I think he's a campbells hybrid... but...

[Rolo-n-Rocky]

Today a friend showed me her 'pure bred winter white' that she had been sold a while back...

Well it looks exactly like Felix (only Felix is in better condition) who I always assumed to be a hybrid leaning more towards Campbells.

Here is Felix... he doesn't look anything like a winter white to me! Am I right?

Lottie Bennett's Photos | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=43541452&l=fbea9db851&id=61114387)

and here he is again - just because I love this photo!
Lottie Bennett's Photos | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=43541455&l=7233f4e145&id=61114387)

[fluffymunchkins]

Its hard to tell and i'm no expert, hopefully someone will be able to :)
Where did you, and your friend get the hams from?
If its the pet shop then i can almost guarente they are hybrid

[internet_nobody]

He's WW colour, not campbells.

[Hope]

From what I have researched it is not very easy to tell a hybrid from a pure just by looking at them, unless doing a gene/blood test of some description. The amount of 'pure' compared to hybrid avialibe is very low indeed. It only takes one hybrid in a line of generations to make the whole line 'unpure'. Hybrid hamster were being entered in shows and judges were none the wiser, it was exposed and this was banned. In short they can look exactly like (or even better than, if they come from stonger gene pools eg more healthy, better size etc) a pure even though in fact they are not.

I think I remeber Nooboo giving some very good information explaining about the genetics and how it works - if you pm her I'm sure she will be happy to answer your questions. And of course see what the others say! :-)

[Hope]

He's WW colour, not campbells.

Yes sorry I was going to metion that in my post but I forgot . . . oops!

[Rolo-n-Rocky]

Thanks guys. Weird thing is, Felix has changed colour - this was how he was last year:
Lottie Bennett's Photos | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=39880022&l=3e6a5d9201&id=61114387)
Same hammy!

Ah ok... perhaps if he is WW looking, then hers could be a pure bred... Felix was a rescue, I have no idea where the original owner got him from but most likely a pet shop - I'd be very surprised if he was from a breeder. Hence I always figured he was hybrid.
The one a friend has, she has got from someone who was breeding them but this person could've been breeding pet shop hamsters, if you get my gist. Hence, I straight away figured she'd been done! :lol:

Obviously, I got it wrong! doh!