Remember the pictures of Gabriël’s new hamster some time ago?
Well, about a week ago, Gabriël showed me his hamster, saying that it looked different. It had a black stripe from one eye to another, and he didn’t think it was there before. Good thing I took pictures in January, making it easy to compare. And indeed – the colour of its face had changed.
I planned to take pictures of it for this blog, but forgot about it again, until today. So I took some pictures, and noticed that the black stripe had mostly disappeared again, but the entire hamster looked different now. See for yourself:
Yes, it really is the same hamster. All 4 pictures 
On the left the hamster was 8 weeks old, on the right 18 weeks. Apparently, these hamsters are known for their colour changes, caused by the length of daylight.
Looking for more information, I found one website that says some Russian Campbell Dwarfs change into a white wintercoat during the wintermonths, while another claims that those changing into white are not Campbells, but Winter Whites.
Quoting www.hamsterific.com:
Russian Campbell’s Dwarfs come in a variety of colors that are often confused as being Winter Whites. Winter Whites only come in the normal (agouti), Pearl, and Sapphire Blue. The biggest difference between the two is that Winter Whites will actually change their coat from normal (agouti), Pearl, or Sapphire Blue, to solid white with black ticking and black dorsal stripe. This happens about once a year. Russian Campbell’s will not change into a yearly white coat.
Somehow, the following quote from a more scientifically oriented website sounds more plausible to me:
The Russian Dwarf Hamster, scientifically known as Phodopus sungorus, is a distant relative of the common domestic Golden (or Syrian) Hamster, Mesocricetus auratus. Common names of the species also include Siberian Dwarf Hamster, Winter White Hamster, Djungarian Hamster, Campbell’s Dwarf Hamster, and Hairy-Footed Dwarf Hamster. For the sake of clarity, it will be referred to in this article simply as the the Russian Dwarf Hamster.
and
Under natural lighting conditions, some Russian Hamsters will turn partially or completely white in the winter months. There is disagreement over whether these are a true subspecies or just a local race. The “Winter White” hamsters seem to be browner in overall color and the non-changing ones seem to have more of a grey tone.
The funny thing is, that Gabriël’s hamster certainly changed colour, but also certainly was rather grey, not brown (imo).
So, in the freezer for a month, and then in the microwave for 10 minutes.
Anyway, the first thing it remembered me of was the plenty of stories that a child’s pet dies, and the parents replace it without the child knowing it. (Wrong of course).
Mom, Floppy is suddenly much bigger, and has different colors.
"So, in the freezer for a month, and then in the microwave for 10 minutes."
I will do you a favour and not tell Gabriël you said that!
BTW – replacing this particular hamster isn’t as easy as in those stories you mention – we’d have to cut a leg off a four-legged living hamster to make it remotely believable to be the same animal…
(but then again – we had this one for four weeks before it was my mother who discovered it only had three legs <g>)
Yes, all winter white russian hamsters change colour at different times in the year.
They change a white colour during the winter (i think its because in their natural habitat they would try and camouflage in with the snow)
And they turn back to a darker colour during spring.
hola soy valeria de argentina. podrias poner como se llama el hamster please!.my pet is pelito. bye bye.
MY LOVE HAMSTER ‘MASAKO’ CAME BACK AGAIN i miss u so much…
Hi do u love hamsters to well but i do to is that cool .
well is that ure hamster if yes ure lucky i cant have a hamster and u can cool awsome but i hope i have a hamster
my name is Sky …
i can get a hamster because i have $100.00;3
i myself have a few winter white hamsters.do u think they will change color living in a non-seasonal country..
I don’t know really, but I would guess not. If you would like them to change colour, perhaps you could just shut curtains early during winter season (in the room where the hamster is).
It would be interesting to know though. Will you let me know once you find out?
that hamster is sooooooo cute!!!
whats his name?!
this web site is nice.
i want to make my oun web.
MY HAMSTER IS PREGNANT ! HELP!!
I DONT KNOW WAT TO DO ANY1 GOT ANY ADVICE????
THEY ARE CHINESE HAMSTERS AND AARE 8 WKS OLD
it is so cute
I have two make winter white, and their color seem to change a little but its not completely white. I want to know if artificial light could have affect on its color changing.
