Dwarfs
by Littlefoot
Campbell's- Phodopus campbelli
The Campbell Russian hamster, Phodopus campbelli, was named in honor of W.C. Campbell who captured one of these dwarf hamsters in Tuva, Mongolia July 1902. It's found in northern China, central Asia, and Russia. It lives in the Steppes and in the grasslands it digs it's burrows which can be 3 feet (91centimeters) in the ground. The burrows are comfortable and lined with sheep's wool and dry grass. While temperature varies outside the burrow, inside it's a cosy 62 (17 Celsius) the perfect temperature for hamsters. There are several exits which help the hamster escape many predators like the fox, owl, falcon, and weasel. They can travel up to a mile at night in search of food and bedding which they carry in their cheek pouches. They have hairy little feet and they live approximately two years.
ARGENTE DWARFS
COLOR
Until the late 1970 when the Argente color was discovered in the USSR, the only color had been Agouti. (Sometimes referred to as Natural, Normal or the wild color). Sometimes Argente color is called cinnamon or sandy. My first three dwarfs were definitely the Argente sandy color. They are light color with a white underbelly, a dorsal stripe on their back, and red ruby eyes. Pinky was the same color but with a slightly darker brown underneath the fur, I would classify her as more toward cinnamon.
WEIGHT
Argente campbell dwarfs weigh around 2 ounces. Hairy and Berry weighed exactly 2 ounces on the weight watcher kitchen scales. Pinky weighed in at 2 1/2 ounces. I could hold both Hairy and Berry in the same hand, while Pinky is a handful on her own.
CARE
Dwarfs like quiet, calm rooms and while they enjoy a television program in the background I moved mine to live in an upstairs room away from the constant noise. Their sense of smell is keen and I always use hand sanitizer and then a mild no smell soap rinsing thoroughly. They need their 2 tablespoons of dry hamster food changed daily and fresh water. I take out all the sunflower seeds and handfeed them two a night. I also prefer Harry Hamster food and buy bird millet to add a bit to the nightly portion. Just a tiny pinch of millet as its high in fat. Mine like some food to be hidden in their bin so they can forage at night and find their own food. I wear a face mask if I have a cold when I do their nightly feeding and water changing. Those times I reserve the right to keep them in their bin or play area with the least amount of contact to me.
Diabetes
Because a campbell is prone to diabetes I tried not to feed mine fruit or milk during the first year. The signs of diabetes are drinking a quantity of water and they can get an occasional vicious attitude. They get miserable and react to how their bodies are feeling on the lows and highs of diabetes. I asked the pharmacist for test strips and told her it was for hamsters. She helped me and I just paid full price for the box. Its a simple test. Take your hamster when they first wake up and put the hamster in a small tall sterilite box with a glass jar laying on its side. Be sure to stay with them and watch so that the test can be done fairly quickly. The hamster went in the bottle and peed. Excuse me for this addition, but as my hamsters have different attitudes Hairy just wouldn't pee until I put an empty clean potty house instead of the glass jar and covered that part of the bin from the top so that he had privacy. He dashed across the space towards that corner. I waited a bit and looking under the lid saw that he was in the potty house peeing. After they pee then I blotted the hamster with lots of toilet tissue and put them back home. (Be prepared to see a hamster with a miserable looking face. They don't like their fur to be wet like this.) Then I put a test strip in the pee and counted to 15 for ketones and 30 for glucose and checked the color to see what rating. Berry tested high, then normal, normal and normal. You can bet I quit giving him those honey sticks that had molasses in them. Hairy tested normal, and then medium, normal and normal. He quit getting those treats and I stopped those pink yogurt drops. Why should they suffer from diabetes when I could help them with a diet change? I buy firm tofu and cut it in pea size pieces on a cookie sheet, freeze it, and with pancake turner put it in a freezer storage box. Then I feed a piece every night to stabilize their diabetic tendency, plus a small pea size portion of fresh vegetable. This is not a cure for diabetes but what they eat can push them into higher readings on the test.
