Hi

As the font of all knowledge on just about every subject I am hoping that there is a champdoger than can help.

I am trying to find the champdogs equivalent for hamsters and so far I am having no joy.

Does such a thing exist and also can anyone recommend any websites for sensible down to earth advice.

Many thanks

h

I can probably answer most questions you may have -I bred, showed and judged for many, many years, international judge, founder member of both Swedish Hamster Society and British Hamster Association (now no longer in existence), had 3 books on hamsters published etc. I have kept Syrians, Chinese, Russian Campbell, Russian Winter White and Roborovski. I am not aware of any forums but there are mailing lists, the ones I am aware of are not active at all any more but if you look for club based mailing lists (National Hamster Council and its affiliated regional clubs such as Southern Hamster Club, Northern HC, Midland HC) they may be more active but will of course mainly be about breeding and showing.
This is the NHC website: http://www.hamsters-uk.org/
This website has decent info, it started out as an independent hamster site done by a fancier and was then bought by the Pet Web Site: http://www.petwebsite.com/hamsters.asp

Golfmali

Many thanks for the comprehensive reply, I kind of thought you maybe the person to ask.

I have taken over the small animal department at my work and I have found myself in need of a really good reference place with regards to housing and general hamster care.

Are you books geared towards fanciers or are they more general?  If the latter if you would not mind giving me the titles I will see if I can persuade my bosses to buy them for me.

While I have, so to speak, do you have happen to have the same info available for Guinea Pigs, Degus, Gerbils and any other small furries.

I am sorted with rabbits I believe as I have a close working relationship with the RAWF.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

h

Certainly check out the websites as there is a fair bit of good info there on general care. The books are pretty old now and I am not sure if even available, but otherwise both pet keeping/general care/breeding/showing. "The proper care of hamsters" is fairly comprehensive (but was written before the Papova virus had come into existence -I wrote it in 1991) published by TFH Kingdom, by Marianne Mays (as I was then) and a very small book called "Your first dwarf hamster", Kingdom, Marianne Mays. The third one is in Swedish and Danish only. :)

Just checked and you can get the books from Amazon still.

Have a look for Degu World I think it is, there's a forum which is very useful, ditto Chinchilla World.

Don't know about the other small furries but I can probably help with mice questions, I have 98 at the moment but have had over 300 in all.

I've also had degus, I have chinchillas at the mo but I'm not a font of knowledge for them - still learning myself! - and I've had something like 80 rats too so I have a lot of knowledge on them, although I think Goldmali beats me for sure on those :-)

Oh yes I should perhaps have said -I have also bred and shown fancy mice, still judge them occasionally at home in Sweden (bred many many thousands), guinea pigs, fancy rats, gerbils, rabbits but it was always hamsters that was my main speciality. I do miss not having any but I have nowhere to keep small furries these days, safely away from dogs and cats! For a good book on rats, my ex husband wrote "The proper care of fancy rats", also TFH Kingdom, Nick Mays, and I think he's written others since, you're bound to find a lot of rat related stuff by Googling his name.

Nikita -didn't realise you had mice as well! :)

I was thinking about getting into showing hamsters once, I had 2 show quality Winter White Russians, they had pedigrees just like the dogs, this was before I had dogs so it seemed very strange after just buying from pet shops for the Syrians. Never got round to it though, and then when we got dogs they took over. I've had quite a few other small furries over the years, Syrian hamsters of course, guinea pigs, rabbits, mice, rats, degus, but just pet shop quality ones. :-)

Oooh yes, plenty of them!  I don't have rats any more and won't have mice again once these have gone though, but that'll be a while yet :-)

Rat equivalent of CD is http://www.fancyratsforum.co.uk/index.php. Full of knowledgeable and helpful people  ;-)

> I am sorted with rabbits I believe as I have a close working relationship with the RAWF.
>
> Any help is greatly appreciated.
>
>

Hi I don't know what RAWF stands for but certainly The British Rabbit Council http://www.thebrc.org/ have lots of info available and a lending Library for scholarly and other books.

If you want to PM me with any questions on cavies, there isn't much I don't know.  I showed, bred, judged for well over 25 years, and I was a specialist longhair judge.  At one point I kept the largest longhair stud in the UK.  300 pigs.  And used to send show pigs all over the world.

Out of curiosity Jean, what was your stud name? Never showed cavies more than a handfull of times in the UK, and I had mainly self blacks and black cresteds, the odd rex (although at home in Sweden I did have Peruvians and Shelties) -I used to live within walking distance of the Bradford when it was at Doncaster racecourse and therefore went there for the entire duration of the show and would enter whatever I had across several sections -rabbits, cavies, rats, mice. (There wasn't usually a hamster show on.) Went to the London several times as well of course, my first visit was in 1980 having travelled over from Sweden.

I remember the London shows well.  After the fire at Ally Pally it was never quite the same when it moved to a venue in Middlesex. 

I registered the very first Triple Coronet Champion in the UK, Champion Troubador Dinah.  I had Shelties, Coronets, Peruvians and Texels.

I am on several good hamster forums,pm me and i will give you the addys.

Thanks.  Don't know a thing about hamsters!

I have just bred my first litters of minilops and am very excited about their first show this weekend - already had lots of positive feedback from established breeders - my daughter has decided she is keeping German lops & lionlops. We started with 2 French lops 12 months ago we now have 2 Frenchies, 2 Germans & 15 minilops lol - Amy wants a peruvian cavy too - since seeing pictures of 2 I had a few years ago - so can see that taking off too :)