What color is this hamster?

[SnuggleHam]

Someone posted pictures of their hamster on an LJ community. Its a beautiful color.. would you call this a cream or honey? or is it something else?

[souffle]

Because of the way the light and shadows are on this hamster it is very hard to tell. If I had to hedge my bets I would say a cream however the eyes appear black and in a black eyed cream the ears should be dark grey. It could be red or ruby eyed in which case the ears would be pink.
I am not sure if it is an agouti hamster as I cannot see the tummy. If the tummy is paler it could be either cinnamon or honey. They are similar but the honey is a little paler. If it has cheek flashes it will be agouti.
It could be mink but I dont think so.

[SnuggleHam]

The owner says their ham has a white chin and belly too, and describes it as looking like a tux.

Here is another picture..


I was just interested because the color looked a bit different then the creams on the article you and PH made. Plus I thought it was a beautiful color so I was curious. :P

[souffle]

Creams are often as dark as this and if the white is like socks and a bib then it is not an agouti so not honey or cinny. An agouti like honey also has a brownie grey undercoat. I think the eyes are actually very dark browny red in that pic which is common in a red/ruby eyed cream.

[babyboos]

I would say probably Chocolate - where is the owner located (country)

[SnuggleHam]

Not sure.. I'm the one who prompted the question about the color of the ham. They didn't really seemed concerned either way. But thanks for your input Souffle and Babyboos I appreciate the suggestions. I know the camera lighting makes it difficult to tell.
The owner did say the hammy does have dirty colored ears, kinda grey-ish black. Her tummy is cream colored.

[Christine Yule]

Originally Posted by SnuggleHam

Someone posted pictures of their hamster on an LJ community. Its a beautiful color.. would you call this a cream or honey? or is it something else?

Hi Snuggleham,

I am a little late with this reply. But would like to add my two cents worth.

I have added two photos of two of my hamsters. The first one is a Mink (eeppUu) and the second is a Red Eyed Cream (eepp).

I think that the photo of the hamster you posted is very, very similar to Mink. A Mink is a Red Eyed Cream plus the Umbrous gene (eeppUu). However, I don't see the tell tale pale, yellow eye rings of the Mink on the hamster in question. I haven't seen a lot of Minks to say that the eye rings must always be visible. The hamster in question has dark ears which is a sign of Mink.

Red Eyed Creams have flesh colored ears which you can see in the second photo. You can see that the color of the hamster in question is similar to the Red Eyed Cream color but the ear color doesn't match. I suppose if she is Red Eyed Cream there MIGHT be another gene in the mix that makes her ears dark but I couldn't say.

It's impossible to say for sure unless the breeder keeps gene records of the hamsters he/she breeds.


Hamstermama

Mink(eeppUu)


Banded Red Eyed Cream(eeppBaba)

[SnuggleHam]

Thanks Christine. The Mink has a really lovely color.. she looks about ready to mate too lol

[Christine Yule]

Originally Posted by SnuggleHam

Thanks Christine. The Mink has a really lovely color.. she looks about ready to mate too lol

I know! It was actually the only way I could get a good photo of her because she is always running around and never stops for a second, unless she is in heat and then she stops for a bit!

Hamstermama