Facebook announcement 25th August 2016
On July 25th I became the proud owner of a litter of BEW Chinese from 2 BEW parents, Soya X Pollock. I would love to know if this is a first or if anybody else has been successful breeding BEW to BEW. There are 3 males and 2 females in the litter, the hairless runt that some of you may have seen at Fillongley last weekend has now grown a beautiful coat and is catching up with her siblings. Mum and Dad still love each other despite being separated for the show. Thank you Emma Picot for giving Pollock BIS 🐹😄🐹 Soya is now expecting a second litter, watch this space!
My Hamster Show Rucksack and Pencil Case - article written 2013
Having shown hamsters now for 28 years I thought I’d share the secrets of my trusty rucksack and pencil case which I bring to every show with me. I use a rucksack as then I can carry it on my back while using my hands to carry show pens etc. It is also much safer than leaving it lying around especially at big open shows and displays.
Rucksack
In the main section I have
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My judging grid, white coat and A5 folder containing the National Hamster Council handbook, club constitutions and hamster care & genetics information sheets.
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I also have my ‘Hamster purse’, any money I make selling hamsters goes in there to help pay for food, sawdust etc. Years ago the sale of hamsters used to pay for the hamster food, the cost of my entries AND the petrol to shows!! Not any more. I also carrier my ‘Lilliput Hams’ business cards in this purse.
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A Sudoku book
On the morning of the show I add drinks & food, my everyday purse & phone and the current novel I’m reading. I also carry a plastic wallet with the show schedule and my entries in. Birth certificates and hamster food are normally carried with my sales boxes.
In the front pocket there are
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Tissues, hankies, female toiletries and body spray
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Lip balm and lipstick
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Mints
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Paracetamol
I also think an energy drink would be useful for the drive home but having tried lots of them I have decided they all taste revolting and I would rather rely on the caffeine in Coke or coffee.
Pencil Case
My pencil case is brightly coloured so I can spot it when I’ve left it lying around!
In the Main section I have the following
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A selection of pens and pencils
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A marker pen for writing points on pen labels
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A calculator for adding up the points when book stewarding
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A paint brush for dusting the tops of show pens
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A small knife for cutting up fruit/veg
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A small comb for tackling knotted fur
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Nail clippers, you all know I hate long toe nails!
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Hand Gel
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A small roll of cellotape
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Scissors
Susan Washbrook
Marbled Winter Whites - article written 2007
Description
A marbled winter white is a patterned animal, the normal colouring, normal or sapphire, is marbled through with white in a very random way. The stripe can be bridged by white and the arches are not always clearly defined. There is generally a concentration of colour on the head and the belly fur is whi
Sapphire Marble Normal Marble
Discovery and history
The first marbled winter white appeared in my hamstery on the 4th November 2003. The entry in my record book says, ‘Juliet and Shakespeare 4.11.03 5 female, 2 male sapphire, 1 female born with lots of winter moult colour’. This was not the first time this had happened in my hamstery but it was the first time I didn’t send the baby to the pet shop with all the others but recorded it and kept it to see how it developed. I’m not saying the others were marbles, they may have had genuine winter coats, I will never know but I could kick myself and I learnt a valuable lesson (record and keep interesting observations/ hamsters).
Juliet and Shakespeare were both sapphires that I had bred myself, in the lines were stock from David Baglin, Melissa Chamberlain and Finland. Anyone interested in a full pedigree is very welcome to one. I called this first marbled sapphire ‘Rhubarb’ and the litter brother I paired her with ‘Custard’. I also kept another male and female from the litter, this was Juliet and Shakespeare’s 4th litter out of a total of six. They did not produce any more marbles.
Rhubarb and Custard had their first litter on 17.3.04 and in it were 4 sapphire males, 1 sapphire female and 1 marbled sapphire female who I kept in a colony named ‘Spain’. Rhubarb and Custard had four litters and produced 18 babies of which 9 were marbled sapphires. I kept all 18 babies and split them up into various breeding pairs and small colonies. On the 13.9.04 a colony of 2 sapphire females and a marbled male, named ‘France’, all from Rhubarb and Custard, produced their first litter. It consisted of 3 female marbled sapphires, 1 marbled sapphire male and a sapphire female. I had now got a good number of marbles and it was important to outcross some of these babies to my other lines of winter whites and under controlled conditions let some stock out into the fancy. If my hamsters should contract an illness and be wiped out the new colour would not be lost. I gave Jean Tye two marbles and two went to Melissa Chamberlain. By now I knew the gene to be dominant and wanted Jean and Melissa to outcross the Marbles to animals from their own lines of winter whites. Within my own hamstery I was very careful to still keep my established lines of winter whites separate from this new colour in case any health or genetic problems should occur within this new colour.
When new colours first appear and are inbred to produce more of the same problems can occur. The only thing I noted in my breeding records were sore eyes in some of the babies that the ‘France’ colony produced. These were kept bathed with salt water and had cleared up by 5 weeks old.
On the 6th April 2005 I produced my first normal marble by out crossing a marbled sapphire female to a normal male. Even to this day I still much prefer the softer tones of the marbled sapphire. On the 17th April I produced my first marble to marble litter. I had held off doing this in case there were any lethal side effects or abnormalities. The babies were absolutely fine and the two marbled sapphires produced 3 female marbled sapphires and 3 female sapphires. No problems were noted in any future litters.
Genetics
The marble gene is dominant so you only need one parent to be a marble to produce marble babies. Winter whites cannot carry the marble gene if they are not marble coloured.
