Dwarf Hamster Breeds - Choosing the Right One

When choosing your first pet dwarf hamster, one if the first decisions you will need to make is which type you want. That’s right, there’s more than one kind! In fact there are four different dwarf hamster breeds, each unique in their own ways. The four breeds are the Campbell’s, Syrian, Roborovski, and Chinese dwarf hamsters. So how exactly do you choose the right kind for you? Well here are four criteria to help you start.

1. Ease of Handling - One of the first things to consider is how easy is it to handle and play with a particular breed. If you aren’t very good at handling small and quick animals, you may not want to adopt a Roborovski. These guys are the smallest of all four dwarf hamster breeds and are the fastest as well. Another aspect of handling that my affect your decision is whether or not the hamster will bite. The Chinese and Roborovski breeds don’t nip or bite, but the Campbell’s and Siberian breeds have been known to bite when feeling threatened.

2. Average Lifespan - The second criteria you may want to consider when choosing the right breed is that of average lifespan. Roborovski hamsters have the longest lifespan of all the dwarf hamster breeds, living from 3 to 3 1/2 years. Second longest is the Chinese dwarf hamster who averages at 2 to 3 years. Finally, the Campbell’s and Syrian dwarf hamsters both have an average life span of 1 1/2 to 2 years.

3. Availability - This will probably be one of the biggest determining factors of whether or not you will choose one breed over another. Not all dwarf hamsters are commonly available and sometimes you simply can’t find the one you want. The Campbell’s dwarf hamster is the most popular and widely available. You’ll be able to find these guys quite easily. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Chinese dwarf hamster. This guy is a bit harder to find (in the United States at least) and certainly won’t be available at every pet store in town. In fact, the Chinese dwarf hamster is even illegal to own in certain states (such as California).

4. Appearance - I wasn’t sure about adding this as one of the criteria, but I’d be lying if I said appearance didn’t matter at all (it is, after all, one of the main reasons we love the cute and cuddly dwarf hamsters over their ogre-like cousin the Syrian hamster). All kidding aside, if someone in your family has a fear of rats, you might not want to choose the Chinese dwarf hamster, as this guy is the only one of the bunch that has a tail, making him appear more rat-like than the rest. This breed is also more slender than the other dwarf hamster breeds, adding to the ‘rat-like’ description.

Other appearance factors of note are that Campbell’s dwarf hamsters are available in many different patterns and colors (ranging from brown to even a tint of blue) and Roborovski dwarf hamsters are half the size of the rest (making them that much more adorable).

These are just four possible criteria you may want to use when choosing among the different dwarf hamster breeds, but in the end they are honestly all great. You can train any dwarf hamster to stop biting, the most skittish hamster can be played with when handled properly, and all hamsters can live much longer than the ‘average lifespan’ if cared for properly. So although you may use these factors as a guide, don’t let them hold you back if you’ve got your eye on one in particular.

Dwarf Hamster Breeds
Information on the four different dwarf hamster breeds.