Hi, this is Shawn , and a hobbyist breeder of Mandarin Orange Hamsters. Currently, I breed them for colour, temperament and also body size. Our hamsters are bred as closely as possible to the Winter White Standards of the NHC. However, we confess that what we know is quite lacking, however we strive to learn more, and to improve the quality of Dwarf Hamsters in Singapore.





Monday, November 30, 2009

Money Saving Tips, when keeping Hamster.

Keeping a hamster is something never cheap. With food, bedding and even the unexpected visit to the vet, the cost of keeping hamsters might even become quite high. Looking at the 08-09 financial crisis, there is no more proper time to save some dollars and cents, especially if you happen to be getting a new hamster setup. Here are some tips that may help you save money while keeping hamsters, but not reducing their quality of life. Food Food quality should never be compromised, as hamsters are what they eat. To feed low quality food to save cost is unethical. The best way to save is to buy in Bulk, but not too much, 3months should be the maximum to preserve freshness. Treats from petshops should be avoided, as they are usually costly, and contain high levels of calories. Organic/Fresh vegetables are a cheaper and better choice, alongside grains. These are much healthier and cheaper treats. Food Dish This item is easiest to save on. Petshops usually sell them for about $5-$10 for 1 food dish. Here is mine from cash converter. I brought 4 of these for $2, and previous ones brought last me for 4years, and still in perfect condition

Tank A tank is better compared to a cage, in terms of durability, and ease of cleaning. While there may less air coming in from the sides, this protects the hamsters from draught, and the open surface on the top brings about adequate ventilation. A bare 2nd hand tank would cost around $8, for those 2feet and below, if you search hard enough. This is much cheaper than a cage, which may cost $40 or more. * Certain Tubs can be brought from Ikea at less than $10, for a reasonably sized one, which is also not too heavy, though you are unable to view the hamsters from the sidesm which is the major downside. Hamster House? These are not really necessary, and any porcelain cup will do. Below is a house that i used to have, which cost $6. It was also quite unhygienic, and waste and urine would accumulate there. A cup is enough, as it provides a hard and covered surface for the hamster to sleep on. Toilet/Bathing area I used a bowl, instead of the ones brought form the pet shop. These are much cheaper, $2 for 4 bowls, compared to those fanciful ones at the pet shop. Below is 1 of my no-frills setup. Costing: $15.80 Tank: $5, from Cash Converter Wheel: $5, brand new from SN(Serangoon North) Water Bottle: $3.80, and there are cheaper ones, equally good at SN Cup/House: $1, from Cash Converter Food Dish: $0.50, from Cash Converter Toilet: $0.50, from Cash Converter Here is how i saved money, while not compromising on quality of care. The items too can be brought and customised by oneself, giving each tank unique in its own.

Pudding phottos Photos

Here are some Puddings, Pearl Puddings, Pearls, Nwws I have/had. Some were taken a few years back, and some photos are of lower quality. More will be added in time.










Obituary



Old Blue, (28Feb07-12Oct08)

This is Old Blue, named from a Black Robin which saved her species from extinction.



Mr YanDao, (15Oct07-xxDec08)



ZaiZai(仔仔) ,25sept07-11Jul09




Snowball
Jan'09-15Jan'10

Grandma, The last hamster i owned that was born in 2008.
Nov'08-15July'10

Liong, my most handsome pudding. (died of stroke)
Jul' 09 - 31th dec 2010

Monday, November 23, 2009

Pudding Colours, and their combinations

Photobucket

Look at the above picture closely, do you realise that the 2 puddings have a slightly different tone of colour? I had this pair of hamsters sometime in Aug 2005, and this situation got me baffled for quite some time. Guess were made on the genetic makeup, but my hamsters were found to have diabetes, and all breeding had to be stopped.

Nearly 4 years later, on Oct '2009, I came across a Russian website, which did state about Puddings. They called this colour Carmel, and the more accurate name is, Sapphire Puddings. This explains why there would be Sapphire Winter Whites in those litters. It finally made sense. This new colour is a combination of the sapphire gene and pudding gene, resulting in a lightening of the colour, like how Sapphires are a lighter shade compared to Normals.


Pearl Puddings




Pearl Puddings too come in many different colours, from being pure white, to one with orange and even one that looks like a Pear Winter White. However, due to the small amount of orange in them, i found it not easy to determine if they are Sapphire or Normal Pearl Puddings. But nevertheless, the difference between a Pearl Puddings and a Pearl, is that Pearl Puddings are usually much whiter compared to Pearls, and their tickings are usually Brown/orange, and not black like Normal/Sapphire Pearls.



Click here for their basic introduction.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Basic introduction: Mandarin/Pudding gene



The Mandarin/Pudding colour is my favourite colour gene in Winter Whites.

Here are some the facts. This gene is a dominant gene (Me), and one pudding parent alone will give result in pudding babies. There is also overwhelming evidence that this gene is homozygous dominant, which means that babies with 2 Pudding genes will not survive. They either get reabsorbed, or they will not survive even inside mum. The Pudding gene can combine with other genes like Sapphire and Pearl, to produce different types of Puddings. So no puddings have 2 pudding genes. Thus no genetically pure puddings exist.

Below here is a Punnett Square, of a Pudding X Pudding.



Their appearance are mainly orange with an orange dorsal stripe when young, but this is what I personally described as their baby coat, which would change in the future. Other winter whites too experience this, with the babies having a different colour when it matures if one examines closely enough.
However, the adult coat would be either a range from yellow or even totally brown, with the dorsal stripe being a darker shade of colour. Can you imagine that, no other Winter White mutation has such a diversity of shades in the single colour alone, which makes it a truly unique mutation. This is the reason why Puddings are my favourite winter whites, and the reason why this blog was made! See my puddings above, they both are of a different shade isn't it.



This information is from a Russian Website stated below, and also from some observations of my Puddings, and also from Puddings belonging to people from hamster forums of Singapore.


http://hamster.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1520