New hamster owner!

emojimom · 05-01-2017, 12:16 PM

Hello! I'm so happy to have found this forum. I just adopted my first hamster as an adult (though I had one when I was a child, and I loved him so much), now that I live in a house and have room for one. Things sure have changed in hamster care since the 80s and 90s! Glad to have a resource with so much information so I can keep my little buddy as happy and healthy as possible.

I'm a 30-something college professor, and a fur mom to two old lady rescue cats, two rescue dogs, and now Emoji the hamster! He's a dwarf hamster, and I think he's a Winter White. He had some "fancy" name at the pet store, so I'm not sure yet.

Anyway, I'm so glad to be here and find this wealth of knowledge.

cypher · 05-01-2017, 10:30 PM

Welcome to HC & congrats on your new ham

Emoji will be a Russian hybrid, you would only get a Winter White from a good breeder, all pet store Russians are hybrids (WW & Campbell's cross), that does mean you need to take a bit of extra care with diet as they can be prone to diabetes, not too difficult really just feed a good dwarf mix & avoid any sweet foods or fruit, a little extra effort but they are so worth it

Look forward to hearing more about little Emoji!

BorisPasha · 05-02-2017, 01:08 AM

Congrats on Emoji and welcome to HC. Look forward to hearing more about your little one

LucyToons · 05-02-2017, 03:42 AM

congrats on your new addition

, look forward to seeing pics and reading more

Crystalroborovski · 05-02-2017, 06:26 AM

Welcome to Hamster Central! I hope you find the forum helpful and enjoy the pet community here!
As the others mentioned above, Emoji is probably a hybrid rather than a purebred. I would love to see pics of the little buddy!

chesca_27 · 05-02-2017, 12:34 PM

Welcome to the forum! Congratulations on little Emoji! Feel free to share photos as we love cute hamster pictures

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Was he by any chance a sunfire dwarf (at the pet store)? This is just a fancy name pet stores give to their hamsters to try and charge extra money for them but they are essentially a Russian Hybrid, so you will need to make some tweaks to his diet, by avoiding sugar and fruit, but this is not difficult. We generally recommend Burgess Dwarf for diabetes prone hamsters due to its sugar free, superior formula, with correct nutrition. Some US members order this in from Viovet, but it is much easier to buy in the UK, being available from most pet stores.

Drago · 05-02-2017, 01:32 PM

Hello and welcome to HC!

Congrats on little Emoji, if you have any questions, please ask. Hope to see you around

chi0 · 05-02-2017, 01:46 PM

hi, welcome to hc!! can't wait to hear more about emoji, what a fun name c:

BoredHamsters · 05-02-2017, 02:05 PM

Congrats on the new addition!
I love his name, it's amazing that you're researching hamster care to give him the best life possible. Hope you enjoy it here!

Thin Lizzy · 05-02-2017, 10:47 PM

Hi and Welcome to HC. Congratulations on Emoji. Looking forward to hearing more and pics.