Comments – The color and markings are pale on this hamster. Type is the key weakness in this hamster. His head is long and narrow, and the body is not broad and cobby. In the front-and side facing photos, one can see that the distance between the ears is much less than the distance between an imaginary line between the ears to the nose. Ideally these lengths would be equal.
# 131
Black Eyed Cream
short hair
Color/Markings – 22
Type – 19
Fur - 8
Size - 9
Condition - 9
Eyes/ears - 4
Total – 71
Place - 1
Comments – The color is a tad orange but looks mostly even. Photos and lighting can affect this. Coat looks thin between the shoulders. Her body and particularly skull lack the breadth needed, and the face is a bit long and pointed.
1st
2nd
The first and second place females from each class compete for best overall standardized female
# 129
Black banded
short hair
Color/Markings – 23
Type – 20-
Fur – 9+
Size – 8+
Condition - 9
Eyes/ears - 4
Total – 73+
Place - 1
Comments – This hamster illustrates better than more the cobbiness/roundness in the body required by the standard. Her head is weaker than her body and is not as large as desired in proportion to her body. Her body could use more breadth too. Her black color is a definite strength with no noticeable browning. The band is a bit too narrow but the margins have reasonable parallelness with little spotting within the band. From the front facing photo, though, you can see that the black color encroaches on the belly fur which should be entirely white in a banded hamster. I like this hamster even though her score will not win. Color quality is far more likely to pass to her pups than band quality, and body structure is good although the head can be improved on. Paired with the right animal, she could be an asset to a breeding program – especially if she is still young and has some more growing and maturing to do.
# 132
Black banded
short hair
Color/Markings – 23
Type – 19
Fur - 9
Size – 9-
Condition - 9
Eyes/ears - 4
Total – 73-
Place - 2
Comments – This one has similarities to the last one with good black color
quality, but her body shape is a bit weaker. She has more of a triangular
shape – at least it appears that way in the photos. Her band is wider, but
there is more color within the band, and the margins are jagged. The front
facing photo shows she has some breadth to her body.
1st
2nd
# 114
Dark Gray
Long Hair
Color/Markings – 26
Type – 21+
Fur – 9-
Size - 9
Condition – 9-
Eyes/ears - 4
Total – 78
Place - 1
Comments – This female is one of the better ones to see the
cobbiness/roundness required by the standard. You can see the breadth of her
body in the top two photos, and although her head could be larger in
proportion to her body, she is one of the better examples of breadth in her
body and skull that we have entered in the show. Note the difference between
her and the last entry who looked pregnant. This one has the broadness
through her body including her head and shoulders although she may be about as
large around the hips as the above hamster (#146). Her markings are strong.
She may be a bit out of her prime, but this is a nice animal and would be an
asset to most any breeding program.
# 115
Dark Gray
Long Hair
Color/Markings – 24
Type – 20
Fur - 9
Size - 9
Condition - 9
Eyes/ears - 4
Total – 75
Place - 2
Comments – Note the difference in the heads of this hamster and the previous one (#114) in the head-on views. The previous hamster has a broader skull. The previous hamster also has much better color and markings including cheekflashes and ticking although this one retains nice contrast as seen by the crescents. This female has nice type and is still a nice animal, but you can see how strong the previous hamster is by comparing these two.
1st
2nd
# 130
Black
Long hair
Color/Markings – 23
Type – 19
Fur - 9
Size - 9
Condition - 9
Eyes/ears - 4
Total – 73
Place - 2
Comments – There is a small amount of browning in the coat of this female.
One of the things we aren’t attempting to judge in this show is the belly
markings in the self hamsters and the chest band on the agouti hamsters. I
would encourage people to review the standards on those two items (or ask for
more details on the Hamsters in Focus list). I mention this because it
appears she may have some extra white in the chest area. This hamster has
reasonably good type. Her head is a bit small in proportion to her body, and
her head could be shorter and blunter, but she has some breadth to her body
and head.
# 108
copper
long hair
Paper size: 148 x 210 mm
Color/Markings – 23-
Type – 20
Fur - 9
Size - 9
Condition - 9
Eyes/ears - 4
Total – 74
Place - 1
Comments – This hamster needs a blunter nose and shorter face, but her typeis better than average.
1st
2nd
# 106
black eyed cream banded
longhair
Paper size: 148 x 210 mm
Color/Markings – 24
Type – 23
Fur - 9
Size - 9
Condition – 9
Eyes/ears - 4
Total – 78
Place – 1
Comments – This female is the best example of a broad and cobby body. Look at the width of her body and head. Look how far apart her ears are. This female has enough of a strength there to be an asset to almost any breeding program. Her face is short. She could have a bit more bluntness to the nose, but this is a very nice typed hamster. The lighter ring around her nose is most likely due to chewing on the bars. Her band is about the right width,
and the margins are roughly parallel It’s not a perfect band with a cream spot in the middle and a little unevenness in the margins, but it’s very good for a band.
# 116
Black Dominant Spot
Long Hair
Color/Markings – 23
Type – 20
Fur – 9-
Size – 9-
Condition - 9
Eyes/ears - 4
Total – 74-
Place - 2
Comments – This hamster has a better, broader head than the previous
dominant spot female although her nose could also use more bluntness. Her
spotting pattern is also much better than average with a reasonably balanced
pattern of color and white. The black is not quite as dark as it should be,
