♥ Syrian Hamster Association ♥ Info Thread

[Rodent Cottage]

♥ Syrian Hamster Association ♥
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║Where all your little hamster friends come from!║
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Welcome to the Syrian Hamster Association! We are in charge of adoption out Syrian hamsters to Secundians everywhere and are your place to go for any questions about keeping these hamsters happy and healthy. We also keep records of ownership and lineage of all Syrians that exist in the world of Secundi. We ask that you notify us when there's a change in ownership and to not breed your Syrians without our guideance.

Artwork by WillowDragon, coloring, set-up and management by YLO.

[Rodent Cottage]

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║General  Info║
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Basics
This adoptable will be fully realistic, or as close to it as we can get while making sure it's still a fun exciting adoptable. It will focus solely on Syrian hamsters, not any of the dwarf breeds. We hope the possibilities will appeal to a wide variety of users and should be fun and easy to participate in for both the casual collector and highly dedicated followers.

Our Syrians will be available through a variety of events, including random games, a permanent breeding thread and permanent sales thread to go live once all linearts are complete.

Stats
All Syrians will have a certain amount of info listed with it. At time of adoption this includes gender, ID#, age, health, coloration & fur type, known genetic code. Once adopted name & owner will be added to this. The full genetic code is not always known upfront, more carried genes can sometimes be discovered when breeding the hamster. Hamsters that participated in a show will also receive a certificate displaying their most recent score.

Aging
Our Syrian Hamsters will age in realtime. Every 1st day of every month all adult hamsters will become one month older. Recently grown babies marked as 6 weeks of age will change to 2 months the first time, then continue to age by one month at a time as normal. Syrians you adopt in events can be of various ages, the youngest being 2 months old, the oldest 12 months.

Instead of dying, a Syrian Hamster on Secundi will simply 'retire' at a certain age. The retirement age varies per hamster and owners will not know the exact age their hamster will reach upfront, just like you can't predict what age a hamster will reach in real life. However, the age they will retire is influenced by health.

A hamster of 'Poor' health will retire between 8 and 15 months old, a hamster of 'Okay' health between 16 and 24 months, 'Good' health between 18 and 26 months and 'Excellent' health between 27 and 36 months old.

A retired hamster is forever yours to keep and display, but it cannot be bred, shown, traded or otherwise participate in events.

Rehoming
Both adult and baby hamsters can be rehomed, unless the adult is already retired, retired pets always remain in your possesion. An adult can move into a new home straight away. Babies won't actually move to their new home until they are 6 weeks old, but you can start looking for owners once they are born. I recommend waiting until they are at least 2 weeks so you know coat and gender.

There will be a thread where you must post the change in ownership so we can keep our records updated.

Syrian hamsters can be gifted, traded and sold for any virtual item/pet/currency to anyone with a Secundi account, but they may not be sold for USD (or another real life currency).

Males
For a male there is no limit on how many times he can breed. We do recommend keeping it limited to avoid high amounts of inbreeding and too many related hamsters, probably 2 to 4 breedings in his lifetime. It doesn't matter how much time is between those breedings. There is no age limit, they can sire a female once they are 2 months old, but we encourage not breeding a male before they are at least 8 months old.

It can be a good idea to consider using an older male (between 18-26 months), but it has its pros and cons. The most important pro is life expectancy, if you breed a healthy male that has already reached an old age this could positively influence his children's lifespan too. However, males of older age can also have decreased fertility, so make sure to have a back-up male handy if the female isn't pregnant within 3 attempts.

Females
It's best for a female to have just one or two litters in her life. The first litter should ideally be born when the female is between 5 and 9 months old. Her second litter should be born when she is 13 months of age or younger, with at least a 3 month resting period in between (so if she gives birth to litter #1 when she's 5 months old it's save to breed her again at 8 months old).

Breeding your female when she's too young or too old or opting to let her have a third litter is not forbidden, but can affect the health of the litter and your female.

Breeding
You can submit a pair to breed at any time in our breeding thread. There is a fee attached to this, but no other supplies are needed. As this is a realistic adoptable the pair must be a male and female pair, same gender matings cannot produce offspring.

You can only apply with one pair at a time. Within a week you will be told if the mating was succesful, if not your money is refunded and you can reapply with the same or a different pair at any time.

More info on when pups will be born, the possible amount of babies and when they will age can be found in the breeding post. You have until the age of 6 weeks to decide what to do with each baby. There are no rules on how many babies you can keep. Most real life breeders off secundi keep just 1 or 2 from a single litter, and not all offspring can be bred with, but I've decided to overlook that for this adoptable. Babies you don't claim yourself can be traded or gifted to other secundi users. Another option is to give them back to the Syrian Hamster Association and we will adopt them out in events to other Secundians. For those who keep their lines limited there is a third option: you can choose to rehome them to (imaginary) off secundi homes, those babies will not visibly grow up into adults and just live happily somewhere else to never be seen again.

