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A post about the National Hamster Council in the Uk, for newer members or those who weren't aware of it. The National Hamster council was established in 1949, and (information from their website) they are
"the governing body of the hamster fancy in the United Kingdom, representing the interests of all concerned with the keeping, exhibiting and/or breeding of the 5 species of hamster commonly kept asd [sic] pets. As the world’s leading hamster organisation, the NHC has an unrivalled reputation, and its standards and show rules have been used – and continue to be used – by hamster clubs and societies in many countries."
"We have a wealth of experience and expertise within the NHC, with some of our members having kept, bred and exhibited hamsters for over 40 years. This unique pool of knowledge is made available to every club member through our information sheets, by personal contact and through our monthly journal."
Without the National Hamster Council, the original species of Russian dwarf hamsters would probably have been lost, except in the wild, due to interbreeding of Campbells and Winter White hamsters over the decades, either by accident or through lack of knowledge of the species, to the point that it is considered that all (or virtually) all Russian dwarf hamsters are now hybrids of the two species - unless they are from an official NHC breeder and have an ancestry and pedigree certificate. The NHC seems to have a stance that the two species should never be deliberately interbred.
The California Hamster Association in the United States has a similar function, with a member list of ethical breeders and I believe works with members of the NHC in the Uk. As a result there is now a breeder of pedigreee Winter White Hamsters in the US from Uk breeding stock. Whereas until quite recently it is believed there were no pedigree Russian dwarf hamsters in the United States.
Clubs
Under the umbrella of the National Hamster Council are two Hamster clubs. The Northern Hamster Club and and the Midland and Southern Hamster club, whose individual members cover the various regions within the Uk and are also members of the National Hamster Council.
It is a world which many of us would be unfamiliar with and longer standing members mentor newer members and newer NHC breeders into good and safe practices of breeding pedigree hamsters.
Code of Conduct
NHC members are required to confirm with a Code of Conduct and failure to adhere to that code of conduct means they can lose their membership status. This enables reliability and trustworthiness for members of the public who deal with them and they are required to keep careful records of ancestry, breeding colours and medical information. This is quite important as inexperienced or unofficial breeders could breed certain colours together which are known to cause congenital defects in the offspring hamsters. And sadly that sort of thing is likely to happen in breeding mills which we probably never get to see.
As with all official organisations, they will have certain members in charge of certain areas to ensure compliance.
General Information
The National Hamster Council has never been that well known of. I remember someone on Twitter, a few years ago, coming across an article where the NHC had publicly criticised a "football" event involving hamsters, and that Twitter member saying "Yes there is a National Hamster Council!". It is not well known in the public world.
Since the internet and social media took off, it is perhaps even less well known. But it does exist and, in the background, continues to keep the species in tact and some people will wait quite a long time to get a hamster from an NHC breeder, to ensure their hamster is healthy and safely bred. Some NHC breeders might only have one or two litters a year, or even none some years.
Even now there are hardly any official NHC breeders of Chinese or Roborovski hamsters, very few breeders of Winter White hamsters and possibly only one breeder of Campbells hamsters.
Without the National Hamster Council, the Winter White and Campbells species would probably disappear, in domestication.
The world of hamster care has changed considerably in the last decade and particularly in the last 5 or 6 years, and although the National Hamster Council were perhaps a bit slow to recognise the changes, they now do and also promote suitable sized cages and enrichment and have an up to date website.
There are newer and younger members of the NHC in the last few years to carry on the good work.
Anyone can join and become a member of the individual Clubs and become involved.
Genetics
This is a highly complex area which National Hamster Council members are very experienced in and can sound like gobledegook to many. It is an important aspect however, to ensure that recessive genes are not bred with inappropriate colours to avoid hamsters with genetic abnormalities.
It is also an interesting topic to those who do breed within the NHC and want to keep a pure bred "line" of a particular colour or temperament of hamster and to continue that line. Some NHC breeders will only focus on one or two colourways and focus on breeding for temperament - eg to produce gentle hamsters suitable as pets.
Some colourways are known to have specific personality characteristics and "Yellows" are quite notorious! (Extremely maverick usually).
There is an interesting article about the genetics of the Syrian Hamster on this Midland Hamster Club page
www.midlandhamsterclub.co.uk
"the governing body of the hamster fancy in the United Kingdom, representing the interests of all concerned with the keeping, exhibiting and/or breeding of the 5 species of hamster commonly kept asd [sic] pets. As the world’s leading hamster organisation, the NHC has an unrivalled reputation, and its standards and show rules have been used – and continue to be used – by hamster clubs and societies in many countries."
