Dark Golden (++)

Dark Golden is original natural colour. Dark Golden hamster has rich red mahagony colour with dark slate grey undercolour, ivory belly and black cheekflashes, black eyes and dark grey ears.

Rust (bb) 1961 unknown

Rust hamster has brownish-ginger fur with grey undercolour, ivory belly, brown cheekflashes, very dark brown eyes and medium brown ears.

It should not be crossed with Cinnamon (pp), because these colours are too similar to each other and with Dilute (dd), which too much dilutes almost all the colours.

Genetic code bb comes from name Brown. In the beginning it was called Guinea Gold, later Rust but with genetic symbol rr and in 1987 geneticist Roy Robinson researched this fur under the microscope and compared it with mice fur and he realized that Cinnamon colour was wrong named Brown (bb) and symbol bb was released and used for Rust.

Mutation named as a brown gene codes for enzyme TYRP1, which is catalyzer for the last synthesis when still brown eumalenine changes to black. But due to this mutation the last step do not happen and eumelanin is produced like brown. Result of it is brownish colour of fur.

Used by permission of Kenneth Worm, KWO Hamstery

Extreme Dilute Hamster is light grey with pale grey undercolour, ivory belly, black cheekflashes, black eyes and dark grey ears. Nose is golden. Young hamsters showing a red glow in the eyes under bright light.

I do not recommend cross with other colours except of few exceptions and spread it around because of it is diluting colours of fur and if gene was all around it would be more difficult to identify colours of fur. In closed circle of breeders, it would be ok to breed it with Dark Eared White (c(d)c(d)) and especially with Black (aa), because it creates nice combinations; heterozygote Extreme Dilute Black (aac(d)c(e)) is beautiful colour see second picture from the top. So it is better to cross it with darker colours or colour combinations so some effect can be seen.

Genetic code c(e)c(e) comes from name colour and extreme dilute. Dark Eared White is codominant to Extreme Dilute (c(e)c(e)), both genes are in the same locus and they both can be seen when together.

Gene lower production of pigment on most of the body. It is mutation in synthesis of pigment in the beginning. Mutation happens already in enzyme tyrosine oxidase. If mutation has an effect that enzyme is totally functionless, animal will not be able to produce any pigment and result will be albino (cc). We don´t have albino mutation (cc) in Syrian Hamster yet. There are different degrees of malfunction of this enzyme, so we have different types (degrees) of albinism. Tyrosine oxidase is partially functional with Extreme Dilute hamster, so it produced some pigment in limited amount.

Used by permission of Jan, The River Road Hamstery

Cinnamon (pp)  1957 USA

Cinnamon hamster has rich orange brown colour with slate blue undercolour, ivory belly and brown cheekflashes, red eyes and flesh coloured ears. Eyes darken with age, end up very dark brown, almost black.

It should not be crossed with Rust (bb), because these colours are too similar to each other and with Dilute (dd), which too much dilutes almost all the colours.

Genetic code pp comes from name pink-eyed dilution. It was originally called, Amber Gold, later Brown and in 1987 geneticist Roy Robinson proved that it was P locus when he was comparing hair from Brown hamster with hair from mouse under the microscope so it was renamed Cinnamon with symbol pp.

Synthesis of pigmentation proceeds in melanosomes: tyrosine gets into melanosome and enzyme tyrosine-oxidase catalyzes into dopaquinone. Later on the way to eumelanine, TYRP changes brown pigment to black. These chemical reactions escalate or derogate in depandance on inner pH of melanosomes. P locus encodes protein placed at eumelanosome membrane, enter gate for molecules to cell. This gate helps to regulate pH of melanosome by that it keeps anions inside (another gate lets go H+). Mutation at P locus affects this gate so that it changes normal acid pH to be more neutral. And acid environment is necessary for normal activity of tyrosine-oxidase. Result of this is reduced black-brown pigmentation - light fur and pink eyes.

Black (aa) 1985/1986 France

Black hamster has black colour with black undercolour, black belly, no cheekflashes, black eyes and black ears. It usually has white stripe under the chin and on the paws. Some of older black hamsters change colour to brown, sometimes some parts of the body are black and some brown.

I don´t recommend to cross Black with Black Eyed Cream (ee), because Cream gene covers black colour, so Black + Black Eyed Cream (aaee) will look like Black Eyed Cream - this covering is called epistatis. Crossing Black with Umbrous (U_) also doesn´t make sence because of Black with Umbrous (aaU_) will look like normal black.

You can suppose that there is Black gene in animals who look "unusual dark". And also you can cast out Black when they are too light. If hamster is very light in colour from white to yellow, it will probably not be + Black. If it is darker, it will probably be + Black.

Genetic code aa comes from name agouti.

Black colour of fur is recessive mutation in A locus, which normal function is to produce agouti yellow band in the hair. Mutant gene aa inhibits formation of this band and it leads to black all over the hair.

Dark Eared White has white colour, undercolour and belly, there are no cheekflashes, eyes are bright red and ears are dark grey. When Dark Eared White is a baby, ears are light and they get dark around 26. days (from 24. - 28. days); 31. day they are dark grey. Except for ears there is some pigment left on prepuce and scrotum of males and in the perineum of females, this pigment ocurrs later, after two or three months. Dark Eared White belongs to thermo-sensitive albinos (like Siamese cat and Himalayan rabbit). Parts of the body, which are not easy to fill with blood and that is why they are colder, can produce some pigment a this is why some parts of the body is pigmented.

It should not be crossed with genes, which can produce serious health troubles, for example lethal genes. Dark Eared White "hides" this genes and if it would be further crossed with these genes, it could happen that cross would be unadvisable. These genes are: Light Grey (Lglg), Dominant Spot (Dsds) and White Belly/Roan (Whwh). Because of Dark Eared White masks almost all the other genes for colour of fur and pattern of fur, it should be crossed only with genes which can be seen with Dark Eared White, for example colour Cinnamon (pp) produces Flesh Eared White (c(d)c(d)pp).

Genetic code c(d)c(d) comes from name colour and dark eared white.  Dark Eared White is codominant to Extreme Dilute (c(e)c(e)), both genes are in the same locus and they both can be seen when together.

Gene debars production of pigment on most majority of the body. It is mutation in synthesis of pigment in the beginning. Mutation happens already in enzyme tyrosine oxidase. If mutation has an effect that enzyme is totally functionless, animal will not be able to produce any pigment and result will be albino (cc). We don´t have albino mutation (cc) in Syrian Hamster yet. There are different degrees of malfunction of this enzyme, so we have different types (degrees) of albinism. In acromelanic version, there is partially functional tyrosine oxidase, but it is very fragile and dependent on the temperature. With higher temperature it breaks down and produce animals with pigment only in colder parts of the body like nose, ears, paws and tail. With Syrian Hamster it is only ears and pieces of genitals.