Russian Dwarf Hamster

The Russian dwarf hamster is known by several different names. They are winter white hamsters, Campbell’s Russian hamsters and Roborovski hamsters. Each one is a little different from the other. The Campbell and winter white can be very identical in shape and size. Hence people tend to confuse the two. The size and coloring of these two are very similar. They both can reach around 7 to 10 centimeters in length. The Roborovski is the smallest one compared to the other two. Typical size of this one will be around 4 to 6 centimeters. Out of all of them the winter whites are the rarest. Most pet stores will not have them.

The reason why winter white hamsters have their name is because of their unusual ability to change their coloring from dark grey to white. This is obviously for camouflage purposes. The interesting thing is that they continue to have that capability in captivity. Which means one day you will wake in the morning sometime in November or December, and your winter white hamster will finally live up to its name! This may not happen however if it is exposed to a lot of artificial light. The color changing process has more to do with how much light they receive.

Campbell’s hamster is native to a region in Mongolia. This is why they also have the name Djungaria hamsters. This name has a Mongolian origin. Campbell’s is perhaps the most common among all Russian hamster types. One of the reasons for their popularity is because of the myriad of different colored hamsters that can got by breeding with other types of hamsters. It is not difficult to find them with colors such as black, shades of blue, lilac or with spots.

Roborovski hamsters are still found in the wild regions of Mongolia and China. As mentioned earlier they are the smallest of the lot but have slightly longer legs. The outer coat will have a sandy brown coat matched with slate colored under coat. Character wise also they are different from the other breeds. They tend to be very energetic, hence making them a bit more difficult to keep as pets. They are generally too small to be kept in normal size hamster cages. The reason for this is because they are capable of getting out of the cage. The bars of the cage will be too wide for them. On the other hand they are very clean and spend most of their time grooming themselves.