The type of hamsters

This  is my first blog post about my favorite pet, hamster :)

Types of Hamsters

There are many different kinds of hamsters, but the five most common are Syrians, Dwarf Campbell Russians, Dwarf Winter White Russians, Roborovski Dwarfs, and Chinese. Each breed has its own distinctive characteristics that distinguish it from the other breeds.

1. Syrian

    

Characteristics:

• Another name: Golden Hamster or Teddy Bear Hamster
• Latin name: Cricenae Mesocricetus auratus
• Body Length: 16-18 cm
• Average life span: 2-3 years
• Character: Solitary

This hamster comes from Allepo, Syria. The size of this hamster is the biggest among all type of hamsters. Syrian hamster is called a golden Hamster because of its golden yellow color of fur. It is called also Teddy Bear Hamster because sometimes it has long fur. The female hamster is bigger than the male one.


2. Campbells

   

Characteristics:

• Another name: Dwarf Campbell"s Russian Hamster
• Latin name: Phopodus Sungorus Campbellii
• Body length: 8-11 cm
• Average life span: 2-2.5 years
• Character: Colonized

This hamster is one of the famous and popular type of mini hamster.  It has many variation of attractive fur blanket but the common one is brownish dark yellow with black black line in the back and has long fur around its feet. Sometimes this hamster had a fierce temperament so it like to bite, but with good care this hamster can be tame and friendly.

3. Winter White

   

Characteristics:

• Another Name : Dwarf Winter White Russian Hamster, Djungarian Dwarf Hamster
• Latin name: Cricetinae Phodopus Sungorus sungorus
• Body Length: 9-12 cm 
• Average Life Span: 2-2.5 years
• Character: Colonized

This type of hamster is closely related to the Campbell's. It comes from the area of winter and snowy savanah without trees in North of Kazakhstan and Siberian. The fur of this hamster could turn white if exposed to the cold weather and sometimes predator is difficult to see them in the white snow.

This hamster has a nose longer than that of Campbell's, with the position of the ear is a bit to the back and not upright. This type of hamster can live together with the same gender.



4. Roborovski

     

Characteristics:

• Another Name : Desert Hamster
• Latin name: Cricetinae Phodopus roborovskii
• Body Length:4-5.5 cm
• Average Life Span: 2.5-4 years
• Character: Colonized 

Roborovski hamster originates in the deserts of Central Asia (Northern China, Mongolia, Northern Russia). This hamster is the smallest in size among the other mini hamsters and one of my favorite hamster. Roborovski is very active and very difficult to tame, though many report that they are able to tame Roborovski so that they can be handled and touched.
  
Roborovski has the most  unique face among the other type of  hamsters and this hamster has only two type of fur blanket.  The regular Roborovski is called Agouti, has white fur above the eyes which resembles the eyelash as the face area above nose up to the back has a color of golden sandy brown with the white colored belly. For the White Face, all the fur in the face has the color of white.  Roborovski has a very short tail as it could be hardly seen.  Roborovski lives in colony, though a lot of cases that there could be a sudden fight resulting in wounding each other.


5. Chinese Hamster

    

Characteristics:

• Another Name : Long-Tailed Dwarf Hamster
• Latin name: Cricetinae Cricetulus griseus
• Body Length: 10-12 cm
• Average Life Span: 2-2.5 years
• Character: Solitary

Chinese hamster has a character of calm, friendly and easy to tame though for the first time, this hamster is a bit aggressive. Chinese hamster rarely and even never bites if handled correctly. This type of hamster has a rather short fur blanket unlike other type of hamster, as if it were attached to the skin.
The normal Chinese hamster has grey color with visible lines of dark brown or black in the back and white colored belly.  The bright color Chinese hamster has a white fur blanket with black lines in the back. The male Chinese hamster has a bigger body than that of the female one.

In summary,  we call hamster which is for Syrian hamster, and mini or dwarf hamster which is for Campbells, Winter White, Roborovski, and Chinese hamster.