Hamster Pictures
Pictures: Click each image to see a larger picture.
| Syrian | Campbells Russian Dwarf |
Single Gene Colors | Two gene colors | Three Gene Colors | Four Gene Color |
Other Genes
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MottledThe gene for mottling (mi) is dominant lethal. If two mottled hamsters are bred together, statistically 25% of the offspring will be eyeless, toothless whites that will die within the first few weeks of birth. For this reason, only one parent should be mottled. Statistically, 50% of a litter with one mottled parent, will be mottled. Pictured from left to right: black mottled, blue mottled, blue mottled and red eyed argente mottled. There are 2 mottling genes, the ruby mottled gene (mi) and the non-ruby-eyed mottled gene (mo). The ruby gene is the only gene in the United States currently (all ruby eyed mottled hamsters will have a red glow to their eyes when held up to a strong light). The non-ruby-eyed version is known mainly in the UK.. The non-ruby-eyed mottled gene is NOT Lethal. If you live in the United States and have a mottled hamster you want to breed, assume it is the lethal ruby-eyed variety and cross to a solid color. By doing this, you avoid the chance of getting eyeless, toothless whites as you might when crossing two ruby mottled hamsters. If two ruby eyed mottled hamsters are crossed, approximately 25% will be deformed eyeless toothless whites. These babies are the ones that inherited two doses of the ruby-eyed mottling gene. Any baby that gets one dose will be mottled without being deformed. Note: There seems to be a "facial white" gene that is tied to the mottling gene. Few hamsters show it but those that do are mottled. Here is a picture of one of the few facial white babies I have produced. Click the picture to see a larger image.:
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PlatinumThe platinum gene (si)is dominant lethal BUT you can safely breed two platinum hamsters together. Any baby that gets two doses of platinum is reabsorbed by the mother and is never born. Platinum hamsters have 25% smaller litters on average because of this lethal aspect. However, the mother is never harmed by reabsorbing her young and all babies that ar born will be as healthy as any other dwarf baby. The platinum gene adds any number of white hairs that make the hamster look lighter in color. Any dwarf babies that are homozygous for platinum will be reabsorbed by the mother. Platinum to platinum litters are usually a little smaller but all babies will be born perfectly normal with no defects from the gene. Pictured from left to right is a red eyed argente platinum female and two opal platinum mottled males.
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Dilute Platinum:There is also a dilute gene (di). It is not well understood but when it combines with platinum gene, extreme dilute platinum is the result (aka dark eyed white and red eyed white). I believe it is dominant since if you cross a DEW with a solid colored hamster approximately 50% will be platinum and usually one will be DEW (dark eyed white). A hamster with this gene combination will be mainly white or entirely white (you can have a normal agouti hamster that is solid white because the two genes will mask the color. Pictured (left to right) are two extreme dilute platinum males and a red eyed female. |
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Note: There is no easy way to tell when a platinum dwarf hamster is mottled. This is especially true of dilute platinum and extreme dilute platinum hamsters (basically hamsters with a large amount of white on them). For this reason is best to pair any white hamster with a solid color to avoid possible deformed offspring. Sometimes mottled white hamsters have a "red glow" to their eyes. This tip would be useless to determine mottling on a red eyed animal.
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Other Coat TypesRex (rxrx) Wavy coat (wawa)
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Please click here to see photographs with more than one phenotype. These show examples for color comparison.
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