The 'original' colour of the Dwarf Winter White Russian Hamster in the wild is dark grey with a slight brown tint and an ivory belly and has a thick black line down the centre of the back (dorsal stripe).

Occasionally a mutation occurs resulting in a new colour, pattern, coat type or physical characteristic. In the wild these mutations may not survive but in captivity such hamsters are kept and bred from in order to maintain the mutation. As a result in captivity additional colours to the original wild grey have been established.

Click on any colour name to view a fuller description and more pictures.

Normal The normal colour is dark grey with a darker grey undercolour, a thick jet black dorsal stripe, and an almost white belly. The eyes are black and the ears are grey.
Sapphire The Sapphire is soft purple-grey in colour with a grey undercolour and thick grey dorsal stripe and ivory belly. The eyes are black and the ears are light grey-brown.