Fresh Food
Fresh vegetables must be introduced slowly in tiny portions like only twice a week in the beginning. Now that they are used to it, I give mine a twig of broccoli, tofu and midget carrot to snack on every night. My dwarfs like plain chicken no salt, spices or skin and that also will help with the diabetic tendency so it can be a substitute of tofu. Peeled cucumber slice can work in a play box or vet trip. Its a good water source.
Bones to eat
To keep their teeth trim I give them Nutrocrunch dog biscuits, edible nylabone in flavors like peanut butter or carrot, and a delectable potato bone that's made from lamb and rice and puffs in the microwave to crunchy texture. I leave the Nurtocrunch in a square piece and the others I break into smaller pieces. Although, Pinky can lift a bone for sure. I keep it fresher stored and as she needs them I replenish her bin. Check to see there is no garlic or onion in the biscuit or bone.
Wheels
Hamsters need wheels to run in to keep that nightly one mile run. I provide wodent wheels as the wire wheels with open spaces can injure their legs. I give them plain white unscented toilet paper instead of the fluffy bedding. The toilet paper will dissolve in water and is safer for them.
Treats
For a rare treat they can eat a half walnut in the shell. Just take out the shell when they're finished. Cheerios, wheat chex cereal, or Kashi Go Lean cereal is good for an occasional treat. Home found treats are much healthier and cheaper then treats from the pet store.
Zoomer Balls
These hamsters need to be played with nightly and also most of them enjoy a zoomer ball. Only let them run in one for ten minutes at a time and be sure to rinse the ball when they're finished and dry it for the next time. They'll be thirsty afterwards and need to get back to their cage for a fresh drink of water. Pinky is my only hamster who doesn't like a zoomer ball. She sits and bites the slits.
Potties
They can be potty trained in a hamster potty or a jar layed on its side. Buy 50 pounds of children's playsand for a few dollars at a home improvement store. Put some in a dish in the oven at whatever temperature for about 10 minutes. You can even put in a dish of sand after you've baked something else and turned off the oven. Let it cool and use this to put in the potty. Hamsters will roll in it and then pee in it. They poop anywhere and this potty isn't really to train them for that. A hamster will poop in your hand if its nervous or wants to go back to its home. If you don't take the clue, then the hamster will pee on you. It just wants to go home. Although, I think Hairy did that to me to show me he wanted his wife and children.
Hearing
Hamsters will recognize your voice, so do talk softly to them every day. Singing will wake mine up and I did that in the beginning to get them used to play time at night. They were always awake after that and ready to play.
Play Areas
You can make a cardboard box or sterilite box a play area. I bought a PreVue playpen for my dwarfs and it works fine for around ten dollars. Mine used to escape out of the cardboard box so I had to put a wire lid over it. Once I had all the first three lose at the same time. Surprise, but Sam was so busy exploring he never attacked anyone and he was right next to his dad Hairy. They walked into my hands quickly enough.
Vet Clinic
I have a first aid kit. Inside is the vets phone number, a new bottle of pedialyte, baby food rice with applesauce, Apple Blueberry, Chicken and Wild Rice, dry individual baby rice cereal, All Purpose Face mask, cotton gloves, infant syringe, plastic gloves, Keto-Diastix diabetes test strips. It's difficult to find a vet that knows about dwarf hamsters, but I've taken mine to one close by. The first time I took the hamster in the condo and carried that and supplies in a basket. The last time I just took the hamster in her bin (which can be helpful). They'll ask you for a name, birthday and what's wrong with the hamster. I have used infant pedialyte with half water in one of the hamsters water bottles to help through an illness. The bottle needs to be changed and washed as thougoughly as possible because the solution gets sticky, but it does help. Baby food can be warmed and fed from a spoon. They like that and it helps streghthen them. I got a baby syringe from a friendly pharmacist to slowly give water in the side of the mouth ....away from the throat. I only got a chance to help Hairy with that. Its a sad thing to relate but all of my hamsters died at night before the vet office was open. The vet I use said that's usually the case.
