Err, confused about my 'winter white'

[HamsterLady]

Hi all, had lots of dwarves before but only got our first winter white in January.

Thing is, there isn't a fleck of colour to him. He was almost completely white when we bought him, he is completely white now.

I've had a search on the net and can't find anything about having a completely white dwarf hamster that hasn't gone darker, only the other way around. I've read stuff about people getting breeds mixed up, but then if this is not a winter white - what is it?! I didn't think he could be an albino since he hasn't got red eyes (not an expert though lol).

Any ideas?

I can't take a recent pic as he's in my boy's room (who is asleep) so I've just attached an early one I found. He hasn't changed since we got him, except that the faint line of sandy colour you can see down his back here in this photo has gone white like the rest of him!

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

Where'd you get him?

[BrainGirl]

Looks like he's in a Pets at Home carry box, aren't they considered hybrids?

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

Originally Posted by BrainGirl

Looks like he's in a Pets at Home carry box, aren't they considered hybrids?

Yep. Didn't notice the box!

Your hamster is a hybrid. Please do some research on diabetes, common in hybrids. Lovely ham!

[HamsterLady]

Sooo, what do you mean by hybrid? Please don't be judgey about getting him from PaH. End of the day, I go in for sawdust, feel bad for the poor things, and come out with a new hamster every now and again if he looks at me like "dear god get me out of here!". There are no hamster breeders in my area. None, I have looked.

I already know about diabetes, which all dwarf hamsters are prone to lol.

I've not heard anything really about hybrids though so it'd be useful if someone could explain please.

[BrainGirl]

Oh don't worry, we're not being judgey! I have 2 hybrids myself. There are no breeders or even hamster associations in my whole country! Pet stores, or in my case, secondhand classifieds are where I get my hams and I have 6 in total so I know all about that "look"

There's a whole section dedicated to hybrid dwarf hamsters here that might have some information for you or just ask people who've experienced them. A lot of us are only just learning about the characteristics of hybrids ourselves, the pure species are much better known

[HamsterLady]

OMG I never even looked on here for a hybrid section :-/ Just googled it, couldn't really find anything much though.

Made me think one of my older pair is a hybrid from the picture comparison I found on a couple of sites just now though. We got Chip and Dale about a year ago as a pair, thought they looked quite different then. Am I right in saying, from the pics I've just seen showing the characteristics, and given that these were sold to me as a pair of campbells, that Dale is a regular campbell (first pic) and Chip (second pic) is a hybrid? It's the face shape and difference in line colour that made me think that?

I can't say I can see anything distinct to classify the white guy either way though? Plus I can't find any information on a white dwarf that stays white?

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

Originally Posted by HamsterLady

Sooo, what do you mean by hybrid? Please don't be judgey about getting him from PaH.

A mix of Campbell's(my main focus) and Winter White. And we're not judging you, I've had plenty of hybrids!

Originally Posted by HamsterLady

End of the day, I go in for sawdust, feel bad for the poor things, and come out with a new hamster every now and again if he looks at me like "dear god get me out of here!". There are no hamster breeders in my area. None, I have looked.

Haha, you're just like the rest of us lol. Go in for food, come out with a hammy.

Originally Posted by HamsterLady

I already know about diabetes, which all dwarf hamsters are prone to lol.

I've not heard anything really about hybrids though so it'd be useful if someone could explain please.

I know all dwarf hammies are prone to diabetes, just wanted to make sure you knew about it since Hybrids have increased risks.

There's a whole section about Hybrids(as Braingirl said), so I'd look at that and ask your questions.

We don't judge here, don't worry! If we judged people who rescued hammies we'd have like 10 members left lol.

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

Any dwarf from a petstore is hybrid. And even if they weren't, they would be by default because you have nothing to prove they're purebred.

[BrainGirl]

You won't necessarily be able to tell from appearance whether a hamster is a hybrid or not. The offspring can show characteristics or either or both of the parents, depending on how the genes were inherited and expressed.