Syrian Hamster
Introduction
Of the five generally available species of hamster the Syrian is by far the most popularly kept both as a pet and for exhibition partly because of its gentle nature but also due to the fact that it is bred in a kaleidoscope of colours and coat types.
Also known as the Golden Hamster, the Syrian originated from the desert regions of Syria where they were first discovered in the 18th Century.
The first real report of their existence wasn’t provided until 1839 when a zoologist (George Waterhouse) recovered a hamster skeleton and skin and sent them to London museum to be classified.
Although there are reports that live specimens were brought to London by the British Consul Skene, they are never believed to have bred and so almost all of today’s captive population of Syrian hamsters originate from a single female and her offspring.
This female and her litter were captured by professor Aharoni of the university of Jerusalem in 1930.
On the journey from Syrian the female is thought to have destroyed two of her young, forcing the professor to hand rear the rest of the litter.
Some of the litter are also thought to have been lost after they escaped from their wooden cage and managed to evade capture.
There is much speculation as to how many animals there were in this litter but the general consensus of opinion is that there were 11 youngsters before deaths.
The remaining babies and their mother bred well and their progeny were distributed to zoos and laboratories throughout the USA and Britain.
A few other later expeditions to Syria resulted in more wild hamsters being brought back and being added to the captive breeding stock but by and large, today’s pet hamsters are all very closely related (an issue that is being managed by the careful breeding of Syrians by breeders and enthusiasts).
The offspring of the animals bred in labs and zoos soon became many in number and were eventually released into the pet market where they proved to be extremely popular and led to the formation of the first hamster club in England in 1945
The Syrian hamster is a level one pet and is particularly suitable for older children and those who are working all day and are only around in the evening.
I have thrown some very basic care requirements together below for now but will put up a proper caresheet as soon as i have finished writing it.
Kat
Care Requirements
Syrians Hamsters can be fed on one of the many brands of commercial hamster/rodent mix available in both pet shops and super markets. These feeds are generally considered to be 'complete' diets but in truth if you want to keep your hamster it top condition it will require small amounts of vegetables, fruit and additional protien such as cooked chicken or cat biscuits. These mixes normally consist of various seeds, grass pellets (which the hamsters never eat!) corn, sunflower seeds, toasted pea flakes, extruded biscuits, wheat flakes, soya flakes, peanuts etc
If you have more than one hamster it could be worth while making your own mix. my own uses complete rodent pellets and a small amount of Gerri GerbilTM as a base to which i add micronised peas, flaked maize, corn flakes,sunflower seeds, safflower seeds (smaller than sunflower seeds), dried pasta, dog mixer biscuits, a small amount of cat biscuits, groats etc. i also always have a bin full of 'assorted small seeds' and my syrians all get a meal of these one or twice a week. in the winter because my animals are kept out side in a shed -the shed is heated but i like them to be carrying a bit of extra wieght anyway- i add some hemp seeds to this mix.
All of my syrians get cooked pasta or rice once a week and porridge or (savoury!) baby food once a week in summer, twice a week in winter and every day whilst lactating or growing. I normally mix some porridge oats with some hot water and then make it runnier with lactol (small animal milk substitute) although normal dairy milk is fine to use. To this runny porridge i will sometimes add calcium powder (e.g. Nutra-BalTM), baby food powder (great for weaning animals).
Every now and again rub some slices of bred with olive oil and bake them in the oven for about 20mins until they go really hard. These then get shared around all the animals in the shed... Great for keeping the cold out in winter!
Syrian Hamster Genetics
The Basics
A female's Chromosomes are written as XX, a males as XY.
Syrian hamsters have 44 chromosomes each of which has many thousands of individual genes that determine what the hamster will look like, how big it will get etc.
Phenotype is the term used to describe an animal's physical, outward appearance
Genotype is the word used for the animal's genetic or hidden characteristics.
Remember it like this... GENotype - GENes
PHenotype - PHysical
The deciding factor on what colour fur an animal has or what colour its eyes are going to be are alleles. Each set of alleles is located on its own individual locus or loci.
If only a single allele is required to affect the animal's phenotype then it must be dominant. Dominant genes are shows as a capital letter (e.g. SS).
Factors that require two identical alleles on order for the colour or pattern to be present in the phenotype as said to be recessive.
Recessive genes are written as a lower-case letter (e.g. ss)
Some hamster colours are incompletely dominant. In many cases the homozygous version of this colour or coat type will look slightly or dramatically different to the heterozygous individual. Silver grey Syrians can be either homozygous (SgSg) or heterozygous (Sgsg) and are a good examply of incomplete or partial dominance
Animals inherit two alleles for each possible genotype (i.e. eye colour), one from each parent but these are not always the same.
If the animal inherits alleles for a particular characteristic that are identical from each parent it will be homozygous (ss or SS)
If it inherits one dominant gene from one parent and a recessive from another then it is said to be heterozygous (Ss)
Dominant genes cover or mask recessives genes. Unless you know the background of your breeding animals you will not know that they are there.
