Breeding Males
Bebop
Heterozygous Silver Gray Longhair A_ Bb Ee Sgsg ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 17) Sire: Zika's Levi Dam: Holmden Hill Haven's Sola Offspring include Cannoli and Adelaide. |
Bebop is almost a spitting image of his great-grandfather, our beloved Atherton. He is carrying on the extremely fluffy side of the family quite nicely. And he's cuddly.
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Manuel
Ivory Longhair Aa B_ ee P_ Sgsg whwhᵖ ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 23) Sire: Zika's Benjamin Dam: Zika's Kernel |
Manuel possibly has the softest fur you've ever felt. Someone must have infused his fur with silk or clouds or something.
Some of our hamsters carry Polywhite, and it's caused some confusion. We thought Manuel was a Pale-eared Ivory, a Rust combination color, but as he got older his ears became speckled, and the dark parts seem too dark to be a Pale-eared Ivory. |
Ulysses
Rust Aa bb Ee Ll wh_ Breeder: Holmden Hill Haven Sire: Holmden Hill Haven's Omno Dam: Holmden Hill Haven's Mindivine |
Ulysses comes to us from Holmden Hill Haven, and we are happy to add his genes to our lines! He and Oswald are very similar in body type and personality, but Ulysses does have slightly darker markings and a bit more of a slant to his nose.
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Breeding Females
Cannoli
Ivory Longhair A_ Bb ee Sgsg ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 22) Sire: Zika's Bebop Dam: Zika's Novinha |
Cannoli's name fits her perfectly because she seem to be on a constant sugar rush. She's a high energy ham who zips from one side of the cage to another! Her high energy has made her a fantastic mom to 14 pups.
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Truffle
Chocolate aa bb Ee P_ wh_ Ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 23) Sire: Zika's Benjamin Dam: Zika's Kernel |
Truffle was on high alert when we made her profile picture; it was pure miracle that we got an in focus picture of her! She has given her complete attention to her 16 pups, our largest litter ever, and is raising her litter to be wonderful little chubs.
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Mabel
Heterozygous Silver Sable Banded Longhair _a ee Sgsg Uu Baba ll Breeder: Holmden Hill Haven Sire: Holmden Hill Haven's Tobias Dam: Holmden Hill Haven's Tres Love |
Mabel's genes bring back some mutations that we accidentally lost, Umbrous and Banded. Even though she wasn't born here, she got those two genes from her grandsire, our Enigma.
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Mosie
Chocolate Dominant Spot Longhair aa bb Pp Dsds whwhᵖ ll Breeder: Holmden Hill Haven Sire: Holmden Hill Haven's Zinger Dam: Holmden Hill Haven's Chocolate Addiction |
Mosie is a fairy with a huge personality. Every time Aly puts a hand into Mosie's cage, Mosie will run up, grab a big finger with her tiny paws, and sniff it all over to look for food. She might even lick Aly a couple times to re-check that Aly is not edible, too.
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Former breeding hamsters
These are hamsters that have been part of our breeding program, but they have gone to new homes. Because they've passed on their genes to their descendants, they still get to be included on this page.
Kernel
Cream Longhair Aa Bb ee Pp ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 17) Sire: Zika's Levi Dam: Holmden Hill Haven's Sola Offspring include Manuel and Truffle. |
It's getting hard to say something specific about every hamster. Kernel is cute and friendly and a good mom. Since those traits aren't remarkable for our hamsters, I guess that means we're doing things right.
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Benjamin
Heterozygous Silver Black aa Bb Ee Pp Sgsg wh_ Ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 18) Sire: Holmden Hill Haven's Silas Dam: Zika's Viviana Offspring include Manuel and Truffle. |
Benjamin looks Black, but he had a possibility of having a Silver Gray gene as well. We hoped he did because in all this effort to work on Rust, our Silver Gray pool is growing thin. Fortunately, he produced some Silver Gray pups for us, proving that he is in fact a Silver Black.
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Rest in Peace
Our four foundation hamsters
These hamsters form the genetic basis of our line. We have introduced other bloodlines through outcrosses, but the the core Zika line is based on these four hamsters: two lucky finds at a pet store, and two from Pearl Hamletry, who gave us a lot of help when we were starting out.
These hamsters form the genetic basis of our line. We have introduced other bloodlines through outcrosses, but the the core Zika line is based on these four hamsters: two lucky finds at a pet store, and two from Pearl Hamletry, who gave us a lot of help when we were starting out.
