Types of Syrian Hamsters

The original pet hamster was the Syrian or golden hamster. According to the BBC, all Syrian hamsters found in laboratories or as pets descend from one pregnant female hamster captured in 1930 by Dr. Israel Aharoni. In less than 100 years, hamster breeders have come up with vastly different hamsters from the wild original.

  1. Original

    • Wild-type Syrians can be found in pet stores, animal shelters and hamster shows. They are sandy gold on top, with white bellies and chests and black eyes. They average 4 to 7 inches long and weigh 5 to 7 ounces. They prefer to live solitary lives and will attack other hamsters. They can live about three years.

    Hair Length

    • Short-haired Syrians are called Syrian or golden and have the length of hair that would be found in the wild. A long-haired Syrian is called a teddy bear hamster. They are the same size and weight as short-hairs, but seem larger because of their long hair. A teddy bear hamster's head is still short-haired, but from the neck down to its legs it grows hair that can reach 3 inches long. Teddy bears need regular grooming with a soft toothbrush to keep the coat tangle-free; they do not need baths.

    Warning

    • The newest type of pet hamster is a hairless Syrian hamster, although some may be born with some fuzz or whiskers. These were developed for medical research on skin conditions. They need very special handling, cannot tolerate any type of draft and are easily cut or scratched. According to Hamsterific, hairless Syrian hamsters live about one to two years. Female hairless hamsters are unable to nurse babies because their hairless gene also makes them unable to make milk.

    Colors

    • Syrian hamsters come in several solid colors and are sometimes called "selfs" because they are the same color all over. Selfs can be dark-eyed, red-eyed or odd-eyed, meaning one eye is red and the other black. Self colors include cream, white, albino, ivory, black, sable (a dark gray), honey, mink (a smoky gray) and chocolate.

    Patterns

    • The coat of the wild Syrian hamster is called agouti. Particolored or banded hamsters are common. They are mixtures of any self color and white, making the white appear as a band. Dominant spot hamsters have a base coat of white and spots of one or more colors throughout. Roans have brown or black hairs that are tipped with while, but their bellies are often pale.

    Newest

    • The United Kingdom has bred two types of hamster coats not usually seen in America, the rex and the satin. The rex has a kinked coat while the satin has a plush, highly glossy coat. Breeders are striving to get all colors and patterns in both rex and satin coats.