Djungarian Hamster

Also known as Siberian or Russian winter white hamsters. These hamsters change colour in winter to white so it is easier to hide in the wild. They come in 3 main colours, pearl (white) which do not change in winter, natural (mucky brown, their original colour) and sapphire (a grey/blue).

Most pet shops sell the Russian hybrid hamsters that can often be mistaken for Djungarian hams. You can tell they are winter whites if they change colour in winter, or by their head shape.

Chinese Hamsters

Chinese hamsters are possibly the most misunderstood type of hamster there is. I hear them called dwarf hamsters, when in fact they are not, I hear them called mini dwarf hamsters, what the hell? I have even heard them called mice...granted they are very mouse like in appearance, largly due to their long, thin bodies and longer than usual tails.


I now own three chinese hamsters, two males and one female, and like to think I know a fair bit about them. For starters, they need as much space as you can afford to give them, and preferably deep cages and lots of substrate because they love to dig. 

They are also prone to diabetes just like dward hamsters, and so their diet should include as little sugar as possible. Treats without sugar are much better for their health too.

Male Chinese hamsters are obvious due to their "fun-bags".

Wherever possible chinese hamsters should live alone. Females inparticular tend to fight to the death on many occasions, but males are slightly more tolerant of each other (like mine, but I did not buy them from a pet shop together - see this post for more info).

The best thing about chinese hamsters is they are so friendly. Pea often clings to my finger or darts in and out of my clothing, sometimes even falling asleep in my sleeve or pocket. They are lovely little things and it is a shame they can be so unpopular because of how they look.

B for Bedding

There are so many types of bedding it can be overwhelming when trying to find a good one for your pet. The cheapest, and usually the best is simple unscented, white toilet paper ripped up. I often use the supermarket's own brand as it is so cheap. 

If you insist on buying hamster specific bedding then there is flaked paper (from Wilkinson's in the UK) or vegetable parchment bedding.

There are other types like the safe bedding from Pets at Home

However, under no circumstances EVER buy you hamsters the cotton type fibre bedding! If it is vegetable fibres which are easily digested, that is ok, but the cotton type is an absolute no no. It can get caught in your hamster's digestive system and kill them, or get tangled around limbs and cause them to be lost. In some cases you might think "it never happened to me before" but why risk it when there is no need?

P.S Sorry this is a bit late, I've been travelling home today.

Albino Hamsters

Ok so first post of the A-Z challenge is going to be about Albino hamsters.

Syrians can be albino, white with red eyes, as can dwarf hamsters. The albino gene is recessive, meaning the two parent hamsters must carry it to create an albino baby. Winter whites are NOT albino hamsters as they have dark eyes and only change coat in winter (unless you have a pearl which is white all year round). If you are curious as to whether your hamster is albino or not one of the biggest clues is the coat colour, clearly. They will be white with red eyes. If they have red eyes and are pure white, they are albino :D.

Sadly, albino hamsters can be born with no eyes and live a maximum of 1 year. It is one of the biggest dangers when breeding without knowing the parent hamster's genes. They have a poor quality of life and struggle to do the simplest of things, so that is why people make sure they are 100% sure on the genes of parent hamster's before breeding.

Now for some cute pictures!

The Boys

We finally settled on some names after trying out a long list, and watching them for a while. The inquisitive one, who is always out and seems to be more dominant, is named Sherlock and his brother is Moriarty (Morris for short). They still seem very happy together but I'm keeping a close eye on them, I know the chances of fighting between any pair, let alone a chinese pair!

No more pictures yet, I'm leaving them alone when they are in their cage to minimise stress levels, but here is a picture of my daffodils to keep you entertained XD

Poor babies :(

Last night I rescued 2 male chinese hamsters. They arrived at my door in a shoe box with clingfilm over the top, unnamed and unloved. The shavings lining the bottom of the shoe box were filthy, and there was hardly any food in their bowl, which was also filthy. They are tame, which shows something I guess, but very timid. The woman ask me some ridiculous questions, such as "are you going to breed them?" when I told her about Pea. I rescued them because they lived like this:

And arrived in this:

Both of them, in that cage. To be perfectly honest I felt a little sick when they arrived. In my opinion it was bordering on animal abuse. I took them and immediately took the climgfilm off, she took the money and left and I put them in their new cage which is huge compared to what they were in. She was praising the cage they used to be in, saying how fantastic it was, then I showed her what they were going into and she shut right up. 

Anyway, they are nameless so suggestions welcome, I'm formulating a list so I  an try them all out. Here they are, two beautiful little boys:

The cage looks mucky because I had to put a little of their shavings in there to make them feel at home, and help prevent fighting. It is unusual for chinese hamsters to live together in harmony, so we will see how things go. At this moment in time they are snuggled together sleeping so fingers crossed it continues as this is stressful time they are going through.

My Prize Arrived!

Just a quick post to say my prize from Hannah over at Animal Tails arrived today. Its lovely, I wonder what the postman thought when he delivered a letter addressed to Onion XD.