types of dwarf hamsters

Question
I have a campbells dwarf hamster.  I fell in love with another little boy at the pet shop the other day.  He has a stripe running down his back like mine and is similar in color.  The only differences are that his ears are MUCH smaller and his tail is bald!  Also he seems much calmer than my hamster.  Is he a different kind of dwarf?  They are the same size.  I would like to introduce the two to see if I could house them together...I have only had mine for 3 weeks.  Any tips or advice?

Thank you so much,
Helen  

Answer
Hello! Well, there are three different type of dwarf hamsters: Campbell Dwarf, Chinese Dwarf, Roborovski Dwarf. The Campbell Dwarf comes in two varieties: Winter White Dwarf, Russian Hamster. The other hamster you were probably looking at was either a Russian or a Winter White. I think it was a Winter White Dwarf hamster as I have one myself. Even though they are under the same family they are still different and should not be housed together. Only Russian with Russian and Winter White with Winter White. I wouldn't put another hamster in there with the one you have just because you have had him for three weeks and he probably doesn't want another friend and is happy being by himself. Even though dwarf hamsters are more docile and can sometimes be paired together they still have the tendancy to fight. Generally when you buy dwarf hamsters you buy them from the same housing they were in and generally from the same family they grew up together with, since they were already introduced to each other they would be more familiar and may not fight. This however is no guarantee. My personal opinion is to put only one hamster per cage. If your hamster is a male I would just leave him by himself, if your hamster was a female than you may have a little bit better chance of having two housed together as long as your cage was big enough to house two. If you really want to introduce the two you I would buy a second cage just in case they fight. The minute you start hearing another one shriek and scream seperate immediently. I know you really want to buy the other hamster but I would personally not to do it. I know it's not what you want to hear but i've seen so many hamsters get battle scars and wounds from having another hamster fight with them. I hope this helps :-)