Tufts of long hair on a SH?

[strawberrysmom]

I tried searching but wasn't coming up with anything based on what I typed in -

Penny is supposedly SH but steadily as she gets older she is growing random tufts of long hair on her body and neck and bum. The rest of her is super short hair. Is this some recessive thing or do all SH hamsters have random long hair tufts about them? Technically - would this mean she's LH with just barely any long hair? LOL.

I shouldn't care I suppose but I find every little thing about my hamsters fascinating.

If she was still when I held her I'd take pictures up close. But it's really difficult to take clear shots of her - especially in those areas.

[souffle]

Long haired is a recessive gene so a hamster needs two long haired genes to be long haired however if a hamster is a carrier (ie has 1 long haired gene) it does influence the coat and you often find the short coat has the tufts most commonly behind the ears, on the scent glands and at the back. You also get the odd long hair throughout the coat. You can usually tell a LH carrier on the show bench just by the texture of the coat and these odd tufts!

[strawberrysmom]

Wow thank you so much. I want to learn more about genetics. This hair pattern just told me something about my Penny. She either had a LH parent or a parent with the gene anyway. Those are all the exact places she has the long tufts.

[strawberrysmom]

She is very fluffy and not smooth like all the SH I see on here. The petstore worker wasn't sure what to charge me when I picked her out. She was in the SH tank but all her siblings had similar coats (just different colors but all banded) and SH was a cheaper price that day so he went with that but even he was stumped on if she was actually SH.

[souffle]

It's hard to see on the pics. Is Penny definitely a girl? I just looked at the vids and she has a very elongated rear!
Female Long hairs are sort of fluffy all over with some longer tufts. Nothing like as long as the coat of a male though. The male hormones make the coat longer. Even in a carrier the tufts in a short haired carrier would be longer on a male.

[strawberrysmom]

Smell wise and discharge - definitely a girl and believe me I have questioned otherwise!!! She doesn't have testicles that I have ever seen. She has a cycle though so I am sure.

[souffle]

Aww sorry Penny my lady She must just have a naturally long rump! She is beautiful anyway

[strawberrysmom]

Well she is more unusual this way with her big bum lol!!!

[souffle]

Some hamsters do actually have both male and female 'bits'. It is unusual but possible. Have you felt her under rump?

[strawberrysmom]

I am going to tonight because I wonder now.... If I discover something . Even if not I will try to take a picture of her to post to be sure!!!!!