Common Abbreviations

People new to the wonderful world of hamsters often find it is filled with people speaking and writing a strange language! To help here is a list, suggested by forum members, of common abbreviations...

• AOC - Any Other Colour - a class in an NHC hamster show referring to hamsters of any standard colour that do not have a separate class.
• BEC - Black Eyed Cream
• BEW - Black Eyed White - a white hamster showing black eyes.
• BIS - Best In Show
• BOS - Best Opposite Sex - if the BIS hamster is female then the best male in the show and vice versa.
• COM - Certificate of Merit. A certificate given by a judge at NHC shows to identify an exceptional hamster. Receiving a number of COMs can lead to a hamster being named a champion or grand champion.
• DEW - Dark Eared White - white with dark, almost black ears.
• Dg - dark grey
• DS or Dom Spot - Dominant Spot a dominant patterned gene causing spotting on the hamster
• E
• FEW - Flesh Eared White. Sometimes referred to as PEW but known in the UK Fancy as FEW.
• GC - Grand Challenge - A class in a NHC show
• HH - Harry Hamster, a commonly fed hamster food.
• I
• JP - Judges Pocket - a note identifying a hamster that the judge would like to steal!
• K
• LG Light Grey
  
• LH - Long haired
• LTN - Long Toe Nails
• MAH - Mad About Hamsters - A hamster forum for the discerning hamster owner!
• MHC - Midland Hamster Club
• NHC - National Hamster Council, the UK fancy's governing body or occasionally Northern Hamster Club.
• Northern - Northern Hamster Club
• O
• PAH or P@H - the pet chainstore Pets At Home
• PEW - Pale Eared White -White with pale ear colour
• RBIS - Reserve Best In Show - The second best hamster in the show.
• Rd - Recessive Dappled, a recessive patterned gene.
• REC - red eyed cream
• ROBO - a roborovski hamster a species of dwarf hamster
• SAP - Sapphire
• SG - Silver Grey
• SH - short haired
• SHC - Southern Hamster Club
• STBF - Slightly Thin Belly Fur
• TBF - Thin Belly Fur
• Tort - Tortoiseshell hamster, a hamster almost always female, that exhibits patches of yellow colour along with the main colour.
• TTS - Tortoiseshell - see Tort.
• U - umbrous - a colour gene that when added to another colour gives that colour a sooty look. Example - umbrous cinnamon. When added to BEC this gives a sable hamster, or to a REC gives mink.
• VTBF - Very Thin Belly Fur
• Wh - White Bellied - classed as a semi lethal gene in hamsters. One copy of this gene causes roaning in cream based animals or a white belly on agouti animals. 2 copies causes a white hamster with small (microopthalmia) or absent (anopthalmia) eyes.
• WU - White Under - a Judges note observing a fault on an unpatterned hamster - a patch of white under the belly. Can be an indication of the hamster carrying the White bellied gene (Wh) or Recessive Dappled gene (rd)
• WW - Winter White - a dwarf hamster species.
• X
• YWP - Young With Potential - a Judges note identifying a hamster that though not yet fully mature shows the potential to be a very nice show animal
• Z

If you become aware of any other abbreviations that it would be useful to add to this list, please contact a member of the moderating team.