the mother good food and give her plenty and make sure she gets fresh water.
Ria P is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2022, 01:49 AM   #6
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default

You’ve had good advice above . How old are the babies now? Let us know if you have any problems sexing them when they’re ready to be separated. I agree that for diet it would be best to assume they are hybrid - so a sugar free diet. There are sugar free hamster mixes available- but any that contain fruit like banana chips still have sugar (it just doesn’t need to be declared on the packet - only the ingredients have to be declared, not the contents of the ingredients). Most banana chips are sugary. Veg is fine but not fruit really due to the fruit sugars.

You could contact the breeder and explain you’ve had a litter and ask him for details of the pedigree line as you will need to find homes for the babies. As a kind of way of finding out of the breeder does know a pedigree line.

There are a lot of hobby breeders around who don’t always know much about breeding and pedigrees.

Which country are you in?

There’s some info with photos on this web page about winter whites and the colours

Dwarf Hamster Varieties - Harvey Hams

Last edited by souffle; 03-22-2022 at 09:29 AM.
Pebbles82 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2022, 05:14 AM   #7
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Default Re: Are my hamsters hybrid?

This may or may not be helpful to you.

I had a normal coloured dwarf hybrid who sadly died of cancer at only 10 month old.

I now have a pure bred, normal coloured, pedigree dwarf hamster from a reputable and registered breeder.

The colour and pattern looks pretty much the same but the pedigree hamster is a lot bigger and has a different, much more rounded body shape.

Aside from your hamsters background and based on their appearance alone, i'm inclined to think that they are hybrids.

Going forward, i'd advise you to start looking for good homes for the pups now so they can move once they're weaned and need to be split into single sex groups.

You have probably another litter on the way and sometimes it can take a while to find suitable pet homes.

Please do not be tempted to let hamsters go in pairs, not even as same sex pairs. Once they reach maturity, they are more than likely to fall out and fight.
Hamsters are territorial and solitary rodents and they will fight to the death. It's just not worth the risk.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 20210218_194639.jpg (315.0 KB, 11 views)
File Type: jpg 20220103_223634.jpg (158.8 KB, 11 views)

Last edited by Ria P; 03-22-2022 at 07:21 AM.
Ria P is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
hamsters, time, litter, colors, pair

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.43 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Copyright © 2003-2022, Hobby Solutions
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:11 PM.