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Campbell's Dwarf Hamster - Phodopus campbelli

I've never owned Campbell's. I have heard that Campbell's often are nippy, or at least that it is common that at least one out of ten Campbell's is a nipper (or a biter). In practical terms this means that you can't put your hand into the cage of a sleeping Campbell without the risk of getting bitten from awaking it. In comparison I never got bitten by any of Winter Whites, or even my only Golden/Syrian Hammster! Always wake up your Campbells by talking to it before putting your hand into its cage :-)

Another difference between campbells and Winter Whites is that when it comes to trouble between cagemates the Winter Whites may kill his or her cagemate overnight so if you are not used to dwarf hamster you may lose a lot of Winter Whites to the normal aggression in the species. But the Campbells usually takes a couple of weeks to do the trick, so you will have time to hear the trouble in the cage and separate them in time so that thye will not kill eachother.

The Campbell's grow to about 8 cm in length, has a small tail that is usually hidden in the fur, and its head is more triangular than the head of the Winter White.

The main advantage of Campbell's is the many colours they come in. Not as many as the golden hamster, but many colours enought for anyone that is interested in genetics and colour breeding. Campbell's may also be satin. I think the prettiest colour is the argente (pp) - red eyes and fawn fur! ('Cause I just love orange fur and pink eyes!)

Here is an albino Campbell's (cc). Pretty pink eyes and white fur - just like a common laboratory rat!

And here is an agouti Campbell's (A-). This is the wild colour of this species.

In the wild Campbell's live in places like Mongolia and Kazah, the main area where they are most common is the Djungarian region of Mongolia. This may be the reason this species is also called the Djungarian Dwarf Russian Hamster. It sometimes also goes under the name Striped Dwarf Hamster, or Furry Footed Dwarf Hamster. Its latin name used to be Phodopus sungoris campbelli, but it changed to Phodopus campbelli.