Winter white!! Dwarf.. MALE OR FEMALE??

twitchet · 12-02-2014, 11:48 AM

HELLO.....
I am so glad i found hamster central. I found it through a you tuber who said she learnt everything from here and that she would send anyone here a million times over. Anyway, I live in England and have owned 8 hamsters in the past. Unfortunly, 7 of them past away within 3 years. One of them had to be sold as we were moving house and couldn't take him with us. Now that we are all settled down I thought maybe we could get another hamster. Preferably, a dwarf. We found our one Syrian we had was very lively and he seemed to give off an extremely LARGE smell. Not that I minded much though.I am very excited for our new hamster. He /she has a massive cage. Its a cage made for Syrians, but it has small bars. I have thought of a couple of names: Clop, Twitchet, Tabitha, Tommy, Maisy or Snuffles. I would appreciate any ideas though. Also, would a male or female be better? As much as I try, I just can't get over the big (hind) of a male. I know it sound mean but thats the way I feel. But I hear from everyone that males are calmer and tamer that females.
Thanks.

JRussell · 12-03-2014, 10:32 AM

Hello, welcome! I was new about a year and a half ago and I have learnt so much here too! I had a winter white before but he passed

and I am just preparing for a new hamster, syrian, too, hopefully just before christmas! Which cage do you have? I am going to order mine too but I want to make sure it's big, so I am probably going to get the Mamble Rat cage, which is really inexpensive and also massive. I have just been looking at the pros and cons of males and females, my dwarf was a male and he was always a bit nippy, but always hyper and incredibly happy to see me which is what most people say the females are more like! I think when it comes down to it it depends on the individual, but if anyone has any good advice I would love to hear it too

I'd love to see some pictures when you get him/her!!

SinNyx · 12-03-2014, 10:42 AM

Hello and welcome

With dwarves, the males don't have the noticeable part that Syrians do. It can be harder to sex them as well, so male and female, it won't matter much. Your female Syrian with the smell, would have probably been from her being in heat, but not all of them do smell much when on heat.

My experience with dwarves is that they can be nippy. Also, if you are looking for a purebred Winter White, your option would be a breeder that can prove (with pedigrees!) that they have a pure WW, otherwise, they would be a hybrid. WWs and Campbells can breed, the only hamster species that can produce offspring with each other, leading to hybrids that can be prone to certain health issues, such as diabetes, so you would have to lay off the sugary treats!

My experience with dwarves is of them being nippy, but the ones I have had have always been from pet shops or rescued so had little to no handling previously. I've always preferred Syrians as 'in general' they are easier to handle and tame.

cypher · 12-03-2014, 10:51 AM

Hi & welcome to the forum

I agree with SinNyx that the difference between male & female russian dwarfs really isn't that obvious at all visually so I really don't think you need worry about it at all. With the ones I've had the males seem a bit more laid back & less hyper & out of four hybrids I only have one that's nippy, the others have all been no trouble at all in that way.
I would just go & see some hams & I'm sure one will choose you!
Good luck

XRubyRoseX · 12-03-2014, 11:32 AM

I've only ever had male hybrids but they've all been calm and laid back, generally all easy to tame. Pocky is the only hybrid I have at the moment, he's sweet and lovely and enjoys cuddles and climbing on me. I agree males don't look noticeably male, it's more their underneath with regards to their scent gland (that's what made me realise I had boys) and their hole spacing is different. I'd go look at home and find a one that catches your eye. Pet shop dwarfs are usually a mix of Campbell's and WW so can be prone to diabetes to watch the sugar in take and careful with the spacing on bars on cages, 1cm of less I think is recommended for dwarfs as even the chubby ones can squish though small spaces

twitchet · 12-03-2014, 01:03 PM

Hello again....
Thanks for all your wonderful answers. Now I have a serious question. The hamster HAS TO be kept in my room due to space and I wondered if he/she would make to much noise while i was asleep? How would I prevent this?

cypher · 12-04-2014, 12:37 AM

Night time noises are unavoidable with hams but the thing most likely to keep you awake would be the wheel if you don't get a good one, I've found the silent spinners & the Karlie wonderland wheels to be about the quietest.

Pygmypuff · 12-04-2014, 01:43 AM

Hello and welcome to the forum!

As cypher says, it's most likely that the wheel will be the thing that keeps you awake so buy a good silent one. You may also want to buy a cage without bars just to be on the safe side, as your hamster may be a bar biter, and that would definitely keep you awake. If you have already purchased or chosen a cage and your hamster is a bar biter, there are plenty of things you can do; check here: Biting Cage Bars? And here: How To Stop Bar Chewing?

Have a nice day!

XRubyRoseX · 12-04-2014, 03:19 AM

To be honest as far as the wheels go, I use the pets at home one (I think it's about £4.50?) and I also use one of the ones from wilkos too (I think that was more about £3) and I've got them attached to a £2 wheel stand from pets at home and they're relatively quiet for me. I sometimes use sone vegetable oil to stop them squeaking but I find as long as they're not too close to the bottom, walls or lid of the cage they're quite quiet. You can sometimes here them spinning but they're not really loud, to tell you the truth I sleep better when I hear my hamsters out and about

. You could also get a flying saucer wheel they're pretty quiet too plus they're funny to watch hamsters on. Not sure if it's just me or not but the noisiest thing my hamsters do is drink o.o might be because the bottle is clipped to the outside of the cage but I can always hear them sipping away on a night

twitchet · 12-04-2014, 10:26 AM

Hello everyone. I have decided that I am definitely going to get a hamster (my mum has agreed as well) and I will get it this weekend. I have found an adorable one (boy) in the pet shop. Yes, I do already have the cage. Its massive and he will LOVE IT. I will post pics when I get one/two this weekend. Should I get one or two?