Princess Blonde: Just Google "how to breed hamster" and there will tons of information for you.
they are cute
CP*: Artificial light should not have any influence at all, the colour change is only by shorter exposure to daylight. That is, according to this page: http://netvet.wustl.edu/species/hamsters/phodopus.txt
Those are dwarf winter white russian hamsters. Campbells and Winter whites are now recognized as different species based on genetics. Scientists have classified them as the same for some time and they have been proved not to be. The species of campbell’s dwarfs is campbelli and for winter whites it is songorus. The easiest way to tell the difference is the winter white has three stripes on on its lateral line (backbone) and two on the crescents (where the topcoat meets the bottom)like yours. Captive campbells cannot change their coat color. They have very different living conditions and are not the same.
where do you get the one that change color?can you get them at petco , or petsmart ect.
No idea, do those shops sell animals at all? Their websites only seem to mention food and other animal supplies.
yes they do sell pets, but they don’t advertise on the net.I just wished someone knew because I’m getting a hamster today or this weekend and it would be cool to have one that changes color.Well, thanks for trying!!!
from the pictures, it seems like your hamster is a either a winter white or a hybrid between a campbell’s and winter white (they can interbreed). either way, your hamster is very cute (= i have had a winter white for about a month now and it has changed from a grey to more of a light brown even though it is summer…
hi,
i av got 2 winter whites and iv only had them a couple of days and they r in the same cage i av noticed tht they av ad a few little squables but not a big fight… will this progress and will they kill each other as if so r they most likley 2 b same sex
ive just bought 2 winter whites from our local petstore, they are ok as they have always been together and should not fight according to the guy there, seriously having trouble telling them apart ! if you bought them from separate cages they may well fight ?
I have just bought 3 hamsters, that the pet shop had labelled as ‘Russian Dwarf’ hamsters. However, having already got 2 Roborovskii’s I was reading about the different kinds, and now I’m not sure if I have Phodopus Sungorus or Phodopus Campbelli. And researching online just confuses me all the more and leads me to think that no one can actually tell the difference!
They look a lot like yours – white belly, grey back, dark stripe from head to tail…
@kate: I’m not sure whether they would fight if they came from different cages, but having been in the same cage already without fighting, probably is a good indication that they won’t.
@Red: to add to the confusion, these different hamsters can interbreed, and I really wouldn’t know what to call them if they were a mix
The only sure thing about Winter Whites, is that they change colour, so once they do, you can call ‘em that. But whether Winter Whites are all Sungorus, or can be Campbelli as well, seems impossible to find out from the various different sources on the net.
winter whites are the only ones that change completely white in color. Petsmart does sell winter whites, and they change color weather they live in cold weather places or not. I live in florida, and our winter whites are changing all white or light grey from brown and black. other russian hamsters do not change color.
I love hamsters and I think theis picts are so cute
We bought 2 Djungarian hamster sisters in early December. One is called Snowy as she is/was very white. The other is called peanut as she is smaller and light grey brown. It is now the end of Jan. and Snowy looks like a very different hamster. She now has a dark grey mask and has become dark grey with black on her back. Peanut has gotten whiter almost more like Snowy was just not as bright white. We seem to be in the dead of winter here in Seattle so not sure why the change has occurred now. They do squabble but never seem to really hurt each other. They sound just like a squeak toy. They have been great pets, if you want more than one get litter mates. Most other breeds can’t live together.
This hamster is like meine if you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i love him but i cant attach picturre of him:,(
I liked this because I was searching for pictures of the Campbell’s Russian Dwarf Hamster and this came up, and I saw the pictures. And it said this was a hamster at 8 weeks – and my new hamster (which I got yesterday) is 8 weeks and looks like this!!
So it’s cool thinking that perhaps in 18 weeks time mine’ll look just the second load of pictures too!
i just bought a new male winter white from the same shop. but the new one cant mix with the old one. so i have to separate the new hamster. do u have any idea,how to mix them. the male which i bought 2 weeks ago kept on attacking the new hamster..
I don’t think you’ll be able to put them together in the same cage really. Even if you’d got a clean new cage, so the old one doesn’t have its territory set already, they’ll probably end up fighting. If you want to try anyway, here’s an instruction on how it might work, although they’d still need to be quite young I think:
http://www.ehow.com/how_7671_introduce-hamsters-each.html
ya..i just bought them last two weeks.. the new one i bought it today..this hammy is vulnerable bcoz of his size…
I have a hamster that’s very, very, veeery similar to the picture of the 18 month old hamster! It has a white band between it’s eyes, a dark dorsal stripe and an agouti patch on it’s back. I wasn’t sure of it breed when I bought it but I suspected it was a hybrid but the pet shop assistant told me it’s a winter white.