Showing
Shows are held once a month, on rare occassions a month is skipped. Any hamster from the age of 3 months up to 18 months can enter. There is no limit on the amount of hamsters you may enter, but there is a fee attached to each entry. A hamster can be shown more than once, but has to sit out a round after participating in one (so at most you can show one hamster every other month).

Pets under 6 months and over 12 months can score a little lower sometimes for various reasons, for example because a young hamster male hasn't fully outgrown his longhair fur yet, but this is not always the case and they can still do very well.

A female who has already given birth in the past tends to score lower because her body will usually not go back to perfect condition. You cannot enter a female who currently has offspring of 4 weeks or younger.

For more detailed info on how shows work exactly, please see the showing post.

[Rodent Cottage]

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║Breeding║
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Syrian hamsters are solitary animals, you must keep them in seperate enclosures. When you wish to breed you need to wait until your female has a fertile day (every 4 days) and place the male with her. Never leave them without supervision, they can and will attack one another when they decide they've finished the mating ritual or are just not in the mood.

If the mating was succesful your female will give birth after 16 days. A Syrian hamster's litter can vary greatly in size, ranging from 4 up to  as many as 16 pups. The average amount of pups is between 6 and 10. During the first two weeks mother hamster will sometimes kill some of her babies, often because the litter is larger than she can handle but also because the pups aren't healthy or she's stressed. It's important not to disturb the nest during this time and only handle the mother when she seeks out your attention herself, under no circumstances should you touch the babies or the nest during this time.

After 2 weeks the babies eyes will start to open and they will start to explore the cage. This is when you can start handling them. It should now be quite clear what color and gender each baby is. Usually all babies still left at this point will mature, but it's still possible one or two suddenly 'disappear'. They will stay with their mother until they are four weeks old.

At four weeks old they become fertile. It's important to put the girls in one cage and the boys in  another. Often mom will also start to get sick of taking care of all these little ones, if that's not the case you could leave the girls with mom a bit longer, but not past the age of five weeks. Siblings of the same gender should still be kept together as they continue to learn from one another. When they reach the age of six weeks they will be ready to live seperately and move to new homes and owners.

[Rodent Cottage]

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║Colors & Patterns║
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(clicking on the name of a color/pattern/fur type will show you a picture sample of it)

Our Syrian hamsters only come in realistic Syrian colors you can find off secundi. Note that not all colors existing off secundi have migrated here, although they might still find their way over in the future.

While we use realistic genetics for our hamsters you can still breed and enjoy this adoptable without any knowledge. The only thing you should know is to avoid breeding two roan or two dominant spot hamsters together, which we will warn for in breeding events, everything else isn't vitally important. This info post is merely for those who wish to educate themselves and learn the full genetic system.

Colors are listed by their name, their type (dominant or reccessive) and the letter that represents it in a genetic code. Dominant means the hamster only needs one gene to show that color, reccessive means it will need two of that gene to show the color (one from each parent). Dominant genes can not be carried, if they are present they will always show. Reccesive genes can be carried. A Syrian's base color is golden, this color will show when no other genes are present to modify it, however like any other color hamster the pet can carry reccessive genes.

Sometimes one color name has a dark eyed and one in a red eyed variety, like Rust or Honey or Cream. If the hamster is of the red eyed variety the eyecolor will be listed, if not then it's the dark eyed kind. Colors that come in just one eyecolor won't have their eyecolor listed, whether they are dark eyed or red eyed.

Bred hamsters will have a known genetic code based off their coat + their parents known genetic codes (example: if one parent is black and the baby is not then he will defenitely carry the black gene). Off Secundi hamsters (any adult event hamster not bred by Secundi users) will sometimes show carried genes in their genetic code, but it's not guaranteed to be their full code. Most often you'll just find out what your hamster carries by breeding him/her to a mate who shows or carries that same gene.

Color Genes
Golden - base color - no code
Black - reccesive - 'a'
Rust - reccesive - 'b'
Cinnamon - reccesive - 'p'
Silvergrey - dominant - 'Sg'
Cream (black eyed) - reccesive - 'e' : this gene masks two colors; black and yellow, but both will still show if the cream is only carried.
Umbrous - dominant - 'U' : modifier that alters the present color to make it darker. Some umbrous color combos look so different they got a specific name, those you will find in the list below, the rest are simply called 'color + umbrous', 'rust umbrous' for example.
Yellow - dominant - 'To' : gender specific gene, yellow males can only have one of this gene (ToY) and will always be yellow, girls with two yellow genes (ToTo) are also yellow but girls with one yellow gene (Toto) are tortoiseshell.

