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Old 01-22-2021, 03:56 AM   #1
mooncentral
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Join Date: Jan 2021
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Exclamation Pets at home hamsters

Hello all,
This is a bit of an odd question as Im not actually asking for myself

One of my good friends is planning to get a hamster from pets at home and has been wondering which dwarf hamsters pets at home do.

They are wondering if the dwarfs are either: Campbell, winter white, or hybrid.
I wasn't too sure so I thought it would be best to come on here and ask for them so if anyone knows what the dwarfs are at pets at home are then please let me know.

They're also wondering about the different personalities of each dwarf (also is their is any difference in lifespan), I've heard they are similar but thought id come and check with some of the hamster experts on here.

Honestly I think they just want to know a little bit about each and some of the main differences between them, I did ask them to come on here themselves and ask this but they said they was too shy
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Old 01-22-2021, 04:29 AM   #2
Ria P
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Question Re: Pets at home hamsters

Petsathome russian dwarfs are hybrids.

At the moment it's difficult to choose a hamster because they don't let you.
My dwarf Ozzy i call a lucky dip hamster because the shop girl put a cardboard box in the tank and whoever walked in went home with me. He is a recluse who doesn't want out of cage time or human contact.
My dwarf Edwina caught my eye so i put my hand in the tank. Her sibling bit me but Edwina climbed onto my hand so i took her home. She was tame and comfortable with humans the day i met her.
Hamsters personalities vary a lot, just like humans.
The rest of my hamsters are rescues.

If you or your friends get a hamster from someone who rescues and rehomes which i do myself from time to time, you would be able to find out beforehand what a hamster's personality is like.
I have currently a very friendly and tame dwarf so i will be able to pass on this information to people who apply to adopt. I will also be able to explain about the hamster's habits, what time she gets up and what she likes to do etc.

Hamsters from a petshop haven't been handled so the shop doesn't really know anything about them aside from what species they are.
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Old 01-22-2021, 05:29 AM   #3
mooncentral
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Smile Re: Pets at home hamsters

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
Petsathome russian dwarfs are hybrids.

At the moment it's difficult to choose a hamster because they don't let you.
My dwarf Ozzy i call a lucky dip hamster because the shop girl put a cardboard box in the tank and whoever walked in went home with me. He is a recluse who doesn't want out of cage time or human contact.
My dwarf Edwina caught my eye so i put my hand in the tank. Her sibling bit me but Edwina climbed onto my hand so i took her home. She was tame and comfortable with humans the day i met her.
Hamsters personalities vary a lot, just like humans.
The rest of my hamsters are rescues.

If you or your friends get a hamster from someone who rescues and rehomes which i do myself from time to time, you would be able to find out beforehand what a hamster's personality is like.
I have currently a very friendly and tame dwarf so i will be able to pass on this information to people who apply to adopt. I will also be able to explain about the hamster's habits, what time she gets up and what she likes to do etc.

Hamsters from a petshop haven't been handled so the shop doesn't really know anything about them aside from what species they are.
Thank you for your reply,
Ah I see, this is their first hamster so they wanted to know as much info as they could.

Your saying they don't let you choose the hamster? Is it not like how it used to be where you could go to the hamster section and choose yourself. What was the process of adopting your hamster from pets at home?

Sorry for the crazy amount of questions I just want make sure my friend is fully prepared for what p@h have in store.
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Old 01-22-2021, 07:21 AM   #4
Ria P
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Default Re: Pets at home hamsters

It's all changed due to the covid situation and varies from shop to shop. Many petsathome shops don't sell hamsters at the moment. The ones that do usually require people to make an appointment to view and buy hamsters.
I live near four p@h and only one has hamsters for sale sometimes but i haven't seen any in the adoption centre for quite some time. When i bought Ozzy last May, they had too many hamsters post lockdown but had cordened off the tanks so people couldn't get too close or chose a hamster but things are forever changing.
It really is a matter of going there to see if dwarfs are available and then find out what the current procedures of buying one are.
Adoption is straight forward at a p@h but they don't always have a lot of information on the hamsters. If they do have back ground information they will share it with you.

I usually get hamsters for rehoming off Gumtree where people advertise them because they don't want them anymore, kids don't bother with them etc, all sorts of sad reasons or i see one living in an awful cage so i get the hamster, put him in a decent habitat and rehome to a suitable home.

I would advise your friends to do plenty of research before getting a hamster and this friendly forum is the ideal place to do that to be able to offer their future hamster the right kind of habitat and care.
The thread "Let's see your cages" on the Forum under Housinf is good for ideas and inspiration.

Websites like pets4homes and preloved are good places to look for a hamster in need of a home.

Please feel free to ask as many questions as you like. People here are always happy to answer anything you'd like to know.

I joined this forum when i got my first hamster but hadn't done much research so my hamster was in a cage with a wheel he soon outgrew and to be honest, i didn't have a clue.
By asking lots and lots of questions and with the help and patience of the lovely people here i did finally get it together and greatly improved my hamster's and future hamsters lives.
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Old 01-22-2021, 07:35 AM   #5
Fluffagrams
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Default Re: Pets at home hamsters

Pets at Home 'Russian Hamsters' will always be Hybrids to some degree although some may appear to look more like a Winter White and others may look more like Campbells. Generally speaking, the only way that you can be sure that you have a purebred Winter White or Campbells is to go directly to a breeder that can give you a pedigree.

The last time I went to Pets at Home for anything, they had a podium thing in front of the cages and the family that were buying a hamster were given the choice of male or female but they weren't able to choose the exact hamster. Other branches may have a slightly different set up but at the moment I'm not sure if they're actually allowed to sell pets due to the lockdown situation.

