What kind of hamster is this?

[mikatelyn]

Hi,
I've been casually browsing the hamsters available in my area for purchasing or adopting. Now that I have one hamster, I feel like having 2 might be double the fun!
I read somewhere that winter whites are supposed to be one of the easiest to tame?
These hamsters are supposed to be winter whites, but it kind of looks like they might have red eyes, and I thought I read somewhere that winter whites are supposed to have black eyes.
Does anyone know what kind of hamster these are?

white kind of hamster.jpg

[souffle]

They are closest looking to albino campbells. There are no red eyed winter whites. If the person selling them doesn't know though they are most likely hybrids.

[Fluffagrams]

In most cases hamsters advertised as either Campbells, Russian, Winter White or Djungarian will actually be Hybrids and will probably have hamsters of both Campbells and Winter White in their ancestry. You are correct that a true Winter White will have black eyes and their heads don't look like a typical Winter White head either... they have more resemblance with the Albino Campbells but as far as I know, there are no purebred Campbells or Winter Whites in the USA.

In terms of tamng, Campbells do have a reputation for being a bit nippy but when judging them at shows I've had just as many bites off of Winter Whites than I have off of Campbells so it really does depend on the hamster.

[alpacassei]

They’re Russian Dwarf hybrids - part Campbells and part Winter White.

[mikatelyn]

Thanks for everyone's input and expertise!
I think I might be better off passing on this opportunity, especially after reading through Maestro's thread about all the potential health problems with unethically bred hybrids.
The ad didn't inspire a lot of confidence that these were thoughtfully bred.

[mikatelyn]

Originally Posted by Fluffagrams

In most cases hamsters advertised as either Campbells, Russian, Winter White or Djungarian will actually be Hybrids and will probably have hamsters of both Campbells and Winter White in their ancestry. ... as far as I know, there are no purebred Campbells or Winter Whites in the USA.

Sorry for the double post, but this question just occurred to me:
If hybrids tend to have a lot of health problems, and there are no purebred Campbells or Winter Whites in the US, should I just avoid Russian Dwarves then? Or are there successful, healthy lines of hybrids?
I Googled hamster shows in Arizona. I don't think we have any.

[alpacassei]

There’s no such thing as ethically bred hybrids unfortunately. Hybrids still make amazing pets but you do need to be aware of the health risks and decreased life expectancy and make sure you can afford any vets bills. I’ve had 7 Russian dwarves (both bought and rescued/adopted) abd apart from my current adoptions who are all quite young, they’ve all had fatal health complications, most commonly diabetes.

Ideally its better to adopt or rehome than buy from a pet store, and definitely avoid any backyard breeders.

With that litter, I’d definitely be concerned about inbreeding since albinism is a recessive gene, both parents would need to be albino for all the pups to be aswell.

[mikatelyn]

Oh wow. Duly noted.
With my current level of hamster helicopter parenting, I think I should probably gain a little more experience before trying out Russian dwarves then.
Thanks again