Is there such a species?

[Pixus]

a pet shop tried to sell me a hamster called Silver Fox, it looks like the hamster version of the siberian husky (dog) silver/grey with dark grey stripes on areas where the syrian hamsters has them. THe adult one is slightly bigger than my syrian hamster and the shop claims that it is a rare breed and hard to come by. I suspect it is juz a syrian hamster in that colour. I'm really attracted to it, but have been unable to find any info on it on the web. 1.Can someone more experienced help me with this? 2.since it looks like my hamster, do you think it is possible if i buy one male/female (which one prefered???) to mate with mine? maybei'll get a LOCAL Silver fox then... help...... thanx

[Yinx]

Silver fox hamsters is just a more fanciful term for light grey hamsters. For Syrians, there are two different sizes. For the smaller sized ones, we term them as local hamsters. The bigger sized ones are termed English hamsters.

It is possible for you to purchase the English hamster & breed it with your local hamster. Of course, in choosing either a m/f English hamster, you'll have to consider the sex of your present hamster! The offspring will inherit features of either parents - some may grow to be the size of English hamsters, some may grow to be the size of the smaller sized local hamsters. The same goes for their colours.

English hamsters aren't that rare in Singapore, but I do admit that light grey hamsters are not that common. Ultimately, the price of the hamster should be determined based on it's colour & markings.

[Pixus]

Thanx Yinx, The shop is charging me $20 for one. do you have any idea where are the petshops in s'pore where i can get them? I have both male and female local hamsters, currently the shop only has male hamsters, but i think they're still quite young. If i buy one male now, and get another female at a later date, do you think they will fight?! If i mate mine with the male one I'm juz afraid that they're offsprings will look like some local hamsters (u noe those that have patches one them... looks like cows).... I'll like to hear ur opinion... http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Pixus (edited 02-18-2001).]

[Yinx]

Hi Pixus,

Is the shop located in a shopping centre in Simei? The petshop located there has young silver fox hamsters, but they're housed in the 'breeding' room, if I'm not wrong. And yes, they sell their silver foxes for $20/each.

If you only wish to breed pure silver fox hamster pups, it'll be better for you to purchase a male silver 1st. Then, when the petshop has female silver foxes for sale, you can purchase it.

This is because when breeding hamsters, we should introduce a younger female to an older male (makes it easier for both hamsters to accept each other). Of course, do make sure the female is old enough before you breed her (say about 4-8mths old would be good).

I'm sorry, I do not know of any petshops which sell silver foxes (other than the Simei one).

By the way, are the silver fox pups long haired or short haired?

[Pixus]

hi yinx, i went to the simei one and there're selling it to me!! keke. wat a coincidence, i'm juz too eager to get them u see. I guess we're talking about the same batch.if that's the case, i can buy the male one there then come back in another 2 wks to get the female one??? my hamsters mated when they were barely 2 months old and i didn't realised she was pregnant until the last 3 days! gosh and i tot they're still young babies...

[Yinx]

Hello Pixus,

Heh, I had a hunch you were referring to the simei one, 'cos I stay near there & saw the silver fox babies last week. Did the person show you the winter whites as well? They're really lovely, especially the pearls. Too bad they're not for sale (belong to one of the staff).

Try to let your hamsters mate when they're older (between 4-10mths old). This is 'cos a young hamster might be too stressed & might end up cannibalizing her babies.

Good luck!

[Pixus]

yinx, i went all the way to upp paya lebar to view a silver fox which was supposed to be young... and it turned out that it was bigger than my syrian hamster!! duh.. dun think they'll ever mate like this.. anyway, it's the long haired version, if u wanna noe the add let me noe, i tink i'll most prob get fr the simei one.... *sad* the other places are selling quite exhorbitant prices...
btw, i dun really like dwarf hamsters as they're too small, i like animals i can hold, and play wif..