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British Hamster Association Standards
August 2002 Feature
 

Agouti Markings (Dwarves)

[Judging can be found below.]

Agouti markings are those found on the coats of the wild type animal.  All other current coat color mutations that prevent expression of these features are called Self.  Markings are different for Syrians and Dwarves so will be addressed separately.  In the Standards Agouti Markings are included in the Colour and Markings category which accounts for 30 of the possible 100 show points.

Standards copyright and reproduced with permission of the
British Hamster Association

Campbell's

The dorsal stripe starts between the eyes and extends down the back to the tail. The color of the dorsal stripe varies according to the animal's color. The topcoat should be marked by even ticking over the head and body (exclusive of belly). Ticking color and intensity also varies with base color. Undercolor should always be even in tone from head to tail. Belly fur is much lighter and is demarcated from the body fur at the arches (sometimes called scallops). An agouti dwarf should have three prominently marked arches between the belly and the top color. On some agouti colors, like Normal and Opal, there is an edge of color where the body fur meets the belly fur.  (Note:  Opal is not yet standardized in the BHA.  The AHA has standardized this color, and the standard has been submitted to the BHA for consideration.)

The Normal to the right shows some ochre/orange color on the arches at the edge where the body fur meets the belly fur. It is not nearly as vibrant as the standard requires.          
   The Opal to the left lacks the ochre/orange color at the edge of the arches where the body fur meets the belly fur. At best, there is only a hint of color. Note also the lack of definition to his dorsal stripe. On his head, you can only see a hint of the stripe instead of the "soft dark grey stripe" required by the standard.  His markings are too pale.

Winter Whites

The agouti markings on Winter Whites are similar to those on the Campbell's. One difference is the dorsal stripe. The dorsal stripe on a Winter White should be wider than that on a Campbells. Another difference is in the arches. The agouti Winter Whites have ticking in the area under the arches while the Campbell's do not. And the Winter White Normals and Sapphires do not have the ochre/orange color at the edge where the body fur meets the belly fur. Lastly, the arches are more clearly or easily defined on the Winter Whites.

This Winter White is far better than the one below. You can see the distinct arches on his side. The ticking in the white area under the arches is even. You can also see his dorsal stripe. Note that the dorsal stripe is wider than that on the Campbell's dwarves. This is one of their distinguishing features.   
      This picture shows a Normal Winter White with poor markings. Note how dark he is. The ticking in the area under the arches is too heavy making the arches hard to distinguish. Even his dorsal stripe is hard to see with all of the other black.  His markings are far too dark overall.

Another hallmark of the Agouti hamster is hair banding.  Classically, each hair has three distinct zones - the tip, the middle area and the section nearest the skin.  This particular photo is of a Normal Campbell's dwarf. The Winter White agoutis have the same hair banding. Of course the color depends on the color of the animal.

  

Here is a chart listing the basic Dwarf Agouti colors with some of the markings:  (More can be found at BHA Show and Exhibition Standards.)

 

Dorsal Stripe

Color at Arch

 Ticking under Arch

Normal Campbell's 

 Dark brownish-black 

 Ochre/orange 

No ticking

Opal Campbell's 

 Soft dark grey

 Ochre/orange 

No ticking

Argente Campbell's 

 Mid brown with greyish tone

 No third color

No ticking

Normal Winter White

 Black

No third color

 Lightly ticked with black

Sapphire Winter White

 Dark, smoky grey

No third color

 Lightly ticked with blue-grey

That's it!  Now go take some pictures of your favorite hamsters with the "best agouti markings", and upload them to the BHA Standards Photo Gallery.  For Syrians, focus on the cheekflashes, crescents and ticking.  For Dwarves, go for the scallops, dorsal line and ticking.  No camera?  Surf the web for photos of hamsters with great markings, and submit a link on the BHA Standards Links List.  In your post be sure to indicate which hamster you're entering on the linked page in case there is more than one.  If multiple people submit the same link, credit will go to the first.  (No links to hamsters at AAA Hamsters, The River Road Hamstery or the California Hamster Association.)  Only two entries per member per month please.  Questions?  Post to the BHA Standards Message Board.

 
Remember - enjoy your hamsters, and...

  

Have your Standards!
Linda and Jan 

 

Judge's Page
by Linda Price

This month's hamsters were particularly difficult to judge over the internet.  Good photos are hard to take and don't always give a true picture of the animal.  Many times myself I have been surprised at what my hamster looks like in the photo compared to what I see in real life.  A couple of the pictures were so dark that the hamster didn't appear to have crescents.  The umbrous gene can darken the crescents, so this may have played a role in addition to the darkness of the photos.  Additionally, one had a strong glow to the hamster.  It was either a satin hamster and/or the flash was on.  Even though I liked the hamster, I could not adequately judge it to place it.

When judging a Dwarf over the internet, we can really only look at four aspects of the agouti markings.   (Aspects like the undercoat are too difficult to do over the internet.)  These will vary based on the color of the Dwarf but should be clear and noticeable.  They are:

1.  The dorsal stripe
2.  The color at the arch (Campbells)
3.  The ticking under the arch (Winter White)
4.  The belly fur border

Any deviations on any of these four criteria result in points removed from the 30 total points for color and markings.  Remember that we are only looking at agouti markings for this month.   Thus, we will entirely disregard any comments or points on color or other markings.

  Ginger is the winner.  She is a good looking Normal dwarf hamster.  The ochre/orange coloring of the standards is too faint at her arches, and this is a common fault I see on the judge's table.  It is something to look for when choosing her mate and should be one of the selection criteria used when choosing which of her babies to keep.
    Foxy Agouti is the runner-up for the dwarves.  Her arches are hard to see in the photos but did not look clearly defined.

Congratulations to our winners!

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