New to the forum !!

taylorisqueen · 10-18-2015, 06:53 AM

Hi I'm Ami (I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan so that's where my username comes from &#128584

. I have owned hamsters for a while now (sometimes just one, sometimes a few at once) and my room always feels hugely empty without at least one little fluff in there. I don't currently have a hamster but am planning to get a new one during October break so I have plenty of time to prepare the cage and bond with the hamster. At the moment I'm thinking of getting either a robo or a russian...

Pingu · 10-18-2015, 09:53 AM

Welcome to the forum

Wanna Hamster · 10-18-2015, 12:52 PM

Hi Ami and welcome to HC!
Just know that most "Russian hamsters (a.k.a. Winter White hamsters), are actually a hybrid of Russian and Campbell's, unless you get a pedigree ham. Now a days, it is extremely hard to get a pure bred Russian or a pure bred Campbell's.

taylorisqueen · 10-18-2015, 02:57 PM

Thank you Pingu!

Thank you Wanna! Does the fact that they are hybrids have any effect on health? I did look for breeders in my area but couldnt't find anybody near enough who breeds dwarves

Wanna Hamster · 10-18-2015, 06:03 PM

Hybrids are prone to Diabetes, so a low sugar diet is key. They can sometimes have birth defects, so when picking one out make sure it has all of its necessary body parts. Also, make sure it isn't sick or odd looking. Otherwise, you should be fine!

taylorisqueen · 10-18-2015, 11:39 PM

Ok thank you!

cypher · 10-19-2015, 02:10 AM

Welcome to HC taylorisqueen

Russian hybrids do tend to be more prone to diabetes but it's really quite easy to feed a ham a sugar free diet so don't let that put you off too much, I think all pet shop hams are more likely to have health problems than breeder hams, it may be the case with neurological problems in robos too.
I've had health problems with hybrids & my Chinese ham that would probably have been far less likely to arise in breeder hams but I don't regret having any of them for one moment, they are such adorable little things so if you can't go to a breeder you can still have a lovely pet ham, you just have to be quite diligent with care & health checks.

Artisans_uk · 10-19-2015, 04:41 AM

Hi Ami and welcome to the forum. Looking forward to seeing your new hamster in the future.

taylorisqueen · 10-19-2015, 07:43 AM

Thank you cypher! When I buy pet shop hams I tend to go for the ones in the p@h adoption centre so am planning on doing that again as I like getting the ones which haven't been chosen

Thank you artisans

I'll make sure to post photos!