Rydon Mill House suitable for...? - Page 2

littlepeanut · 03-26-2010, 08:55 AM

I'm getting confused about the types... Are winter whites different to dwarfs, or are they just a species of dwarf? and are Robos different all together?

I should've bought that gorgeous white one I saw the other week :S

She was beautiful.

souffle · 03-26-2010, 10:20 AM

There are 4 types of dwarfs LP.
There is the Winter White Russian, The Campbell's Russian, The Chinese and the Roborovski and they all look quite different when you get to know them.
The WW and Campbell's can breed together as they are very close genetically but these hybrid animals have many health problems but commercial farms have done it to produce interesting colours and patterns. In the wild this would never happen as they live in different areas.
Look here and you can see all the different types and the colours they come in

Midland Hamster Club

littlepeanut · 03-26-2010, 10:46 AM

Thanks for explaining that. It all makes a bit of sense now!

**Hope** · 03-26-2010, 01:43 PM

My Boris looks very much like a Saphire Winter White although he is from P@h adoption centre so I'm not sure where he came from in the first place. He could well have come from there in the first place and be a hybrid but he has the Blue/ grey coat with white underneath, the 'waves' down his sides and the dark grey line that goes from his head to his bum. He is a proper little cutie - I love him whatever he is!

WinterbellHams · 03-26-2010, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by souffle

All P&H russian dwarfs are hybrids. Pure WW are hard to come by as the breeders keep them close.

Not trying to threadhog, but you all are in the same situation as the U.S. then? I did not realize it was as bad there as it is here with the hybrids. There are less than a handful of breeders of pure WW's in the US that I know of and I know it makes it hard to outcross for them. I think a lot of campbells are hybrids as well, but not as many...

souffle · 03-27-2010, 04:34 AM

Virtually all pet shop hams in the UK are hybrid somewhere along their lines.
It does make it hard to keep the pure lines running indeed winterbell but there are a number of breeders who have long and complete pedigrees to substantiate purity even going back to wind caught WW.
Campbells are much the same.
Some countries will say that once 6 generations have been bred from a hybrid crossing then the line can be considered pure but that is not the case. Once a Campbells gene is in a WW line and vice versa it never ever goes away. It is an integral part of the genone of the animal from then on and will always be passed on though the amount it is expressed in the animal will vary so some hybrids will look very like WW and some very like pure Campbells.
(sorry thread hogging myself now!)

WinterbellHams · 03-27-2010, 06:50 AM

I completely understand. The biggest issue in the US is that there is a fancy for winter whites. They haven't been in the shops long... I'd say the past 8 or 9 years, but they are all hybrids. People purchasing them don't realize it unless they decide to breed and come on a board to find more information. There are only a few people that have pure lines. The US is so big and the gancy is so young compared to other places. The animals are all hybrids before the fancy even gets off the ground.