>> >I apologize ahead of time since my question is actually about my hamster
>> >instead of my gerbil. I have a siberian hamster
>>
>> There is no such thing. This is a misnomer spread by pet stores.
>> You probably have a dwarf campbell hamster. They are often labelled
>> 'siberian' by pet stores....there is a variety of dwarf hamster, 'Russian
>> Winter White' which is very rare. So...
>
>Oh yes there is------- if you live in the UK and are a fan of a certain
>sitcom called Fawlty Towers.
I've seen it.
>Manuel's pet rat that causes havoc in one of the episodes was
>sold to him by the petshop as a Siberian hamster.
>
>SUe
They call it that. The statement still stands. There is no such thing
as a 'siberian hamster'. There are Syrian hamsters, also called:
Fancy, golden, common, teddybear, plush.... These tend to get
larger than the dwarf, an adult reaches a weight of 100-130 g and
will fill your hand.
There are dwarf campbells. These tend to stay more around
60 grams, are a lot smaller, and can be nippier.
There are Russian Winter Whites. These will change coat color
like an artic fox or an ermine (cousin of the mink, member of
the weasel family). They are extremely rare. They can cross with
dwarf campbells, giving a hybred. This is really frowned on.
Chinese dwarf, have more of a tail and are skinnier and sleeker,
and more acrobatic. They can jump a lot higher and escape.
They are a lot more gnaw-prone, and I find that keeping them from
escaping takes a lot of the same care one uses to keep gerbils
safely housed. Also in the hamster-keeping ranks; they have
the smelliest cages. Their urine stinks a LOT, they are
indiscriminate voiders, and in 4-5 days the cage will smell like
a heavy mice infestation. NOT like gerbils.
Pet stores often erroniously label dwarf campbells 'siberian' or
'russian' hamsters.
And out of keeping hamsters and gerbils: Syrian hamsters
are the easiest to catch, they will fall for a live trap and are
heavy enough to trip it. They will also fall for pail traps. If well
tamed, after about three days on the lam they'll walk right up
to you sometimes hoping you'll feed them.
Dwarf campbell, unless they're reasonably old and large, can
clean out the live trap without tripping it. They are cornerable
and catchable.
Chinese dwarf, can sometimes trip a live trap, otherwise one
must corner them. They are very fast, and boy can they jump.
Gerbils, are very very fast. I have never had one trip the live
trap, they are good at cleaning it out. They are hard to corner.
They can scoot right up you faster than you can react. They
can jump out of pail traps.
Deb
My apologies to the list, this will be my last public post on this
thread....
