The Long Haired Hamster

The long haired Syrian hamster is sometimes referred to as the 'Teddy Bear hamster'.
The long haired female Syrian hamster has a longer coat than the short haired hamster, and the long haired male usually has longer fur than the long haired female hamster and has a skirt of longer fur around the waist and rear end, whilst the long haired females may have fluffy, or tufts of hair and no skirt.

The longer hair varieties may occasionally need a little more attention than the short haired varieties, as sometimes the bedding may become entangled in their fur. This can be removed by teasing out, using your fingers or a comb. A hair brush may damage the fine hair of the long haired Syrian hamsters’ coat and a wide toothed comb makes the job much easier as this should keep matting to a minimum. If matting does become a problem then the skirt may be trimmed back a little.
There are no grooming requirements for the short haired hamster, though the hamster may enjoy the odd occasional brushing.

Some varieties of hamster like a sand bath and Dwarf hamsters in particular enjoy this activity. The sand to use for this is chinchilla sand; and not the dust. This can be obtained from the local pet shop. Dwarf hamsters have an oily secretion that makes the fur become matted quite quickly. A sand bath can provide your pet with entertainment and will help in grooming as the sharp action of the sand on the coat as he rolls around keeps the coat clean and prevents it from becoming too oily.

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