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What Hamster Breed Am I?

The Five (Six) Species of Hamsters in the Pet Trade

By Dust-Angel AirheartPublished 6 years ago 5 min read
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Hamsters: a great pet for many ages. There are so many breeds to pick from! There is nothing more exciting than going to the pet store and being able to pick which of the many breeds of hamsters you want to bring home.

There are only five true species of hamsters in the pet trade, but a sixth species is emerging.

Surprising? We all know how business works; a profit is to be made, even if that means a little white lie. A great example is the Teddy Bear hamster. It is actually a Syrian hamster, but has a specific look to it. The Teddy Bear is actually a morph, but if it adds an extra five dollars, let us pretend it is a completely different type of hamster!

Syrians are just one of the five species in the pet trade. They are by far the biggest and the most popular. There is no mixing up a Syrian with any of the other species of hamsters. If it is bigger than the palm of your hand, it is a Syrian.

As touched upon before, they do come in many different morphs, or colors, making them appear to be different species. Like their colors, they also have vastly different personalities. One Syrian can be social and tame right from the start, whereas the next can be one of those look-but-do-not-try-to-touch-me hamsters.

Of course, most hamster are tamable, and can be great to play with after they are. Since a Syrian is a bigger hamster, they tend to be better for younger children, as they are harder to accidentally squeeze.

The next biggest hamster is the Chinese hamster. They are actually rare to find in most pets stores, and are often labeled as one of the dwarf hamsters species. They are not in the dwarf species. They are a species all by themselves.

The reason for this is because, unlike all other species of hamsters, Chinese hamsters have a long tail. All other species have a short tail that is often hard to find. These cute hamsters also have a more rat-like appearance to their facial structure.

The rest of the species of hamsters fall into the category of dwarf hamsters. Like it suggests, these hamsters are simply much smaller than your traditional hamster (Syrians).

The most common species of dwarf hamster in the pet trade is the species that to this day is still debated over whether it is a true species or not: the Russian Dwarf hamsters. They are technically a hybrid breed, caused by cross-breeding a Russian Winter White and a Russian Campbell hamster. But since they are common enough, and since they are neither a Winter White or a Campbell, they are called Russian dwarfs.

These little guys are the dwarf hamsters sold at pet stores. In order to get a pure breed of any of the three species of dwarfs, one needs to find a breeder. The Russians are also the most unsocial of the dwarf hamsters. That means they take the longest to tame, and are naturally more defensive. Again, personality plays a big part in how long it takes to tame a hamster.

On the polar opposite end, the Russian Winter White is the easiest hamster species to tame. These dwarfs are typically less defensive and more curious about their environments. Personality still plays a part, but in my experience I am normally able to pick up a Winter White after first meeting them, something I will not even try with any of the other species.

They are characterized by the three arches you can see along their sides, where their coat of fur on their backs, a grey, black, brown or white color meets the fur on their bellies, always a white color. It is also said that in the winter their top coat turns completely white, hence the name Winter Whites.

The next breed of dwarf hamster is the Russian Campbell Dwarf hamster. They are essentially a smaller version of the Syrian hamsters. Typically have the same morphs and overall attitude. Dwarf hamsters are naturally more social than the other species of hamsters, and the Campbell is no different.

Campbells are the dwarf hamsters that, like the Russians, have all the color morphs. Unfortunately, they are often not found in a pet store. When they are, they are quickly picked by customers because of all the unique coats they have.

The last of the dwarf species holds the title for smallest hamsters in the pet trade: the Roborovski Dwarf hamster. They, unlike other species of hamsters, do not have many morphs. What does distinguish them, other than their size, is the coat markings on their face. All Roborovski hamsters look like they have eyebrows due to the white markings located right above their eyes.

Another characteristic is that, other than the Winter Whites, they are the tamest of all hamster breeds. They are also hamsters that tend to be active in early night and late mornings, again like the Winter Whites. All other species tend to be more active during the night. They are rare to find in a pet store, but I have been to one store that sold them.

Knowing all that you know about the different types of species of hamsters now you can do two things. You can pick which species you want and correctly ask for them in the pet store, and you can tell which species of hamster is shown in the image above!

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