52 replies to this topic

[Poppythehammy]

Hey Love this but just so you know its not called Chinese dwarf just Chinese besides that love this!

[MerryBB]

Hey Love this but just so you know its not called Chinese dwarf just Chinese besides that love this!

 

This entirely depends on how you choose to make the distinction when discussing the different species.

 

If you are using the word "dwarf" in the colloquial sense to mean "small", then all four domestic species of hamsters excluding Syrians can be called dwarf hamsters. (Roborovskis, Campbell's, Djungarians [winter whites], and Chinese hamsters.)

 

But if you are using the word "dwarf" to refer to taxonomy, then technically only Chinese hamsters should be considered "dwarf" as that is how they are referred to in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System. The genus "Phodopus" containing the first three species or "social dwarfs" only refers to them as "small desert hamsters", while the genus "Cricetulus" containing Chinese hamsters and other "ratlike/mouselike hamsters" actually does use the term "dwarf hamsters" to refer to all members of the genus.

 

So you wouldn't actually be right in saying that Chinese hamsters aren't dwarfs in a colloquial or taxonomic sense, unless you were specifically thinking about "social dwarfs". And you wouldn't be right to say hamsters in the genus Phodopus aren't "dwarfs" in the colloquial sense because taxonomy doesn't 100% rule how we use words like dwarf in conversation. Whether or not we call a hamster a "dwarf" is pretty much just down to context and personal preference. 

 

(For instance, I've found that loads of people don't call Roborovskis "dwarfs". Some may be thinking of them as dwarfs- but you see "Roborovski" and "Roborovski dwarf" floating around in much the same way you see "Chinese hamster" and "Chinese dwarf".)

Edited by RosemaryBB, 30 April 2020 - 12:05 AM.

[Poppythehammy]

This entirely depends on how you choose to make the distinction when discussing the different species.

 

If you are using the word "dwarf" in the colloquial sense to mean "small", then all four domestic species of hamsters excluding Syrians can be called dwarf hamsters. (Roborovskis, Campbell's, Djungarians [winter whites], and Chinese hamsters.)

 

But if you are using the word "dwarf" to refer to taxonomy, then technically only Chinese hamsters should be considered "dwarf" as that is how they are referred to in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System. The genus "Phodopus" containing the first three species or "social dwarfs" only refers to them as "small desert hamsters", while the genus "Cricetulus" containing Chinese hamsters and other "ratlike/mouselike hamsters" actually does use the term "dwarf hamsters" to refer to all members of the genus.

 

So you wouldn't actually be right in saying that Chinese hamsters aren't dwarfs in a colloquial or taxonomic sense, unless you were specifically thinking about "social dwarfs". And you wouldn't be right to say hamsters in the genus Phodopus aren't "dwarfs" in the colloquial sense because taxonomy doesn't 100% rule how we use words like dwarf in conversation. Whether or not we call a hamster a "dwarf" is pretty much just down to context and personal preference. 

 

(For instance, I've found that loads of people don't call Roborovskis "dwarfs". Some may be thinking of them as dwarfs- but you see "Roborovski" and "Roborovski dwarf" floating around in much the same way you see "Chinese hamster" and "Chinese dwarf".)

That makes sense but I could also say Syrians are dwarfs because they are tiny. My personal preference is to not call them dwarfs because many think all dwarfs are social and a Chinese hamster is not. If we are using small they Syrian dwarfs can be called that to. Thank you for explaining that to me though. Thanks for teaching me that they can be call Chinese dwarfs though.  

[nebit]

The genus of dwarfs that Chinese belong to actually directly translates to "dwarf hamster". Cricetulus means cricetus= hamster and the suffix -ulus means "dwarf" or "small".

 

And every single hamster species in the genus Cricetulus has the word "dwarf" in their common name.

[IsAnyoneThere]

That makes sense but I could also say Syrians are dwarfs because they are tiny. My personal preference is to not call them dwarfs because many think all dwarfs are social and a Chinese hamster is not. If we are using small they Syrian dwarfs can be called that to. Thank you for explaining that to me though. Thanks for teaching me that they can be call Chinese dwarfs though.  

 

No, that's not was RosemaryBB was saying. They weren't saying that you choose to call it a "dwarf" because it's small or social. They were saying that, as nebit says above (they beat me to it!) the scientific name of the Chinese hamster literally translates to "dwarf hamster". So whichever way you look at it; either by comparing their size to other hamsters, OR by going by their actual scientific name, they are dwarf hamsters.

[HenryHamster7]

The best option is to not keep pairs. Therefore there is zero chance of fighting. Remember, hamsters don't live together in the wild because of social aspects, they are there to reproduce, so it is not natural for them. 

[MerryBB]

The best option is to not keep pairs. Therefore there is zero chance of fighting. Remember, hamsters don't live together in the wild because of social aspects, they are there to reproduce, so it is not natural for them. 

 

That's actually a super interesting point, "hamsters don't live together in the wild because of social aspects". That used to be what I said when discussing pairs.. But it seems to be a good deal more complicated than that. The author of this thread went more in-depth on observations of different Phodopus species in the wild and in lab studies here:

 

Keeping Pairs - An Informal Literature Review and Discussion

 

It still seems like the vast majority of hamsters (and the vast majority of keepers) aren't really suited to social living for one reason or another (poorly bred/raised pet store hamsters for example), but I'm really not sure that can actually be put down to what is "natural" or "unnatural" to them. Hamster sociability (and rodent sociability in general) is a suprisingly interesting subject to look more into if you're interested.

[HenryHamster7]

That's actually a super interesting point, "hamsters don't live together in the wild because of social aspects". That used to be what I said when discussing pairs.. But it seems to be a good deal more complicated than that. The author of this thread went more in-depth on observations of different Phodopus species in the wild and in lab studies here:

 

Keeping Pairs - An Informal Literature Review and Discussion

 

It still seems like the vast majority of hamsters (and the vast majority of keepers) aren't really suited to social living for one reason or another (poorly bred/raised pet store hamsters for example), but I'm really not sure that can actually be put down to what is "natural" or "unnatural" to them. Hamster sociability (and rodent sociability in general) is a suprisingly interesting subject to look more into if you're interested.

Thanks a lot, I'll definitely read into that!