Pet Shop Hams

[Tammy22]

Hiya everyone,

i have just been to my local petshop and was drawn to the Syrian tanks - they had two tanks with the usual pet shop Syrian colours - one male tank and one female tank, and then there were two more tanks with the most lovely coloured hamsters i have seen in a long time!

One tank had females in and one tank had males in.

In the female cage there were two Dark Goldens, a lovely Sable and a Banded Silver Grey. There was also a kind of apricot coloured hamster too, which was also banded.

In the male cage there were a few more hamsters than in the female cage, but they were the same colours as in the female tank.

They were all absolutely adorable - very young, probably 4 or 5 weeks old, as they were very small - i was really tempted to get the female sable - she was beautiful, and she stood up the front of the tank showing her belly lol, she had a tiny line of white down her chin, but that was it! The male sable had lots of white on his belly though.

There really was no point in me buying a new hamster from the pet shop, as i am already in enough trouble with the ones i've got, and i don't really know much about colours, so even though i thought they were nice, doesnt mean they were good enough to show, and i definately wouldnt use pet shop hams for breeding, as i dont have nearly enough experience to judge wether they were good enough!! So plenty of reasons why i willed myself not to get one!

but, i just wanted to share my experience with you all

I was quite surpeised to see those colours in there.

Tammy x

[xkaytix]

awww. I want a syrian too but there just isn't enough room now!

[suga]

Originally Posted by Tammy22

Hiya everyone,

i have just been to my local petshop and was drawn to the Syrian tanks - they had two tanks with the usual pet shop Syrian colours - one male tank and one female tank, and then there were two more tanks with the most lovely coloured hamsters i have seen in a long time!

One tank had females in and one tank had males in.

In the female cage there were two Dark Goldens, a lovely Sable and a Banded Silver Grey. There was also a kind of apricot coloured hamster too, which was also banded.

In the male cage there were a few more hamsters than in the female cage, but they were the same colours as in the female tank.

They were all absolutely adorable - very young, probably 4 or 5 weeks old, as they were very small - i was really tempted to get the female sable - she was beautiful, and she stood up the front of the tank showing her belly lol, she had a tiny line of white down her chin, but that was it! The male sable had lots of white on his belly though.

There really was no point in me buying a new hamster from the pet shop, as i am already in enough trouble with the ones i've got, and i don't really know much about colours, so even though i thought they were nice, doesnt mean they were good enough to show, and i definately wouldnt use pet shop hams for breeding, as i dont have nearly enough experience to judge wether they were good enough!! So plenty of reasons why i willed myself not to get one!

but, i just wanted to share my experience with you all

I was quite surpeised to see those colours in there.

Tammy x

Sounds like you had to resist a little today . Baby hamsters are the cutest things ever and they just look so adorable when they are little. I always have a quick look at the hamsters when I am in getting supplies and consistently see varied colours and types (long haired, satin etc). I guess it would depend on the shop though, as the shop I use is supplied by local breeders and so I am confident that when I do purchase a hamster from a shop that I am getting one who has had the best start possible.

Over the years I have been lucky enough to have had 7 pet shop hamsters and all of them have been good natured and lovely pets. I think that if you were breeding hamsters you would want to know its family history and if you are "showing" then you would too and that it would then be more appropriate to approach a breeder direct instead of the alternative.

Its great though that you have had a good experience and that have been able to share
suga

[happysaz133]

There was a stunning coloured boy hammy in the pet shop when I was there in February. Oh I fell in love with him! But my parents were with me, and they would have said no. So I got someone else to get me Jasper in May

All my hamsters have been pet shop hamsters, except Squirt who was bred from two pet shop hammies. Never had a problem with any of them!

[Holly]

I do know how you feel, Tammy - I've seen more than one very tempting little face in petshops, sometimes there are some real beauties - unusual colours, almost perfect bands and all that. I've only succumbed once since I started showing (not including our original and much loved petshop trio) and that's Aero, our LH Dove. She has turned out a wonderful pet - tame and a real character - and size/type-wise she isn't too bad either (I haven't shown her but am thinking about it now she's all grown up) but, purely from a show ham perspective, I think it's obvious she hasn't really got what it takes. I know that some of the very experienced show breeders will sometimes buy from petshops (and that some have even had winners who were petshop hams) but I think that's really hard to do.

[Gust0o]

Depending on the pet shop, you do get variations in the sourcing of animals - they're not all farm-produced animals, you've got animals from local breeders and surplus hobbyist stock, so I'm not surprised to see real quality animals in the pens of our local shops.

As evidence of that, both Bob and Biggie - pet shop hams - have done very well in the shows we've attended. Biggie has hit 80 and 78 in his WW dwarf class, and had some fantastic comments in the judging book.

Rule of thumb, when looking to breed, is to go for bred stock - the pedigree makes understanding the genetics of the animal all that easier - but, if you know what you're looking for, you can obtain some quality hamsters from the shops.

[Foreverhamsters]

not all pet shop hamsters are bad, i bought a male from pets at home in early 2006 (he is still going strong) who sired a litter which had Casanova in it. Casanova has won buckets full of prizes for me.

just goes to show that not all pet shops hamsters are bad

[agatecrystal]

The 'apricot' coloured one sounds to be a cinnamon.
Nice mix of colours there, I have bred from my pet shop hamsters (which I know people will frown upon) but all of mine have good temperaments, been good parents, and have had friendly babies.
I don't think I have ever seen a banded silver grey in a pet shop before.

[Holly]

Where have my and all the other replies to this thread gone?

[agatecrystal]

Originally Posted by Holly

Where have my and all the other replies to this thread gone?

I havn't noticed any others on here?