First of all, all of our hamsters are Syrian hamsters - no matter what fur length or what color. Names such as teddy bear hamsters, black bear hamsters, panda bear hamsters etc. were just invented by pet stores for advertising.
Of course there are dwarf hamsters but we do not breed those at our hamstery.
A gene can be dominant, which means it is enough for one parent to carry this gene to produce babies in that color/fur type/pattern or it can be recessive which requires both parents to be or carry the particular color/fur type/pattern.
There are a few different fur types:
Short Haired
Gene code: LL
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Golden SH "Brownie" by Dixie Dust |
The "standard" fur, short and smooth.
SH is dominant.
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Long Haired
Gene code: ll
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Yellow DS LH "Carsten" by Dixie Dust
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Fluffy long fur. Usually longer in males than in females.
The LH gene is recessive.
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Rex
Gene code: rxrx
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BE Cream LH Rex "Sorcha" by madabout
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Curly fur (including the whiskers), possible in short haired and long haired.
The Rex gene is recessive.
Caution:
Rex x Rex matings should be avoided since the fur and eye lashes would curl so much. It could lead to eye irritation and disorientation due to strongly curled whiskers.
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Satin
Gene code: Sa-
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Dove TTS Banded Satin LH "Naomi" by Dixie Dust
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Smooth shiny satin fur. The Satin gene is dominant.
Caution: Never mate Satin x Satin since the outcome would have very bad and thin fur, seeming very greasy.
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Umbrous
Gene code: U-
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Golden Umbrous LH "Harriet" by Dixie Dust
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Umbrous puts a gray layer on top of the original color and therefore darkens the hamster.
It is not clear if it is a color by itself or considered a fur pattern. When mixed with certain colors it does create new colors, like Cream + Umbrous is Sable.
It is dominant.
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And fur patterns:
Solid
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Cinnamon SH "Lisa" by Dixie Dust
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Being the "standard pattern", one solid color all over
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Banded
Gene code: Ba-
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Black Banded SH "Joe" by Dixie Dust
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A white band around the middle of the hamster's body. The ears often end up spotted. It is a dominant gene.
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Dominant Spot
Gene code: Ds-
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Black TTS DS LH "Cora" by Dixie Dust
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Ideally white body with colored spots all over but it is not uncommon that there is more color than white. The ears often end up spotted as well.
It is a dominant gene.
Caution:
Ds x Ds matings should be avoided since each pup would have a 25% chance of dying in the mother's womb before being born.
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Tortoiseshell
Gene code: Toto
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Black TTS SH "Tiffany" by Dixie Dust
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Yellow spots all over the body. Possible on all colors except Cream and Umbrous since those cover the spots up.
Only possible on females since it is a gender linked gene. It is dominant.
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Roan
Gene code: Whwh
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Sable Roan LH "Amelie" by madabout
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White fur mixed into the color, the head being darker than the rest of the body. Only occurs in Cream-based colors. In others the gene only shows as white belly. It is a dominant gene.
Caution:
Roan x Roan produces eyeless white babies! Those kinds of matings should be avoided!
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Recessive Dappled
Gene code: rdrd
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Black ED RD LH "Zhu Zhu" by PKK
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White hamster with colored head and white blaze and colored butt. RD is, as its name says, recessive.
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And a big variety of fur colors and hamster color combination. I am going to introduce you to the more common ones. First I will start with the Agouti colors, which are all colors with cheek flashes and a lighter colored underside.
Golden
Gene code: ++
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Golden SH "Miss Marple" by Dixie Dust
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This is the typical "original Syrian hamster" as he lives in the wild. Golden brown fur with black cheek flashes, gray undercoat, ivory underside and gray ears.
You will always get Golden babies if you mate 2 hamsters that do not share any recessive genes or if you breed a Golden hamster since the color acts as dominant.
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Cinnamon
Gene code: pp
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Cinnamon SH "Pumpkin" by madabout
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A Cinnamon hamster has a rich orange color with gray undercoat, ivory belly, red eyes that often darken with age and light colored ears.
