There are several different species of hamster kept as pets, and it's quite important to be able to tell them apart! Our useful guide should have you up to speed in no time!

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Syrian Hamsters:

​Syrian hamsters are sometimes known as Golden or Teddy Bear hamsters. They originate from (no prizes here) the Syrian desert. They are the largest species of domesticated hamster by quite some margin, so are easy to tell apart from other breeds. They tend to weighanything from 100g to 250g, with the males often weighing less than females. Syrian hamsters are always solitary (except when very, very young) and are likely to fight to the death if even together for a few hours, and inflict serious injuries in just a few minutes. They come in a wide variety of colours. They are not especially diabetes prone so are usually okay to be fed a small amount of fruit or other slightly more sugary foods.

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Roborovski Hamsters:

​Roborovski hamsters are usually just referred to as Robos, as Roborovski is quite a mouthful! They originate from Russia. They are the smallest species of domesticated hamsters, and also the fastest. They tend to weigh anything from 20-30g, so they are really very light. They are seen by many as look-but-don't-touch hamsters, which isn't entirely true, but taming them does require a little extra patience. They have quite distinctive colouring with not quite as much variation showing as in Syrians. Just because they are small, doesn't mean they need less space- in fact, they need just as much as Syrians due to their high activity levels. Roborovski hamsters can live together in pairs or small groups, but require careful management for it to work out, and a spare cage should always be to hand in case the fighting grows to the point that they cannot live together. They are not especially diabetes prone, but evidently need a lot less food than their bigger counterparts.

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​Chinese Hamsters:

​Chinese hamsters have a more mouse like appearance than the other species of hamsters, having a long, thin body and a long (for a hamster) tail. They tend to weigh around 30-45g. They are generally easier to tame than Roborovski hamsters, but can be considerably shyer than Syrians. There is a common misconception that Chinese hamsters are more vicious than others, but this is untrue. They have a quite distinctive grey/brown colouring, but some breeders now produce white chinese hamsters with black eyes or in a colour called 'dominant (dom) spot'. Chinese hamsters are almost strictly solitary, despite whatever the petshop may say. Some pairings can be successful but it's not advisable to try unless you are very experienced. Chinese hamsters are diabetes prone so should be fed a low/lowered sugar diet.  

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Russian/Siberian Dwarf Hamsters:

Campbell's Dwarf Hamsters originate from Tuva (an area of Russia) and Mongolia. They weigh around 35-65g. They are very closely related to Djungarian Dwarf Hamsters (Winter Whites) and will breed together with them to create Hybrid Hamsters (normally just called Russian Dwarves). Any hamster brought  from a petshop should be considered a Hybrid, because unfortunately, pure Campbells Dwarf Hamsters and Djungarian Dwarf Hamsters are becoming increasingly rare in captivity. Hybrid hamsters are prone to many health problems that pure Campbells and Djungarians aren't, including diabetes (they should be fed a low sugar diet). All three species can normally live in pairs with careful management and are often almost as easy to tame as Syrians.

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Campbell's Dwarf Hamsters have a grey tint to their fur and do not have a white furred stomach. Their dorsal stripe is normally shorter, narrower and darker than that of a Djungarian. They also have smaller ears than their Djungarian counterparts and don't turn white in the winter. 

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Djungarian Dwarf Hamsters (Winter Whites) have a less wooly coat than Campbell's. They also turn a little lighter (but not normally white) in winter. In the wild, they would usually turn white, but captivity interferes with this process. They are also found in a colour called Sapphire (below on the left).

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Hybrid Russian Dwarf Hamsters show a mixture of both characteristics, sometimes showing stronger characteristics of one or the other. If you don't have any knowledge of your hamster's lineage or they come from a petshop/unregistered breeder, then it's safest to treat them as a hybrid and feed them a low sugar diet due to the diabetes risk.

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