Dominant Spot Chinese Hamsters

A dominant spot Chinese hamster has black eyes and a white under surface. The general appearance is of a white hamster with patches of normal colour evenly distributed across the top surface of the hamster.

There is a dorsal stripe but this may be broken by white patches. Often there are more coloured patches around the stripe. There may be also be spots on the ears.

The dominant spot Chinese hamster was described in a 1987 scientific paper. Spotted hamsters were first noticed in a group in 1981 in Birmingham, UK. The paper reports that the spotting is inherited in a dominant pattern, and that pups who inherit two copies of the gene are resorbed in utero and not born. In dominant spot hamsters who are born, there are no associated health or growth problems.

 

The dominant spot Chinese was initially shown in the Group of Other Species of Hamster (GOSH). It was awarded a show standard with the National Hamster Council in the 1990s when the dwarf hamster species were first shown under National Hamster Council rules.