I want to know too if winter whites will change colour in countries with no winter season.
very cute. i’m love hamster.
i love hamster forever
AHHHH! I want a hammy soooo bad! I have at least $150, so I should be good money wise! I’m totally going to get a Winer White… maybe two. Names? Um maybe Mary, Snowflake, Bella… I don’t know. I just know I want two girls. I just hope young ones from PetSmart will be okay and not bite me!
It’s likely that your hamster is neither a Campbell’s dwarf hamster nor a Russian winter white but actually a hybrid of both. Phodopus Campbelli (Campbell’s for short) and Phodopus Sungorus (winter white) are the only two species that can interbreed and produce live offspring (hybrids) among the five species commonly sold as pets. Unfortunately, the number of hybrids is increasing due to mislabeling at pet stores and novice/accidental breeding. These hybrids are usually born sterile and can have a whole laundry list of health problems and deformities (such as a missing leg). Occasionally they do produce offspring that can reproduce which is very hazardous and should be avoided. Your hamster should not be fed any sweet foods either because of the increased risk of diabetes. Anyway, it’s a very cute hamster and I hope he/she has a very long and fulfilling life.
Actually Hybrids are destroying both the Campbell and WW purebred lines in North America. Hybrids are NOT born sterile, some are but they are usually first generation hybrids that suffer from this problem. The bigger problem is the ones who DO breed. Majority of Campbell and Winter White purebred lines in North America have been tainted by hybrid blood (Even among most breeder lines). When Hybrids first arose it was assumed that the Hybrid blood could be bred out after 5 or 6 generations of continual breeding with trusted purebreds. Unfortunately this was a false assumption and the only result it had was a massive contamination of purebred lines. IOW once a hybrid line, ALWAYS a hybrid line. It’s like mating a Tiger and a Lion together and then breeding their Liger offspring with purbred Lions or tigers for 5 or 6 generations and expecting the young to eventually be purebred again. It just doesn’t happen. This problem has gotten so bad that there are really only a few countries left in the world who can say they carry trustworthy lines (UK, Germany, Scandinavian countries). Others have gone as far as starting new lines with wild-caught dwarfs.
Definitely a Winter White.
how do yOU NO WHEN MY HAMSTER IS PREGNANT
@Leah Hall: her belly will get bigger and bigger
Lol I love hamsters,i migh start hamster breeding if ma mum will let me
HaHA! I have already seen the great thing!!!
It’s so cute!!!! My hamster died on Earth Day 2010.=(
I have two winter whites, both male. They keep fighting over the wheel in the cage and neither are interested in anything else. They are both only about 3 weeks old and have been together since birth. Are they likely to grow out of fighting or will I need to seperate them ? any help would be greatly appreiciated.
those hamsters are awsome.
I got a female winter white hamster from PetSmart several days ago…and she was in a cage with 2 other males. I didn’t realize it at the time that she was a girl, but when we got home with her, we decided to ‘check’ her. It turns out she was a girl…she looks like she’s about 5 or 6 weeks old…do you think she’s pregnant?
It’s technically possible, but doesn’t have to be. And there’s no way of knowing until her belly starts growing
Jasmine: Most hamsters are not sexually mature until they’re over so many months of age. I believe a winter white is not sexually mature enough to get pregnant until she is 3-4 months old. So if she is only about 5 or 6 weeks old, she is not within the age range to be able to get pregnant yet. However if she were the gestation period is 18-21 days. Female dwarf hamsters such as the winter white and campbell go into heat every 4 days once sexually mature. So every 4 days she will allow mating to occur with the male and so that means every 4 days she could potentially get pregnant. i know everyone loves the winter whites because of the color change, but if you’re trying to breed or you’re not trying to and it happens, an amazing thing about the campbell males is they will help with delivery of the pups, he’ll clean them, lay with them, bring them back to the nest if they wander off and he’ll bring food to the mother. I think it’s super sweet! I just recently purchased 2 dwarfs: 1 male, 1 female. The female is a normal agouti color and the male is a silver/blue on the top and a tannish gold on the bottom. They were labeled as winter whites, but i’m not so sure. I’ve been researching since i got the first one a week ago and now i got the little boy today named Storm (still trying to pick a name for the female, narrowed down to 3: Gale, Saffir or Misty). So i am excited to finally figure out what they are and if they change colors, it will be super exciting! Best of luck everyone with your hammies!