Winter White Dwarf Hamster Colors

Winter White Dwarfs change their coat with decreasing light (autumn) and increasing light (spring). NOT with a change in temperature. DO NOT put your hamster into the refrigerator or freezer to make them change. It will kill them. The change happens with the molt occurring during the change in amount of daylight. Not all Winter White Dwarfs will change their coats with the seasons and not all go through a complete change to white. The last picture is as light as this girl went. I will add pictures of the reverse process when I get them.

Hybrid Dwarfs (Winter White Dwarfs crossed with Campbells Dwarfs) may or may not change coats, too.

It is rumored that while in the winter coat they are won't breed and are infertile. What happens is they go into heat less often and are less fertile. They can and do breed in their winter coats but produce fewer litters that are smaller then normal. I have had this happen to me personally.

Agouti Colors

Agouti colors have off-white to cream colored bellies, 3 side arches, darker dorsal stripe, and the hair shafts have 2-3 colors on them.

Normal
++

A normal has 3 prominent arches on the sides. There is dark ticking over the top of the body and into the arches. The undercoat should be blue. The belly is white. The eyes are black and the ear leather is gray.

Sapphire
dd

The color is a soft smoky gray with a blue tinge. The belly is white and the undercoat is blue. The eyes are black and the ears are gray with an off-white patch behind the ears.

Patterns

The colors of these animals should be the same as a non-patterned animal. Although the patterning may wash out the color.

Pearl
Pe-

Is a White Pattern. The animal should be a mostly white animal with faint coloring along the dorsal stripe. Should look like it's in a winter coat with only ticking. To the left is a normal pearl and to the right are 3 sapphire pearl pups.

Merle

This is a new pattern gene and doesn't have a designator yet. Should have color to the roots like a non-patterned animal. To the left are two Normal Merles. The one with the Nike mark is a Mosaic.

Imperial White
Whwh

This is another pattern gene. It gives the animal a pure white belly. It's homozygous lethal WhWh and the pups are absorbed in the uterus with no ill affect on the mother or other pups.

Mosaic

The Merle on the left shows a mosaic pattern and a close up of the patch.