Fur Types
Shorthair - dominant - 'L'
Longhair - reccessive - 'l'
So LL is a homozygout shorthair hamster, Ll is a shorthair hamster carrying longhair and ll is a longhair hamster. Off secundi we also know satin and rex fur textures, but they haven't migrated to secundi so far.

Patterns
Banded - dominant - 'Ba'
Dominant Spot - dominant - 'Ds' : lethal when homozygous, do not cross two together!
Roan - dominant - 'Wh' : lethal when homozygous, do not cross two together! Roan only shows on cream-based coats, on other colors it will simply give a pure white belly.
Tortoiseshell - dominant - 'Toto' : only possible of females with a single To gene. Tortoiseshell combined with banded or dominant spot is called a tricolour.
A white belly can occur on non-cream based roan, but also on dominant spot, banded and obviously on white hamsters so I'll notify owners when a non-cream hamster carries roan so they can avoid a lethal cross.

Color Combinations - 2 colors
Rust (red eyed) - 'bb pp' (combo of rust and cinnamon)
Chocolate - 'aa bb' (combo of black and rust)
Dove - 'aa pp' (combo of black and cinnamon)
Caramel - 'ee bb' (combo of cream and rust)
Cream (red eyed) - 'ee pp' (combo of cream and cinnamon)
Sable - 'ee U_' (combo of cream and umbrous)
Ivory - 'Sgsg ee' (heterozygous combo of silvergrey and cream)
White - 'SgSg ee' (homozygous combo of silvergrey and cream)
Blonde - 'Sg_ pp' (combo of silvergrey and cinnamon)
Silverpearl - 'Sg_ ToY / Sg_ ToTo' (combo of silvergrey and yellow)
Silverrust - 'Sg_ bb / SgSg bb' (combo of silvergrey and rust)
Silverblack - 'Sg_ aa' (combo of silvergrey and black)
Yellowblack - 'ToY aa / ToTo aa' (combo of yellow and black)
Honey - 'ToY bb / ToTo bb' (combo of yellow and rust)
Honey (red eyed) - 'ToY pp / ToTo pp' (combo of yellow and cinnamon)

Color Combinations - 3 or more colors
Champagne - 'aa bb pp' (combo of black, rust and cinnamon)
Mink - 'pp ee U_' (combo of cinnamon, cream and umbrous)
Silversable - 'Sg_ ee U_' (combo of silvergrey, cream and umbrous)
Silverchocolate - 'Sg_ aa bb' (combo of silvergrey, black and rust)
Silverdove - 'Sg_ aa pp' (combo of silvergrey, black and cinnamon)
Yellowchocolate - 'ToY aa bb / ToTo aa bb' (combo of yellow, black and rust)
Honeyblack - 'ToY aa pp / ToTo aa pp' (combo of yellow, black and cinnamon)
Ivory (red eyed) - 'Sgsg ee pp' (heterozygous combo of silvergrey, cream and cinnamon)
There are many more possible combos, including combos of more than 3 genes, but they aren't easily found around Secundi so I will add those names as they show up/are bred.

[Rodent Cottage]

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║ Showing ║
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Showing is in no way mandatory, however some breeders like to only breed hamsters who have been to a show to get feedback on their hamsters build, type, coloration etcetera as these are aspects that can be genetically passed on to offspring.

All hamsters are judged on the same things:
1) Colors & Markings (30) - The color should match the standard on all aspects. This includes but is not limited to base coat, crescents, belly fur, ear color and eye color. In patterned varieties the points are split up, half canl be awarded for the color & markings and half for the pattern.
2) Fur - (20) The fur shall be soft and very dense.  Special attention shall be paid to the density of the belly fur. In longhaired hamsters, the coat shall be as long and dense as possible, keeping gender differences in mind, males are expected to have longer fur than females, the females only need to show the long fur in specific areas but will not be penalized for having extra. Whiskers are also included in this category. 
3) Size & Type (25) - The hamster must be well proportioned for its size and gender and be of a good size, not exceptionally large or small. The body should be broad and cobby. The head should have a broad skull, short face and blunt nose and be well set into the body, the profile showing a smooth curve from nose over head, to nape of neck.
4) Ears & Eyes (10) - The eyes should be large, prominent and widely set.  The ears should be large, set well apart and carried erect and unfolded when the hamster is alert.
5) Condition (15) - The hamster must be fit and appear healthy. It must show interest in its surroundings when well awake and be tame to handle. The flesh shall be firm with no surplus fat. The coat shall have a healthy sheen and the hamster should be clean.
Each color has its own standard and there are flaws for specific fur types and colors as well as general ones that apply to build, ears etcetera. Based on all of these criteria your hamster will receive a score, the amount of points you can score for each section is listed in brackets. The perfect score would be 100, which obviously never happens because no real living creature is without flaw. Note that this adoptable only has several different linearts, not one of a kind poses, so you won't really be able to see differences in things like build, but we'll say there are some anyway as that'd be the most realistic. I do try to make small differences in size.