Mono
Homozygous Silver Gray Umbrous Longhair Ee SgSg Uu ll Pedigree unknown Offspring include Atherton and Annabelle, and Caesar and Zira at Pearl Hamletry. |
Mono was our first hamster. He amazed everyone with his long, soft fur and his favorite pastime of climbing on the walls and ceiling of his cage, hence his name, which is Spanish for "monkey." He gave us three litters, and as he slowed down with old age he remained sweet and cuddly. He will be fondly missed.
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Beefalo
Sable Banded Longhair Aa ee UU Baba ll Pedigree unknown Offspring include Atherton, and Caesar and Zira at Pearl Hamletry. |
Beefalo was our sweetest hamster. She was even known to fall asleep in our arms. She made an adorable chirping sound when we held her, like a tiny, contented cricket. She raised three litters and lived to the ripe old age of 26 months. Beefalo will be remembered as the builder of castles, gathering all the bedding in the cage into one corner to build the best possible nest for her babies.
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Ilmarë
Homozygous Silver Sable Banded Longhair ee P_ SgSg Toto Uu Baba ll Breeder: Pearl Hamletry Sire: Pearl Hamletry's Gandalf Dam: Pearl Hamletry's Serafina Offspring include Enigma, and Belle at Berry Blossom Hamstery. |
Ilmarë surprised us with her strength and her stubbornness. She was one of the largest of her litter, and used her strong body to her advantage for exploring! She passed on her fiery will to two fine litters of pups. Her name comes from Tolkien's The Silmarillion.
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Frida
Ivory Longhair ee P_ Sgsg ll Breeder: Pearl Hamletry Sire: Pearl Hamletry's Michelangelo Dam: Pearl Hamletry's Manila Offspring include Annabelle. |
This beautiful Ivory with thick, glossy fur came to us from Pearl Hamletry. She was a perky hamster and would stand on her hind legs whenever she heard a new sound. She gave us our first rainbow litter with seven different color combinations.
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Other bygone hamsters
Atherton
Heterozygous Silver Gray Umbrous Longhair Aa Ee Sgsg UU ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 3) Sire: Mono Dam: Beefalo Offspring include Enigma and Argenta, and Belle at Berry Blossom Hamstery. |
Atherton was the first hamster to be born here and kept for breeding. He's always been friendly. We used to say that he had a personality approximating that of a beanbag, but that became even more true as he got floppy with age. He lived to the ripe old age of two years, 4.4 months; we hope that longevity will carry on in his bloodline. All the hamsters born at Zika since the beginning of 2015 are Atherton's descendants.
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Enigma
Homozygous Silver Pearl Umbrous Ee Banded Longhair Aa Ee P_ SgSg ToY UU Baba ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 4) Sire: Zika's Atherton Dam: Pearl Hamletry's Ilmarë Offspring include Shiloh. |
When Enigma's fur began to grow, we were confounded by his color and markings. After several inaccurate guesses, we named him "Enigma" and started seeking advice. It turns out his mother unexpectedly had the Yellow gene, making Enigma a Silver Pearl Umbrous, carrying Cream.
Enigma remained a sweetheart throughout his long stay with us. In his old age, he went to Holmden Hill Haven where he had two more litters and finally proved beyond doubt that he has Yellow. |
Annabelle
Heterozygous Silver Gray Longhair Ee Sgsg ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 5) Sire: Mono Dam: Pearl Hamletry's Frida Offspring include Shiloh and Argenta. |
Annabelle was a gentle giant. She was the first hamster born here to reach 200 grams. With that size came strength. She once lifted a three-pound lid off her cage and escaped! She wasn't even an adult then; we still have no idea how she did it. She was a great mother to three fine litters and passed on her large size and gentle nature to our later generations.
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Shiloh
Homozygous Silver Sable Banded Longhair Aa ee SgSg Pp Uu Baba ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 7) Sire: Zika's Enigma Dam: Zika's Annabelle Offspring include Viviana and Aubergine. |
Shiloh was never afraid of humans. Even as a pup, he boldly came up to our hands and easily let us hold him. He remained a fluffy human-lover throughout his life, and we miss him.
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Argenta
Homozygous Silver Gray Umbrous Longhair Aa E_ Sgsg Uu ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 8) Sire: Zika's Atherton Dam: Zika's Annabelle Offspring include Levi. |
With her thick, black cheek flashes, Argenta had the most striking markings of any Silver Gray hamster we've had. We'd long suspected it was because she carried Black. We tested our hypothesis by mating her with Argus, a Black carrier, and found out we were right when Argenta produced our very first Black pup.
