Winter White vs. Campbell's

RachaelM · 08-06-2012, 07:27 AM

Hi all,

Does anyone recommend any reliable websites for understanding the differences between a Campbell's and a Winter White? Do you think our new family member is a Campbell's?

I know he seems to be in a sad state in the first photo, but this is the pet store box that we took him home in. I chose this picture because you can see his coloring pretty well. You can see his face in the second picture.

Thank you,

Rachael

**Silver** · 08-06-2012, 07:30 AM

Pet shop Winter Whites or Campbell's are Hybrid hamsters. This means they have bred a WW to a C.

The ham's colouring looks similar to a Campbell's Platinum Normal. Here is a National Hamster club website where you can see the colours

Campbell Colours

Silver xxx

Ankali · 08-06-2012, 08:31 AM

He is an Opal Campbell. May have some WW way back. He's cute! Looks like a sweetie

TheFeldhamster · 08-06-2012, 12:18 PM

I second what Ankali wrote. Looks like an opal campbell's to me. Coloring, dorsal stripe, form of head, eyes and ears look pretty purebred to me, too. If there was a WW in his line somewhere it's not obvious.

The coloring: the large amount of orange on the border between the top color and the belly color is typically RC, a WW would not have this, there would be a pretty sharp line where the gray of the back and the white of the belly meet on the side.

The dorsal stripe: is thin in RC, much wider in WW

The head shape looks triangular from the front (don't know how to describe it better); a WW's head would look more square - well, ok, trapezoid shaped. If you had a side view of the head we could also judge the line of the nose - rather straigth in an RC, and a sort of hook nose in WW

RC eyes look smaller than WW's

Ears look big (WW have smaller ears)

**Silver** · 08-06-2012, 12:20 PM

I bow down to more experienced people.

Silver xxx

RachaelM · 08-06-2012, 01:35 PM

Thanks everyone, and thank you very much for all the details! Attached is a profile shot of Baxter if you want to check the sideview of his nose...

Thanks again! I really appreciate it.

Rachael

Ankali · 08-06-2012, 03:51 PM

He looks very Campbell-y

sully · 08-06-2012, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silver

I bow down to more experienced people.Silver xxx

So do i , i called the ones i wanted orange mini hammies, i think they were Roborovskis but wasnt sure cause of the apricot colour?

TheFeldhamster · 08-07-2012, 01:12 AM

@RachaelM: Yup, nose looks campbell-y, too. Here's a page from a WW breeder with some comparison photos and text about the hybrid problem (in German, though, "Dsungare" = WW): Hosannah's dsungarische Zwerghamster | Was sind Hybriden?

@sully: no, that's not a robo. The photo is not good enough to be sure exactly but that's either a hybrid or Campbells. Hybrid could be mandarin or camel or there are many orange-y Campbells colors that could fit the pic. From the nose and ears and because the animal is thin rather than fat I'd guess it's a Campbells. The orange-y hybrid colors are all prone to obesity, so even a young hamster would probably look more chubby.

sully · 08-07-2012, 01:27 AM

Quote:

@sully: no, that's not a robo. The photo is not good enough to be sure exactly but that's either a hybrid or Campbells. Hybrid could be mandarin or camel or there are many orange-y Campbells colors that could fit the pic. From the nose and ears and because the animal is thin rather than fat I'd guess it's a Campbells. The orange-y hybrid colors are all prone to obesity, so even a young hamster would probably look more chubby.

Sorry what photo, ( the siggy picture is my syrian pearl)

Here are the pair i was going to adopt, in life they are apricot sort of colour. Pets at home staff said Robos well actully she pronounced it Robbos