Odd looking hamster

[Ria P]

Been to a p@h to buy a bottle for my bin cage diy project because i've always fancied making one from surplus hamster stuff and things from the kitchen.

Anyway, never manage to walk past the hamsters and saw that odd looking hamster in the adoption section. He was "labelled" as a Russian dwarf.

He got up, had a drink, looked at me and pawed at the tank. I did not take a photo because i do not want to get attached and "odd" has always appealed to me.

He has a white belly, mousy shaped head, red eyes, the fawn colouring of my Robo and a dorsal stripe down his back. He seemed fairly long in the body.

What kind of hamster could he be?

He's called Harold which isn't a good sign because Harold and Maude is my favourite movie.

Now i must go and try to forget about Harold because i already have two hamsters

[sushi_78]

Could he have been a Chinese hamster? They look a little more "mouse-like".

[LunaTheHamster1]

did it look like this hamster in this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubJz7O6Mzp8

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

did it look like this hamster in this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubJz7O6Mzp8

Yes, he does Luna. Just a bit paler with red eyes. Video doesn't say what kind of hamster he is though.

[Ria P]

Got three utility items for my bin project:

a coke bottle bottle holder with glass marbles to weigh it down - this idea comes from HC

a Pringles tunnel - also an idea from HC

a teabag box house with base cut out, handy because it has a lid

[Fluffagrams]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Yes, he does Luna. Just a bit paler with red eyes. Video doesn't say what kind of hamster he is though.

The hamster in the video is a Chinese Hamster and they can have tails that range from being about 1cm to as long as 3cm. My James had a short tail for a Chinese but then he was rather ‘gifted’ in other respects.

Chinese Hamsters never have red eyes and only come in three colours. The brown which can have varying shades of browny grey (a Chinese of good colour will be a rich and warm brown), the Dominant Spot which is white with brown patterning and the White so it sounds to me that the hamster you saw was some kind of Campbells Hybrid. It may be that it looked slimmer because it is a bit underweight but generally they are less ‘ball shaped’ than the Winter White anyway.

[Ria P]

Thanks for info Fluffograms and responses from Luna and Cotton. I'm looking forward to your videos, Luna.
There are people, especially kids out there who have limited funds or space so resort to these tiny but colourful cages to house their pets in.

This is my take on a small, colourful cage made mainly from recyclables for a dwarf hamster.

Yes, for my own pet i'd add more substrate and i'd recommend that to a potential buyer but even with this amount a dwarf could still burrow.

I don't know how to price this bin and i have no idea if anyone on Gumtree would want to buy it but we had fun making it. See what happens.

[Ria P]

Some more closer up.

[LunaTheHamster1]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Thanks for info Fluffograms and responses from Luna and Cotton. I'm looking forward to your videos, Luna.
There are people, especially kids out there who have limited funds or space so resort to these tiny but colourful cages to house their pets in.
.

Yes, that's exactly why I wanted to create a cage like you have done and make a video on it. My cage is not dissimilar to yours, just bigger. I had been thinking abut it for a while and also something Schwartzie said in passing made me think I should do it. It's nice to see that all 3 of us are thinking to recycle! When I release the videos I will post pics on the thread in this forum too. Hope to help and inspire those that can't afford to spend fortunes, plus we can all enrich our hamsters lives without having to spend a fortune all the time.

Goodluck, you will have to let us know if you sell it.

[LunaTheHamster1]

I believe it is a Chinese hamster like sushi stated.