New Gonna Be Winter White Hybrid Owner

Kiwi8Hammie · 10-12-2016, 11:31 PM

My daughter wants a Winter White Dwarf Hamster for her 9th birthday in a few weeks. We have been preparing for its arrival for a few weeks. The only Winter White Breeder we have is in Southern California and we live in San Francisco, so we most likely will be getting from PetsMart. There is a Campbell Dwarf breeder who lives an hour away from us, but as far as temperament and taming goes, is Campbell friendlier to children? This is our first ever family pet, so little dwarf hamster will be getting lots of love. After reading many threads on this site, we got the biggest wire cage we can find. The Marchioro Kevin 82. We will only use the smaller shelf for now, but the plastic tubes that come with the cage look too wide and slippery for the hammie to get down. We have a wooden ladder for it to go up already. Will a dwarf hamster be able to go down or up vertical for 4 inches? We don't want it to fall and hurt itself.

cypher · 10-13-2016, 05:38 AM

Welcome to the forum

The Kevin is a great cage, I have one & several hams have loved living in it over the years.
I don't actually use any of the shelves, tubes or anything, I prefer to just more or less fill the base with substrate then use a house with flat roof or little bolt on ledges rather than shelves.
They do have trouble getting up tubes & the set up in the Kevin with the tubes the way they are meant to be used isn't very good I don't think, I did use just the shelf when I first had it, put something over the hole & just used wooden bendy bridges for access which worked a lot better.
All ladders need to be at an angle that will be easy to climb, they can grip wooden ladders well but it still shouldn't be too steep.
Check that if you think there is any possibility of falls that there's nothing but substrate to fall on, you may have to watch him/her with the bars too, they are very good at climbing up but not down so they just let go! The cage isn't that high though & I've never had any accidents with mine.

I've only had hybrids so have no experience of the difference in temperament between Campbells & WW, I think as much depends on the individual & whether they've been bred well for good temperament as much as species tbh.

Look forward to hearing more about your new ham when it arrives.

pinkneon · 10-13-2016, 06:07 AM

Hi and welcome! I was wondering whether you would prefer a Syrian hamster? They are much bigger, and usually better as a first time pet, especially for a child. They are often more cuddly too. Dwarf hamsters are very small! I'm not trying to put you off getting one

I don't have a lot of experience with Dwarf hamsters but they're cute and I hope to have one someday. The problem with plastic tubes in general is they can become very smelly if the hamster decides to eat, sleep and pee in them, which a lot will do

I'm not sure on the differences between temperament between Winter Whites and Campbells to be honest! They are pretty fun to watch though!

chesca_27 · 10-13-2016, 06:19 AM

I think the difference with tameness for Winter Whites and Campbells is minimal. If you have a good local breeder, then I would say go there and get a Campbells as a hamster bred for temperament is going to be easier to tame than a pet store hamster. Personalities do vary hamster to hamster.

I have a Winter White (first and only ham) and I think he is the sweetest little ball of fur ever!

As Pinkneon said, a Syrian might be easier as a first hamster in terms of taming and health wise but it is your opinion.

Kiwi8Hammie · 10-13-2016, 04:08 PM

Thank you all for the warm reception and advices. I will try to contact the local breeder. I think the breeder will know her Campbell hamsters and suggest a few tamer ones for my daughter to pick. So all that rumor about Campbell dwarfs being more nippy isn't entirely true. I take that any frightened hamster will bite.

cypher · 10-13-2016, 09:54 PM

I hear a lot about Russian hams in general being nippy but apart from one female who was cage territorial I haven't found that to be true at all & even she soon got over it, if you do go to the breeder & get a ham that's been handled from a very young age then taming & bonding should be easier than with a pet shop ham.

Thin Lizzy · 10-15-2016, 05:15 AM

Hi and Welcome to HC.
Because you're getting your dwarf from a breeder, then the breeder will have been having close contact and the ham will hopefully be easier to tame. Cypher the Dwarf Queen has given really great advice.

Kiwi8Hammie · 10-31-2016, 11:43 PM

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Just want to pop in and let everyone know that we got our new dwarf Campbell hamster from a local breeder. We drove an hour and a half to reach her but boy are we glad. She let my daughter handled a handful of her hamsters so she can pick "the one". All her hamsters are calm and not one nipped us. In fact, "Kiwi" is so used to being handled that she's walking along my daughter's arm. She's still a bit timid settling in, as she has a corner that she favors and burrows. When she sees us, she tries to hide. But treats lure her out. Is it normal for new hamster to shiver in your hand? Maybe she's just nervous and not used to our scent yet? I hope the attached picture will work as Kiwi is a black eye Argente beauty. Anyone who lives around the San Francisco Bay Area should check out Furball Critters for hamsters.

cypher · 10-31-2016, 11:56 PM

Aww what a little beauty! Congrats

Shivering is normal, even a ham that's used to being handled takes time to adjust to a new home, doing the tissue trick should help, you're off to a head start with a breeder ham so I'm sure she'll settle soon.

BorisPasha · 11-01-2016, 12:02 AM

Congrats she's gorgeous