Degrees of satin in a hamster?

[Catja]

Can you have degree in how satin the coat of a hamster looks. This may sound a stupid question but Desi, with his strange plush fur also has a silky shine to it which is very obvious when he is compared to Algy who looks matt by comparison, but I don't think he is a "satin"

Last night the long tufts where his scent glands are were so noticeable even OH commented.

[Holly]

I don't think so Catja - except for the "double Satins" which is basically when two satins are mated together - the double dose of the gene causes sparse thin coats and, eventually, bald coats.

Here's a couple of pics of mine to give you an idea of what Satins look like compared to other hamsters:

SH Satin girl (Kitty)


SH normal girl (Milly)


LH Satin girl (Smartie)


LH normal girl (Caramel)


LH Satin boy (Rolo)


LH Normal boy (Mars)


Hope this helps - satin coats tend to darken the colour quite obviously as well as give a shine. I do have non-Satin hamsters whose coats feel very different to each other - Mocha (grey) feels almost wooly compared to Treacle (Golden Banded)

[Catja]

Thanks Holly - Love the pics they are great especially love the one of Mars. I think Desi must be just a particularly shiny hamster, he looks very silky but not that glossy.

Re: Highworth and your possible babies post show Have already been to Focus and new shelves are being installed this week ready for go - yipee!

[Matty Day]

so if you breed two satins do you get the hairless hamster thought if i did have two satins i would never breed for that.

[Mollz]

Originally Posted by Matty Day

so if you breed two satins do you get the hairless hamster thought if i did have two satins i would never breed for that.

No I don't think it is what would be classed as hairless - like hairless breeds of animals - they just have very thin, patchy coats which may eventually go bold. There would be something like 50% satins, 25% non-satins and 25% double satins in a litter (I think!).

[Holly]

When you breed two satins together you get what's called "super-satins" (in the ratios Mollz suggests, I believe). If you then go on to breed two of these super-satins together you will ultimately end up with a hairless hamster. Whilst the pictures I've seen of hairless hamsters are really cute, bless them, it seems to me it's the height of stupidity to knowingly breed such an unfortunate creature - one that is so far away from it's natural state and that will always require specialist care. We humans have a lot to answer for

[Mollz]

Originally Posted by Holly

We humans have a lot to answer for

I totally agree - why purposely breed an animal that is abnormal and has to have specialist care?!

[Holly]

Actually I've just been doing a bit of reading on hairless hamsters - and my above post might be bit wrong. Petwebsite talks about a "hairless hamster gene" so I'll read up a bit more. I do know, from Hamsterlopaedia, that bald hamsters are the result of repeated super-satin matings though.

[souffle]

There are many useful articles on the forum. Here is a link to one on the Hairless Hamster.
http://www.hamstercentral.com/user.php? ... ticle&a=43
Double satinised hamsters are not the same as true hairless which is a genetic mutation. Double satinised hamters have very thin sparse fur and do have whiskers.

[Bunsey]

i was going to ask about this too, because Jake is much silkier than a normal coat, but not enough to be a satin! maybe some hams just have softer coats