Dwarf Hamsters are the smallest member of the Hamster family. They also have the smallest life span, though some do live to the age of 3! Dwarf hamsters have been available as pets for some twenty years and are growing in personality. They retain much of the cuteness of Syrian/Golden Hamsters (i.e., regular hamsters), but are more sociable both to humans and to each other. They are roughly half the size of a Syrian hamster.

There are two basic types of dwarf hamsters currently available as pets: the Russians and the Chinese. The Russians can be further divided into the Campbells dwarf hamster, also known as the Cjungarian or simply as the Russian Dwarf, the Siberian or Winter-White, and the Roborovsky. One cannot keep Chinese and Russian dwarfs together, but any of the Russian group may be kept with others of the Russian group.The Chinese Dwarf Hamster is considered to be one of the "ratlike" hamsters. They have a slightly longer tail, more pointed and longer nose, and tend to be thinner in build than other hamsters. All in all, they do look more ratlike. They are brown, with a dorsal stripe.

The Chinese hamsters all have a dorsal stripe. The Campbells is brownish-grey in color, with a white belly. The Siberian or Winter-White is grey in color during the summer and turns almost entirely white in the winter--the change being triggered by the length of days, not by temperature. The Roborovsky is similar to the Campbells, but slightly darker, and has white patches above the eyes, resembling eyebrows.

Dwarf hamsters are much more sociable than the more common Syrian hamster. They will live in pairs or small colonies and will friendly towards humans. The female is dominant and females will sometimes fight. Otherwise peaceable females can become highly territorial while pregnant, which may include attacking her mate and/or you.

Russian dwarfs are relatively easy to breed, Chinese somewhat less so. Generally their litters are small, 2-6 babies. The female goes into heat and can become pregnant immediately after giving birth. The male will attempt to be a good parent, although the female may not allow him to.

Positives

Dwarf hamsters are cute in appearance. They do not have long bare tails and may be more acceptable to some people because of this. They retain the hamster "cheek stuffing" behavior. Their sociability removes most of the drawbacks of Syrian/Golden hamsters, while retaining their advantages. They are also one of the smallest rodents kept as a pet. This allows slightly less frequent changing of cages and/or more animals in a given space.

Negatives

There is not a lot of information available on dwarfs so you will have to cope with problems on your own. Also, there seems to be a fairly wide variation in temperament, probably because of the short period the animals have been kept as pets. There are also a limited amount of colors available with most animals being in their naturally occuring coats.

Special Care

Little special care is needed, owners of breeding pairs should be on the watch for females abusing their mates.