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Any ideas why one of my russian dwarven Hamsters is going a light grey during the summer and the oth2007-11-24 21:57:38

Any ideas why one of my russian dwarven Hamsters is going a lighter shade of grey during the summer? and the others arn't.

I think they're winter whites, but that wouldn't explain the white during summer... unless hes a summer white ;).

So 3 Hamsters, two are dark grey and sleep all day, and one is very white grey and also very active (probably runs in his wheel more than sleeps)

Answers:

Dwarf hamsters bought in the US are occassionally mixed winter white, so they will not go totally white during the winter. Also, by keeping them inside and controlling their environment (artificial light, artificial heat, air conditioning) you can mess with their natural habits. Is your room where you keep the hamsters air conditioned? You may have 'tricked' their bodies into thinking this might be winter - the air is constantly cooler than it was in the winter months, since then you had the heat on and the air was quite warm and dry (like summer to them). Remember how sensitive dwarf hamsters can be to small temperature changes.

Another thing to think about is the age of the hamster. I had a totally black dwarf hamster from the time he was twelve weeks old, and as he got much older (over 18 months) his hair started going white! By the time he died (over two and a half years after I got him!) he was almost half silvery white.

As for the activity level, that could just be different hamsters. I have had dwarf hamsters that slept all night and were up all day, which is strange in a normally nocturnal animal. Remember that these animals were nocturnal in the wild; by attempting to tame them and keep them as housepets, we have messed with their instincts. Dwarves have been known to run over three miles a night in their natural habitat to find food. Also, even if they're from the same litter, it is possible for only one of them to have the winter white gene dominant; the other two might have it recessively.

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Vun day Ve vill rule zer vold, un der Hamster grey vill be zer kink. Luk avter im gut, he iz preshus too zer racink und vill revard you later hon bye allowink yu to marry vith iz zizter, zat really kuddly ginger hamster in Henglantz green unt plesant lant.... Ve hav start, zo zer iz none stoppink uz.