There are three base categories, your hamster can only be in one of these:
1) Agouti Varieties - all hamsters with agouti go into this category (agouti hamsters are those with the clearly visible crescents, cheek flash etc)
2) Self Varieties - all hamsters with one solid color all over go into this category
3) Patterned Varieties - all hamsters, agouti or self, that also have a pattern go into this category
Patterns are very hard to get perfect, even two parents with perfect patterns get offspring that are all over the place, breeding a perfect pattern is more luck than skill really, so that's probably the hardest category to do well in.

Then there is Best in Show where the three best scoring hamsters overall are awarded a prize. If there's less than 3 entries in a category then no prize for that category is awarded, but the hamsters still get scored and compete for Best in Show with everyone else. A category with 3-5 entrants will only have first place rewarded, categories with 6 or more entrants will have a top three. Winning a prize will earn you a little ribbon or trophy to display as well as points that can be turned in for pets.

A judge's score is always a matter of opinion, so usually no two shows give you the exact same result. If you are disappointed with the result it's possible to try again another show, but don't expect a drastically different outcome. Any hamster who has participated in a show will also get a Showing Certificate marking the most recent score received, even if that wasn't the best one.

[Rodent Cottage]

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║ Records ║
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This is where you can find all current Syrians adopted out. The list only includes adults, we'll keep track of litters in the breeding thread. Records are alphabetically sorted by owner and then ID#, with all active pets from a single owner listed before all of their retired pets. Clicking on a pet's name will show you their picture.

Owner - ID# - Name - Gender - Coat - Age - Health - Status - Known Genetic Code
Aralie - 010 - Fiona - F - Sable SH - 2 months - Okay - Active - ee U_ Ll
Bunraku - 016 - Dove - F - Silverdove SH - 3 months - Okay - Active - aa pp Sg_ LL
Country - 017 - Toffee - M - Silverrust Umbrous SH - 12 months - Good - Active - bb Sgsg U_ Ll
Crystal - 020 - Enya - F - Ivory RE SH - 4 months - Excellent - Active - ee pp Sgsg LL
Equine - 011 - Whisper - F - Silverpearl SH - 2 months - Good - Active - Sg_ ToTo LL
Equine - 014 - Boomer - M - Honeyblack SH - 4 months - Okay - Active - aa pp ToY LL
Kadana - 004 - Otto - M - Silvergrey SH - 8 months - Excellent - Active - Sg_ LL
Kadana - 005 - Dixie - F - Cream SH - 2 months - Poor - Active - ee LL
Kadana - 008 - Radar - M - Cinnamon SH - 10 months - Good - Active - pp Ee LL
Kadana - 012 - Ginger - F - Rust SH - 3 months - Poor - Active - bb Ll
Kage Davies - 019 - Name Me - F - Champagne SH - 6 months - Excellent - Active - aa bb pp LL
Riverwind - 006 - Jessie - F - Silverblack SH - 6 months - Okay - Active - Sg_ aa Ll
Rosewood - 007 - Amelia - F - Golden SH - 3 months - Poor - Active - Bb LL
Rosewood - 018 - Name Me - M - Black DS SH - 9 months - Good - Active - aa Dsds LL
toffeeca - 002 - Turtle - F - Dove SH - 3 months - Excellent - Active - aa pp Ll
toffeeca - 003 - Hershey - M - Chocolate SH - 5 months - Okay - Active - aa bb LL
toffeeca - 013 - Soap - M - Ivory SH - 3 months - Good - Active - Sgsg ee Ll
toffeeca - 015 - Nougat - M - Caramel Roan SH - 7 months - Excellent - Active - ee bb Whwh Ll
YLO - 001 - Ginger - F - Honey SH - 3 months - Good - Active - bb ToTo LL
WillowDragon - 009 - Cyril - M - Rust Umbrous SH - 11 months - Good - Active - bb U_ Ll

SH = shorthair | LH = longhair | RE = red eyed | DS = dominant spot | _ = unknown