Hamster Species
The most common hamster is the Syrian hamster, which has increased dramatically in numbers over recent years, with many new colour variations being found in parts of Russia. This increase in colour varieties has also increased the hamsters’ popularity as a household pet.
A Syrian hamster in its most original form shows off a golden coat with tiny black shades in individual hairs, their ears are a dark grey colour, almost black, with their under bodies being a contrasting colour of a whitish shade. Other common Syrian hamsters are a darker golden colour with black ears, and a lighter golden coloured hamster with a pure white underbelly.
One of the most interesting colours of Syrian hamsters that have been bred is a creamy coloured hamster, which is available with ruby, red and black eyes. One of the most colourful hamsters is the Syrian cinnamon hamster that has an orange-coloured fur.
Many find the white Syrian hamster attractive, there are three different forms is this white hamster and the difference is the eyes and ears have a different pigmentation. The albino has pure red eyes and no colour anywhere else, another form is all white but with dark coloured ears that are either brown or black and the final of the three has black eyes, pinks ears and the clean white fur. There are also chocolate colours and even a pure black variety of hamster, they all share the common theme of having their coat all one colour.
There is a huge potential for many different types of hamster as there are now many coat types that have been developed in supplement of the short haired hamsters. One popular mutation is the longhaired Syrian hamster, also known as rexes or teddies; their long curly hair on their coat is their distinguishing feature.