It is the basic red eyed color, which means that (almost) each red eyed color is simply a Cinnamon combination. It is a recessive gene.
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Rust
Gene code: bb
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Rust SH "Dear Prudence" by madabout
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Rust hamsters are lighter than Golden with brown cheek flashes, brown ears and even brown eyes.
It is a recessive gene.
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Dark Gray
Gene code: dgdg
| Dark Gray SH by madabout
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A nice dark gray color with black cheek flashes and ivory underside. Dark Gray is recessive.
Caution: It seems like the Dark Gray is connected with kinked tails.
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Light Gray
Gene code: lglg
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Light Grays are, as the name says, a light gray with slightly creamy appearance. The gene is dominant.
Caution: the homozygous version of it is lethal, which means that 25% of the pups die in the mother's uterus.
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Silver Gray
Gene code: Sg-
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Silver Gray het. LH "Yannick" by Dixie Dust
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A Silver Gray basically looks like a Golden but in Silver.
The gene is dominant, but there are 2 different versions of it depending if the hamster got the gene from only one parent or both. The heterozygous version has a slightly brown-creamish look to him while the homozygous version is a rich Silver.
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RE Silver Gray
Gene code: ppSg-
| RE Silver Gray het. LH "William" by Dixie Dust
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Or also often called Silver Blonde. Red eyes, light creamish gray in the heterozygous form, almost white in the homozygous form.
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Yellow
Genecode: ToTo/ToY
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Yellow SH "Bryce" by Dixie Dust
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A light brown, almost cream with brown cheek flashes.
It is a gender linked dominant gene. For males to be Yellow it takes the mother to be a Tortoiseshell (see above at fur pattern), for females to Yellow it takes the mother to be a Tort and the father to be a Yellow or the mother to be a Yellow already.
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And self colors which are completely in one color (unless with fur pattern) except for often white paws and little white marks on chest.
Black
Gene code: aa
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Black SH "Polly" by Dixie Dust
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Often get dark brown as they age.
Black is a recessive gene.
Pet stores often like to say that Black hamsters are tamer, bigger and somehow better than other colors - but they really are just the same.
A Panda Bear hamster is merely a Black Banded.
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Dove
Gene code: aapp
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Dove LH "Frederik" by Dixie Dust
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Dove is a mix of Black and Cinnamon, which means it takes both parents to carry Black and Cinnamon to produce Dove.
It is theoretically the red eyed version of Black but lightened through the pp gene so it looks gray. The eyes often darken a lot that they may appear black.
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Chocolate
Gene code: aabb
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Chocolate SH "Milka" by Unique
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Chocolate is a mix of Black and Rust. Rust causes the eyes to get brown and lightens the Black into a beautiful choco-colored brown.
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Champagne
Gene code: aappbb
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Champagne LH "Aida" by Unique
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Now if you get Black, Cinnamon and Chocolate from each parent you will have a Champagne baby. Red eyes through the pp gene, brownish through bb, Champagne makes a very pretty color.
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Yellow Black
Gene code: aaToTo/aaToY
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Yellow Black Banded SH "Austin" by Dixie Dust
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As the name tells us, Yellow meets Black. Just like Yellow, this color is gender linked.
The fur is Yellow, but the tips are Black. They often start out lighter and as they age the Black ticking gets stronger and the hamster overall (not always evenly) darker.
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Cream
Gene code: ee
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Cream LH "Theodore" by Dixie Dust
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Cream is another basic self color and is recessive, as well.
If a hamster is aa AND ee the Black color will be covered up and hidden by the Cream color.
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RE Cream
Gene code: eepp
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RE Cream LH by madabout
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Same as above but with red eyes and pink ears.
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Sable
Gene code: eeU-
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Sable Banded LH "Frances" by Dixie Dust
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Sable is Cream with Umbrous, the Cream coat coming through around the eyes and creating the typical eye rings.
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Mink
Gene code: eeppU-
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Mink LH "Daria" by Corinna10
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The red eyed version of a Sable. It often starts out grayish and turns browner as the hamster ages.
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