In terms of what Pets at Home are able to tell you about the hamster, you'll find that quite frequently they know very little. The hamsters usually haven't really been handled much, if at all and sometimes you'll find that the staff can't always guarantee the sex, particularly where dwarfs are concerned.

A good rescue organisation or a breeder on the other hand will be able to tell you more about your hamster's personality. They will usually know more about the hamster's normal temperament and sometimes even their favourite foods and toys too. As a breeder myself, I always give my rehomers a fact file telling them this sort of thing as well as giving them information on things like the date that they were first handled and when they were separated from their siblings.
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Old 01-22-2021, 07:50 AM   #6
Ria P
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Post Re: Pets at home hamsters

Quick update:
I've just been to a petsathome and they had hamsters for sale. There's even a dwarf in the adoption centre today. The tanks are cordened off so people can't get close without a shop assistant.

I enquired about buying hamsters and was told that because of the covid situation people are not allowed to handle them before buying but can point one out.
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Old 01-22-2021, 11:51 AM   #7
mooncentral
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Default Re: Pets at home hamsters

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
It's all changed due to the covid situation and varies from shop to shop. Many petsathome shops don't sell hamsters at the moment. The ones that do usually require people to make an appointment to view and buy hamsters.
I live near four p@h and only one has hamsters for sale sometimes but i haven't seen any in the adoption centre for quite some time. When i bought Ozzy last May, they had too many hamsters post lockdown but had cordened off the tanks so people couldn't get too close or chose a hamster but things are forever changing.
It really is a matter of going there to see if dwarfs are available and then find out what the current procedures of buying one are.
Adoption is straight forward at a p@h but they don't always have a lot of information on the hamsters. If they do have back ground information they will share it with you.

I usually get hamsters for rehoming off Gumtree where people advertise them because they don't want them anymore, kids don't bother with them etc, all sorts of sad reasons or i see one living in an awful cage so i get the hamster, put him in a decent habitat and rehome to a suitable home.

I would advise your friends to do plenty of research before getting a hamster and this friendly forum is the ideal place to do that to be able to offer their future hamster the right kind of habitat and care.
The thread "Let's see your cages" on the Forum under Housinf is good for ideas and inspiration.

Websites like pets4homes and preloved are good places to look for a hamster in need of a home.

Please feel free to ask as many questions as you like. People here are always happy to answer anything you'd like to know.

I joined this forum when i got my first hamster but hadn't done much research so my hamster was in a cage with a wheel he soon outgrew and to be honest, i didn't have a clue.
By asking lots and lots of questions and with the help and patience of the lovely people here i did finally get it together and greatly improved my hamster's and future hamsters lives.
Thank you for your reply!
They went to pets at home and they only had one Russian left, apparently due to covid situations their hamsters have not been coming in as much. The set up at that pets at home apparently had no covid precautions and was letting people go up near the cages etc.

But one good thing was that the pets at home actually were only selling syrians to people who had over 100cm cages for them which shows they’re actually improving their hamster cages and care.

They then went to another p@h and found a russian to adopt.

Overall pets at home seems to be improving their care and actually caring for the hamsters.
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Old 01-22-2021, 11:54 AM   #8
mooncentral
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Default Re: Pets at home hamsters

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fluffagrams View Post
Pets at Home 'Russian Hamsters' will always be Hybrids to some degree although some may appear to look more like a Winter White and others may look more like Campbells. Generally speaking, the only way that you can be sure that you have a purebred Winter White or Campbells is to go directly to a breeder that can give you a pedigree.

The last time I went to Pets at Home for anything, they had a podium thing in front of the cages and the family that were buying a hamster were given the choice of male or female but they weren't able to choose the exact hamster. Other branches may have a slightly different set up but at the moment I'm not sure if they're actually allowed to sell pets due to the lockdown situation.

In terms of what Pets at Home are able to tell you about the hamster, you'll find that quite frequently they know very little. The hamsters usually haven't really been handled much, if at all and sometimes you'll find that the staff can't always guarantee the sex, particularly where dwarfs are concerned.

A good rescue organisation or a breeder on the other hand will be able to tell you more about your hamster's personality. They will usually know more about the hamster's normal temperament and sometimes even their favourite foods and toys too. As a breeder myself, I always give my rehomers a fact file telling them this sort of thing as well as giving them information on things like the date that they were first handled and when they were separated from their siblings.
Yeah it was pretty much the same experience for them at one of the p@h you were told the colours and the gender and that’s about it.

It does seem p@h are trying to improve hamster care as they wouldn’t even sell a syrian to you if your cage was too small.
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Old 01-22-2021, 11:55 AM   #9
mooncentral
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Default Re: Pets at home hamsters

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
Quick update:
I've just been to a petsathome and they had hamsters for sale. There's even a dwarf in the adoption centre today. The tanks are cordened off so people can't get close without a shop assistant.

I enquired about buying hamsters and was told that because of the covid situation people are not allowed to handle them before buying but can point one out.
I think most pets at homes are like that now, it’s all changed since i last went
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Old 01-22-2021, 11:56 AM   #10
Ria P
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Default Re: Pets at home hamsters

Quote:
Originally Posted by mooncentral View Post
Thank you for your reply!
They went to pets at home and they only had one Russian left, apparently due to covid situations their hamsters have not been coming in as much. The set up at that pets at home apparently had no covid precautions and was letting people go up near the cages etc.

But one good thing was that the pets at home actually were only selling syrians to people who had over 100cm cages for them which shows they’re actually improving their hamster cages and care.

They then went to another p@h and found a russian to adopt.

Overall pets at home seems to be improving their care and actually caring for the hamsters.
That is really good news allround.
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