[Hamtastic]

There are more people doing "professional" show breeding in Europe than in the U.S., which is why you see more breeders and variety in European pet hamsters. In the U.S. the hamster industry is pretty rudimentary in comparison and mostly limited to mass-bred pet shop hamsters without much regard for improving size, health, color, whatever other attributes a careful breeder would focus on. For some reason, in this country hamsters are just not popular enough compared to Europe. I mentioned it before, but my guess is that it's because more people live in suburban/rural settings and have large back yards, so dogs and cats are more popular, whereas Europe is tightly packed and small animals are a good pet option.

As an example, when I was in France, I saw lots of very interestingly colored rats that were beautiful, longer haired, and much healthier looking. When I go to a chain pet store in the U.S., 90% of rats are white with red eyes, 9% are white with gray or brown spots, and 1% something else, like hairless =/