I am no genetics expert but Jean Tye supplied me with the following information. In dogs there is a colour dilution gene called ‘merle’, it lightens whatever the coat colour would otherwise have been. The lightening is not spread evenly over the coat, but leaves patches of undiluted colour scattered over the dog’s body. This sounds similar to the patterning we see in marbles however the effect of having a double dose of the merle gene (M) would be a white, deaf and blind, dog with other physical problems. This has not been seen in any of my matings so I’m not sure this is the same gene that is acting on the winter whites. Any body that has an interest in genetics might like to read the article and help me out (http://bowlingsite.mcf.com/Genetics/Merle.html) There is also information on merle rats and mice on the following web sites http://www.dreameyce.com/eagleseye/rattery/ratinfo/merlerats.htm
http://www.geocities.com/mousedomousery/genetics/mysteries.html
The merle rats and mice are described as being similar to the merle coloured dog.
Susan Washbrook.
Hamster porridge - article written 2003
Many years ago when I was pregnant I wrote to the journal with my recipe for Hamster Porridge cake, a sort of flapjack for hamsters. I had to give them this as making porridge made me feel very ill at the time.
Since then I have returned to making porridge and all Syrian and Dwarf pregnant and nursing mums, babies and young stock up to the age of 12 weeks get this at least twice a week. In between times they get Weetabix or cereal with milk, tinned value rice pudding or yoghurt, all good sources of vitamins and especially calcium for developing strong teeth and bones. Elderly and sick hamsters also benefit from having this porridge and antibiotics can easily be hidden in a bowl of delicious porridge. I never give straight cows milk, as this is too strong for hamster’s digestive systems.
I make a big bowl of porridge in the microwave and the following recipe feeds about 8 young Syrians, 2 Syrian mums with young babies and about 15 pairs of Winter Whites and Chinese with their babies. I give my two tanks of Roborovskis porridge every time as they fight over it they love it so much.
In a large bowl I put 1 mug of porridge oats, 1 mug of milk (I use semi skimmed) and 1½ mugs of water. This is microwaved on full power (750w) for 6 minutes. I then add 3 tablespoons of sugar or honey and stir, mine much prefer sugar! This is allowed to cool and served. In the winter I always serve the porridge warm and in the summer I always give it to the hamsters at night when there are less flies about.
My favourite porridge pots are half eggshells. I do a lot of cooking and keep the shells in the fridge until I need them. The hamsters love to eat the shell after they have finished off the porridge. If I’ve no eggshells I use coffee and jam jar lids and the tops off the milk cartons. One heaped teaspoon in a milk carton lid is perfect for a young Syrian. Any porridge that is still in the lid the next night I throw away and give the hamster a little less next time.
From time to time I add extras to the porridge including dried fruit, chopped nuts and puppy meal. The stale dregs of the cereal packets can also be used; they particularly like Frosties and Shreddies. All these extras I just stir in with the sugar at the end of cooking. Some of these combinations are quite tasty for humans to eat too!!
Susan Washbrook.
Lumps Update! 3.4.01
Back in July last year I wrote an article on the wart like lumps that had infected some of my Syrian hamsters. Recent sad developments made me think it was time to update the fancy on what has been happening in the world of ‘LUMPS’
A brief resume
Small wart like lumps appeared on a number of my hamsters starting in April 2000. I was told it was probably Papovavivus, which was spread by urine or contact and that it had a gestation period of up to six months.
In some cases the lumps stayed the size of a sweet pea seed and in others they grew to baked bean size, shiny and hairless. In other cases the lumps then developed down the belly area. I also had hamsters that then developed a large internal tumour in the throat area. Progression on from the baked bean stage usually resulted in quite a quick decline and death. In only two cases did the small chin lumps appear to disappear and the hamsters appear to make a full recovery. However these animals were still kept with the infected stock and never returned to the main shelving area. All infected animals lived in the hamstery but on a separate set of shelves, away from everything else. They were fed and cleaned out on different days.
July 2000 An eminent Vet was now co-ordinating all the work on this infection.
Initial research in Germany could discover no trace of Papova virus although it was strongly believed to be the cause of this infection.
I decided to set up a small hamstery in my garage with stock kindly given to me by David and Jean. I wasn’t going to show these animals but I could now do some breeding again.
It was recommended that I use an anti viral disinfectant called Virkon to keep everything in my hamsteries very clean.
By september I was hearing of a number of other isolated cases. All the hamsters showed the same symptoms, small wart like lumps on the chin.
17.10.00 Two new cases in my hamstery, six month old litter sisters of infected parents both developed lumps within a week of each other. My first ‘second generation’ cases.
20.10.00 Six of my infected animals, including father and daughter, were put to sleep and serum was taken for further research.
January 2001 Two new and expected second generation cases. No new unrelated or unexpected cases since July 2000. Any stock I felt might be infected was marked and isolated.
24.02.01 Thinking I was now clear of new unexpected cases I felt I could look forward to showing my Syrian hamsters again for the first time in nearly a year. I would only be showing my new stock which I had by now transferred from the garage to the hamstery. I also acquired some new stock today from David, these would be quarantined for three weeks then go into the shed.
With more than a little apprehension I sold four of my babies to members of the fancy. The parents were completely unrelated to any of my infected stock and had had no direct contact with any infected stock.
6.3.01 Conformation of Papovavirus came today.
A total now of 16 out of 70 original Syrians have been infected ( 4 second generation ).
A male had just died with a massive internal tumour, but no wart like lumps, samples sent for analysis, as may also be a result of Papovavirus.