Hamstery Prefixes
By Nichole Royer

The use of hamstery prefixes is common throughout the fancy. For those who may have never run across the concept, a prefix is the name of the hamstery from which an animal came. Most breeders will ask that any animal of theirs which is shown or bred carry this prefix in front of it's name. In this way their hard work in producing the animal is recorded if the animal does well at shows. Within a pedigree the use of prefixes (and thus the knowledge of exactly who each animal came from) provides a wealth of knowledge. It also means that if issues occur or questions develop you can backtrack to the breeders behind an animal for valuable information.

Many people will use a whole word or several words (for instance I'm Tarot Rats, Mice, and Hamsters so my prefix is "Tarot's"). Others will use a set of initials which designate where their animals hail from (more common among rats and mice - many, many years ago I used "TR"). The choice of a hamstery name and prefix really is a personal thing, though an individual does best to choose something they really like. Once a hamstery name is chosen it will be associated with the individual breeder and should really never be changed. Thus it's best to choose something tasteful, and to refrain from using something which is identical or very similar to someone else's. It is acceptable for individuals working closely together to use names or prefixes with a common theme or which are related, however they should still be distinctive.

While this seems a simple concept, there can be confusion as to proper etiquette in using prefixes. This is particularly true when breeding gets complicated and involve more than one breeder.

The basic rule of thumb is that if you own a female, any pups she produces carry your prefix. This is true regardless of who owns the male, where the mating took place, or who raised the litter.

There are exceptions to that rule, however. If two breeders collaborate together and then split a litter the matter can be handled in one of two ways. Either the pups carry the name of the breeder whom they go to (so half the litter has one prefix, half has the other) or they carry both prefixes (i.e., something like "AAA & Tarot's Joint Venture"). Either way is acceptable, but it is best to discuss the topic and mutually agree how it's going to be handled.

Once in a while you may run into a situation where one breeder plans out a litter based on borrowing a female from another breeder. If the breeder who owns the female is not a part of planning the litter and it's a straight loan, then the pups usually will carry the prefix of the individual who actually planned out and produced the litter despite the fact that they do not actually own the female.

There is some gray area in cases where a studs owner receives a pup out of the litter in exchange for their male's services or in cases where a female has been loaned out and her owner receives a pup in return. In most cases these pups will carry the same prefix as their littermates unless the breeders involved agree otherwise.

Some individuals will automatically "tag" any animal coming into their hamstery with their own prefix. While it is understandable to want your own name on any animal you own, this practice leads to much confusion and should be avoided. Prefixes are reserved for the express purpose of recording the breeder of the animal. Even if you do not know the breeder, or if the breeder does not use a prefix, you should not place your own at the beginning of the animals name. What is acceptable in all circumstances is to use "at" and your prefix at the end of the animals name. An example of this would be if I received a hamster from Linda It would be just fine for me to name it "AAA's Blast from the Past at Tarot". That shows clearly that it was bred by her and owned by me. This is also very much acceptable when naming pet store or rescue hamsters. Placing your own prefix at the beginning of such an animals name is inaccurate, confusing, and very poor etiquette.