Judging the Chinese Hamster

The judge takes each hamster out of their show pen and assesses them against the National Hamster Council show standards.

The judge awards points for each hamster’s colour, type, fur, size, condition, and eyes and eare. The perfect hamster would get 100 points. The hamster with the highest score wins the class. The dwarf hamster with the most points wins Dwarf Best in Show.

After judging all of the hamsters, the judge awards the placings for the duplicate classes, and decides whether they want to give the best hamsters in the show a Certificate of Merit.

A hamster who earns three Certificates of Merit from at least two different judges becomes a Champion. A hamster who earns five Certificates of Merit from at least three different judges becomes a Grand Champion.

The Chinese hamster has some particular problem areas when it comes to judging it against the show standard.

In all of the varieties, you should pay attention to the head shape, making sure that it is an equilateral triangle and that the ears are placed correctly. Select away from a tendency to bulging eyes or a fatty hump over the shoulders.

In normal Chinese hamsters, the overall colour tends to be pale and lack depth which is something to develop in your breeding programme. Normal Chinese hamsters should not have white spots on their bellies. Also pay attention to the length of the dorsal stripe and the appearance of the side markings, as a short dorsal stripe or uneven side markings will lose points.

In dominant spot Chinese hamsters, wherever there are coloured patches over the spine there should be dorsal stripe also. Coloured spots near the base of the tail often reveal a short stripe which is otherwise hidden!

Black eyed white hamsters should have no coloured spots on their ears. They should be clean and perfectly white. Any staining or discolouration is heavily marked down.