Tortoiseshell is a sex linked gene. Usually only Females can be born Tortoiseshell, however on the 24th March 2018 a Male Tortoiseshell Hamster was posted on a Facebook group, which was born and bred in Indonesia in O.S.H (One Soul Hamstery)
It is unclear if this Hamster is Intersex, Chimera or has an extremely heavy amount of Mosaicism. Unless genetic testing is done (which isn't worth doing for a hamster) then we will never truly know what caused this extremely rare incidence of a Male Tortoiseshell.
Due to the almost completely creamy-orange coloured side on this Hamsters Right Hand Side it's very much possible that this is a Chimera, but without genetic testing it's impossible to know.
It is unclear if this Hamster is Intersex, Chimera or has an extremely heavy amount of Mosaicism. Unless genetic testing is done (which isn't worth doing for a hamster) then we will never truly know what caused this extremely rare incidence of a Male Tortoiseshell.
Due to the almost completely creamy-orange coloured side on this Hamsters Right Hand Side it's very much possible that this is a Chimera, but without genetic testing it's impossible to know.
All pictures below are ©One Soul Hamstery