It is quite important for you to choose the right dwarf for yourself, the most common sort of dwarf hamster are the Campbell and will be found at most pet shops.
The main thing to remember when choosing these hamsters is that they are very sociable and should be kept in pairs or colonies. If you are buying a hamster from a pet shop be aware of what you are buying. Here are two tips on what to look for when choosing a hamster.
1) Always try to handle your hamster, it will tell you what sort of temperament the hamster is likely to have.
2) Look for any sort of illness, such as lethargy, diarrhoea, baldness. The hamster should be active and alert, in good health. and generally good condition.
Keeping any hamster takes a certain amount of commitment, but in Russian dwarfs there are different things you should be aware of before attempting to keep them.
There are 2 species of Russian dwarfs:-WINTER WHITE and CAMPBELLS. There are 2 other types of dwarf like animals these are CHINESE (more mouse like hamsters) and ROBOROVSKI`S.
I personally keep Campbell's and Chinese, but any of these different species CANNOT be housed together, only the same species can live together, or it will cause severe distress and fighting even resulting in death.
Sometimes as Dwarfs live together you will begin to see something that you might think of as fighting, but they are naturally renown for being territorial and will let the other hamsters know who is in charge, an example of this is when one hamster might pin another on it`s back for a while, the dominant hamster will not hurt the other, but will lick it`s belly to make it aware that he will not harm it. This is not fighting so don`t separate the hamsters because they haven`t established dominance within the colony.
But any physical contact when there are any signs of wounds, or the other hamsters begin to hide from the aggressor and dare not even come out to eat, this is when they should be separated.
Harthams
Last updated january 1st 2002
Web Page by Dianne Totty