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Argus
Golden Umbrous Longhair Aa Bb Ee Pp Uu ll Breeder: Hillcrest Hamstery Sire: Hillcrest's Getti Dam: Brookside's Oceana Offspring include Levi and Ferrus. |
While we were traveling home with Argus, whenever we'd look back to check on him, his eyes would be wide open and staring us dead in the face. For a time, we wondered if he slept with his eyes open. Eventually we caught him relaxed and sleeping, but by then he had already earned the name Argus, after the watchful Greek giant with a hundred eyes. The name turned out to be even more appropriate than we thought, as he has now set a size record at Zika, being our first hamster to reach 200 grams!
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Pepita
Pale-eared Cream Longhair A_ bb ee Rd_ ll Breeder: Hillcrest Hamstery Sire: Hillcrest's Dylan Dam: Brookside's Bonnet Offspring include Viviana and Aubergine. |
Pepita's exceptionally soft and thick fur was welcome addition to our colony of Longhaired Syrians. She also brought us a new color gene, Rust, which can produce several nice combination colors when mixed with our other color genes.
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Viviana
Ivory Longhair Aa Bb ee Pp Sgsg ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 9) Sire: Zika's Shiloh Dam: Hillcrest's Pepita Offspring include Ferrus. |
Viviana was one of the biggest and friendliest in her litter. So big in fact, that at the age of two months she was already larger than both her parents! Annabelle's large size seems to have skipped a generation. Viviana gave us our first Rust pups. She remained a human-lover throughout her life. She's named after a character from Gaia.
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Aubergine
Heterozygous Silver Sable Longhair A_ Bb ee P_ Sgsg Uu ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 9) Sire: Zika's Shiloh Dam: Hillcrest's Pepita Offspring include Courgette. |
Aubergine gave us one huge litter with twelve babies. She went on to lend her prolifery to a startup hamstery.
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Levi
Heterozygous Silver Gray Longhair B_ Ee P_ Sgsg ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 10) Sire: Hillcrest's Argus Dam: Zika's Argenta Offspring include Courgette, Bebop, and Kernel |
From a young age, Levi stood out with his exceptionally friendly and docile personality. He would always bobble over to greet us when we walk to his cage and loved to be held. He was the largest hamster we've ever had.
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Ferrus
Rust Longhair Aa bb Ee Pp ll Breeder: Zika Hamstery (litter 12) Sire: Hillcrest's Argus Dam: Zika's Viviana Offspring include Noodle, Novinha, Mocha, and Chai |
Ferrus the rust bucket was the first Rust hamster born here and an important step toward establishing Rust in our gene pool. He was a gorgeous fluffball with a very docile temperament. He was one of our favorites.
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Sola
Golden Aa Bb Ee P_ wh_ Ll Breeder: Holmden Hill Haven Sire: Pearl Hamletry's Lester Dam: Holmden Hill Haven's Chocoholic Offspring include Bebop, Kernel, Mocha, and Chai |
A shy wisp of a hamster at first, she grew up and learned to like humans after all, especially after she learned that humans have the power to give her some time away from her babies. In spite of that, she was an excellent mother and passed her coveted Rust gene onto two delectable offspring.
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Leora
Cream Aa Bb ee Pp whwhᵖ Ll Breeder: Holmden Hill Haven Sire: Holmden Hill Haven's Starter Dam: Holmden Hill Haven's Babette Offspring include Novinha |
We had some bad luck at producing Rust pups, so we were glad to get Leora, another Rust carrier. She gave us some nice Rust babies, including our very first Chocolate.
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Didymus
Genetics and ancestry unknown |
We were quite surprised to see in a pet store what appeared to be a male Dove Tortoiseshell hamster. This is of course surprising because the Tortoiseshell pattern, a mixture of yellow and non-yellow areas, occurs only in females. Thinking we had possibly found a new Syrian hamster mutation, we couldn't resist snatching him. It's possible he was indeed something new, or he may have been a chimera, a rare genetic occurrence in which two embryos fuse at a very early stage of development and grow into one hamster with different sets of DNA in different parts of its body. In this case, the two sets of DNA would have different coat colors. His name means "twin" because in one sense, he was his own twin (if he was indeed a chimera).
But as he aged, the yellow areas turned grayish-brown, and he became entirely one color, so we're not sure anymore. Hamsters of combination colors that include both Yellow and Black can have visible distinctions between their baby coat and adult coat when it comes in. It's possible his striking color patches were just an extreme case of that. So he might have been Yellow Dove Umbrous or something similar. He went to another hamstery for test breeding, but unfortunately he died before producing any litters, so we'll never know why he had such interesting markings. |