In order for a recessive gene to present itself in the phenotype, there must be two identical alleles present on the same locus
There are also sex-linked genes. Female animals possess two X chromosomes whilst males have a single X and one Y chromosome. Sex-linked genes are only ever passed on either from an X to an X or from a Y to another Y, they cannot be passed on indiscriminately from one to another. The gene that governs sex-linkage is passed on with the chromosomes that determine gender and so are sex linked.
Genetic crosses or punnet squares
These can be used to establish what proportion of your litter will be what colour.
The known genotype of the parents is written along the top and down the side of the square
This genetic cross shows a homozygous animal and a heterozygous animal. They are both visually the colour of the dominant gene which has masked their recessives.
B b
B BB Bb
b Bb bb
50% of their offspring would be heterozygous carriers of the recessive gene like they are,
25% would be homozygous for the dominant gene
and 25% would be homozygous for the recessive gene and sp show the colour or coat type in their phenotype.
The different Syrian hamster colours have each been assigned their own designators in order to make it easier for the breeder to establish traits of dominance and inheritance as well as what colours combine to make new colours and what genes cancel each other out.
Syrian Hamster Designators
The basic colours:
Colour Genetic Code Phenotype
Golden ++ Mahogany with heavy black ticking
Cinnamon pp Rich orange
Black aa Black to the roots
Black Eyed Cream ee Rich cream to the roots
Rust bb Browny orange ticked with darker brown
Silver Grey SgSg or Sgsg Soft grey ticked with black
Light Grey Lglg Buttermilk grey with heavy black ticking
Dark Grey Dgdg Pearly grey with very heavy black ticking and black eye rings
Dark Eared White cdcd Pure white coat with black ears
Umbrous Uu or UU Not a colour in its own right, gives other colours a dusty hint
Combination colours:
These are colours using the above genes at the same time to create new colours. Notes: breedings between animals with non-compatible genes will result in a litter of goldens. This is not an exhaustive list; it is the most common or the nicest of the colours produced. Sable is written as U_ given that it can be heterozygous or homozygous
Colour Genetic Code Phenotype
Sable eeU_ Dark as possible, ideally black with cream undercoat and eye rings
Red eyed Cream eepp Rich pinky cream
Pale Eared Cream bbee Cream with black eyes
Mink eeppU_ Dull brown, becomes almost orange with age
Blue Mink dgdgeeppU_ Purple-blue
Dove aapp Dove grey
Silver Sable eeSgSgU_ Dark as possible with watm grey undertones
Silver Black aaSgSg or aaSgsg Diluted black
Black Eyed Ivory dgdgee, eeLglg or eeSgsg Pale greyish cream
Silver Pearl SgsgToTo or SgsgToY Warm cream with black ticking
Smoke Pearl dgdgToTo or dgdgToY Pale greyish cream with black ticking
Lilac dgdgpp Soft pinky grey
Lilac Pearl dgdgppToTo or dgdgppTo Pale lilac grey ticked with black
Beige bbdgdg Pale grey with gentle brown ticking
Chocolate aabb Dark chocolate
Champagne aabbpp Pale beige
Blonde Sgsgpp, Lglgpp Creamy blonde (light grey blondes have an orange muzzle
Copper bbeeppU_ Rich copper orange to the roots
Yellow Black aaToTo or aaToY Yellow with heavy black ticking to hair tips
Honey ppToTo or ppToY Light orange
Honey Black aappToTo or aappToY Light orange with dusky black ticking
Black Eyed Honey aabbToTo or aabbToY As honey but less vibrant and black eyed
Note: Cream masks the yellow gene and unlike all other colours, combining the yellow gene with cream colours will not produce tortoiseshells. Yellows carrying cream (known occasionally as 'ghost' yellows) often look like poor quality creams, occasionally displaying cheek flashes and crescents and will produce tortoiseshells but are not going to win you any prizes on the show bench...
Patterns and coat types
Pattern Genetic Code Phenotype
Dominant Spot Dsds Which with spots of colour
Banded Baba or BaBa White band around animals belly
Roan Whwh White with coloured hairs ticked throughout the coat
Tortoiseshell ToTo Variable patches of yellow on a coloured female
Notes:
Dominant spot animals can be bred together but the gene is homozygous lethal i.e. any babies with two copies of the dominant spot allele die shortly after conception and are reabsorbed by the female.
If a hamster has two copies of the Wh gene it will be an Anopthalmic white or more commonly known as an eyeless white. These pure white, blind hamsters rarely live past six months and such breedings should be avoided
Only cream based colours can roan, all other animals present a Wh gene as a white belly.
Our last set of genes are those that govern coat type:
Coat type Genetic Code Phenotype
Satin Sasa Glossy coat
Longhaired ll Long fur, males get longer fur than do females
Rex rxrx Wavy, crimped fur. Tends to dilute colour somewhat.
Note: Two satins should not be bred together as the resulting babies (SaSa) would exhibit sparse, greasy looking fur due to the fact that satin hamsters have very slightly less hairs per square inch than do normals. Double-satinisation accentuates this and isn't particularly pretty...
THIS IS NOT THE FINISHED ARTICLE... IT IS WORK IN PROGRESS... I PROMISE I WILL ADD TO IT REGULARLY
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