"We have a wealth of experience and expertise within the NHC, with some of our members having kept, bred and exhibited hamsters for over 40 years. This unique pool of knowledge is made available to every club member through our information sheets, by personal contact and through our monthly journal."
Without the National Hamster Council, the original species of Russian dwarf hamsters would probably have been lost, except in the wild, due to interbreeding of Campbells and Winter White hamsters over the decades, either by accident or through lack of knowledge of the species, to the point that it is considered that all (or virtually) all Russian dwarf hamsters are now hybrids of the two species - unless they are from an official NHC breeder and have an ancestry and pedigree certificate. The NHC seems to have a stance that the two species should never be deliberately interbred.
The California Hamster Association in the United States has a similar function, with a member list of ethical breeders and I believe works with members of the NHC in the Uk. As a result there is now a breeder of pedigreee Winter White Hamsters in the US from Uk breeding stock. Whereas until quite recently it is believed there were no pedigree Russian dwarf hamsters in the United States.
Clubs
Under the umbrella of the National Hamster Council are two Hamster clubs. The Northern Hamster Club and and the Midland and Southern Hamster club, whose individual members cover the various regions within the Uk and are also members of the National Hamster Council.
It is a world which many of us would be unfamiliar with and longer standing members mentor newer members and newer NHC breeders into good and safe practices of breeding pedigree hamsters.
Code of Conduct
NHC members are required to confirm with a Code of Conduct and failure to adhere to that code of conduct means they can lose their membership status. This enables reliability and trustworthiness for members of the public who deal with them and they are required to keep careful records of ancestry, breeding colours and medical information. This is quite important as inexperienced or unofficial breeders could breed certain colours together which are known to cause congenital defects in the offspring hamsters. And sadly that sort of thing is likely to happen in breeding mills which we probably never get to see.
As with all official organisations, they will have certain members in charge of certain areas to ensure compliance.
General Information
The National Hamster Council has never been that well known of. I remember someone on Twitter, a few years ago, coming across an article where the NHC had publicly criticised a "football" event involving hamsters, and that Twitter member saying "Yes there is a National Hamster Council!". It is not well known in the public world.
Since the internet and social media took off, it is perhaps even less well known. But it does exist and, in the background, continues to keep the species in tact and some people will wait quite a long time to get a hamster from an NHC breeder, to ensure their hamster is healthy and safely bred. Some NHC breeders might only have one or two litters a year, or even none some years.
Even now there are hardly any official NHC breeders of Chinese or Roborovski hamsters, very few breeders of Winter White hamsters and possibly only one breeder of Campbells hamsters.
Without the National Hamster Council, the Winter White and Campbells species would probably disappear, in domestication.
The world of hamster care has changed considerably in the last decade and particularly in the last 5 or 6 years, and although the National Hamster Council were perhaps a bit slow to recognise the changes, they now do and also promote suitable sized cages and enrichment and have an up to date website.
There are newer and younger members of the NHC in the last few years to carry on the good work.
Anyone can join and become a member of the individual Clubs and become involved.
Genetics
This is a highly complex area which National Hamster Council members are very experienced in and can sound like gobledegook to many. It is an important aspect however, to ensure that recessive genes are not bred with inappropriate colours to avoid hamsters with genetic abnormalities.
It is also an interesting topic to those who do breed within the NHC and want to keep a pure bred "line" of a particular colour or temperament of hamster and to continue that line. Some NHC breeders will only focus on one or two colourways and focus on breeding for temperament - eg to produce gentle hamsters suitable as pets.
Some colourways are known to have specific personality characteristics and "Yellows" are quite notorious! (Extremely maverick usually).
There is an interesting article about the genetics of the Syrian Hamster on this Midland Hamster Club page
Syrian Hamster Genetics and Inheritance
Like all animals, the genes that a hamster inherits from its parents, (the genotype), affect the way it looks. The animal receives genetic information from its parents in their eggs or sperm and, …
www.midlandhamsterclub.co.uk
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I prefer to adopt hamsters generally, but it's not always possible. Tino is from an NHC breeder. Some NHC breeders also adopt from rescues and have their own pet hamsters.
