Winter White Breeder
 

I wish there was a winter white breeder near where I live. :( I live in South Georgia.

Re: Winter White Breeder
 

Have you done a Google search or contacted a breeder in a neighboring state? Sometimes they know of people that may not be listed anywhere public.
I was happily shocked to find a breeder in my own city that has a very good reputation. I follow his facebook page now to see what he has available.

Re: Winter White Breeder
 

I have done a google search, no luck yet. I will try searching facebook next. :) I called a neighboring town and they said they get theirs from a local breeder but don't know when they will get anymore...

Re: Winter White Breeder
 

There are only two pure winter white breeders in the U.S., one is in California (AAA Hamsters) and the other is in Ohio (Holmden Hill Haven).

Re: Winter White Breeder
 

im sure there are more than two pure winter white breeders here! I was getting a family of WW but i really wasn't to interested in them anymore

Re: Winter White Breeder
 

Well, if there's some rogue unannounced breeder out there, it's great, but credibility is going to be an issue. If you want to be sure, those two people are the ones to ask, and they keep up on what's going on with winter white lines in the U.S. I would imagine if there were another, they'd be known, as it takes serious effort to import enough purebred winter whites with credible pedigrees and start a breeding program that they'd do some networking in the U.S. to announce their effort.

Re: Winter White Breeder
 

I'm going to be blunt and slightly rude here.

No, there isn't. They will have a 98% chance of being hybrid and the breeder will not have the 'correct' care for them in most cases.

Re: Winter White Breeder
 

So if I see some in a pet store, are they probably hybrids?

Re: Winter White Breeder
 

Unless it's a store those two breeders supply, yes. Yes if it's a chain store.

Re: Winter White Breeder
 

Unfortunately everything that's been said about pure WW in the US is true. Myself and AAA Hamsters in California are the only breeders in the US with pure lines. AAA Hamsters brought her hamsters back personally from Russia. While she was purchasing them, she also had Campbells in her possession and all the breeders she was buying the WW from were actually yelling at her telling her she couldn't breed the WW to the Campbells they saw her holding. Hearing that, she knew they were pure WW. My WW came from AAA's lines and I imported some from a long time UK breeder that AAA recommended to me. That breeder also told me their lines were pure as far as they knew. We've never had anything turn up in our litters to make us think otherwise.

Other than myself and AAA, there are no WW breeders in the US working with pure lines as they have no source for pure hamsters. If they didn't get them from AAA or I (and no one has), nor imported from other respectable breeders, then the chances are just too high that there's hybridization in their background. All the other "WW breeders" in the US got their hamsters from pet stores or other breeders whose lines go back to commercial stock. Unfortunately, there aren't enough good breeders in the US. I can count all the good breeders on one hand. We have more "middle/poor" breeders out there than good. What's worse is these "middle/poor" breeders can talk a good game and people new into the fancy just wouldn't know any better. Just saying that one's lines are pure isn't enough- you have to be able to take them back to their origin, which these breeders can't do. Or if they say they can, you have to look at their reputation in the fancy. Thankfully the forums are out there to help distinguish between them all.

-Janice