North Yorkshire Hamster Breeder

There are two types of Russian hamster: Campbell's Russian and Winter White Russians. It can be difficult to tell the difference between the two Russian breeds but you will know when your brown hamster has turned partially white in the winter! Campbell's Russians can be beige, brown, black and white, but the Winter White spends the summer in their natural coat and often becomes totally or partially white as the days draw in. Russian hamsters are sociable and live happily in same sex pairs or groups and live for about 2 years. They are lively little hamsters and really enjoy being handled.

Russian hamsters are generally sociable animals and like to be kept in pairs or groupsfight and may. If you choose to keep a pair or group, always buy them at the same time so they already know each other or are young enough to make friends, new individuals will not get on or be accepted into a group later on. As with all social animals it is possible that your hamsters will fall out from time to time so provide lots of hidey holes in their cage to allow them space to sleep separately if they wish.

When you first take your hamster home they should be allowed to get used to their new surroundings for the first day or two without being disturbed. You should then start talking quietly to them so that they get used to your voice. The next step is to introduce your hand into their cage and perhaps offer a treat, soon they may climb onto your hand, or you can gently scoop them up. After that it is important that you handle them regularly to develop their confidence and maintain the relationship. On no account should a hamster be woken up rapidly and immediately picked up, this can be very frightening for them and may cause them to bite. Make sure your hamster is handled over a table or close to the floor in case of a fall and young children should be closely supervised when handling them.

(in my opinion) Russian hamsters are the friendliest type of hamster, they are very docile creatures but are quite sensive to roughness as this scares them.