What hamster should i get?

Question
Hi, i am trying to decide what type of hamster i should get.  We are
looking to get some kind of a dwarf and when we get that dwarf we will
have two of them.  I went to the pet store and picked up a chinease dwarf
hamster and it didn't bite and it seemed to get used to me quickly, but i
kept reading about how easily the escape and how they dont do too well
in pairs.  They also had russion dwarfs at the pet store.  We could not pick
up the russion dwarf because it would bite us.  Will the russion dwarf get
used to us and not bite us if we handle it daily?  Note: all the hamsters in
the pet store are female.  Someone i know said it was temperamentle and
if the hamster bit hen it would always bite and if it didnt bite i would stay
nice.

Answer
Hi Joey

In many ways it is difficult to advise on what dwarf hamster to get.  This is because you never have any guarantee that two hamsters (although they are related and have always been living together) will always get on with each other.  Sometimes, for no logical explanation they can suddenly turn on each other.  One will always want to be dominant and it really depends on how they settle this as to what their friendship will be like.  If all goes well, they might have the occasional minor squabble but generally get on OK.  If they cannot settle it then they may fight more seriously and even bite one another.  sometimes the dominant one will bully the other one and make their life a misery.  In cases like this it is necessary to separate them permanently (once separated you can never reintroduce them).

Sorry to paint a black picture but whilst it is a good idea to get more than one dwarf hamster as generally they do prefer to live in pairs, sometimes it doesn't always work out.

Regarding the type of hamster to get - I've never actually kept Chinese hamsters so I'm not in a position to comment on these.  I do know that generally they are quite friendly towards humans, however.  

The other dwarf hamsters around are Russian - Winter Whites or Campbells.  In my experience Winter Whites are much friendlier than Campbells.  Campbells often appear friendly when they are only a month or two old, but when they reach adulthood their personality can change over night.  Therefore out of the two types I would advise winter Whites, but the only problem is that a lot of pet shops can't distinguish which is which.  Also where they have been cross bred, a hibrid variety exists and this can make it confusing.

Winter Whites or Chinese should be Ok to handle - I've often kept quite docile Winter Whites.  The fastest one (and smallest) are roborovskis.  They are great fun to watch but not really that easy to handle.

I personally feel that you should opt for the one that you can handle now, and that appears to be quite friendly. You can build on this friendship and hopefully they will also get along with each other.  Make sure they are in a large cage with plenty to do (possibly two wheels) and lots of places to sleep as this will help eliminate the chance of squabbling.  Also do get the pet shop to double check their sexes, and have a look yourself so that they are definitely the same sex - unfortunately I often hear of people who have two 'boys' and one produces babies!  So do double check this and you should be fine.

I hope this helps you.

regards
Sheila