How to Tell Campbell’s (Three-Line) from Winter White (One-Line) Hamsters

1 Telling One-Line from Three-Line Hamsters

1. Eyes: a one-line hamster’s eyes may be red, so pink or dark-red eyes mark it as one-line. Black eyes don’t decide, since both groups can have them.

2. Coat: a hamster with the natural color and three clear dark lines on the back is three-line. A one-line has a single back line, with hair tips and roots in different shades (dark brown and dark gray). The black bear is black or dark gray with one (sometimes faint) back line and is one-line; some one-lines are blue with a thin black line, and some are taro-colored, much like the purple hamster, with a faint thin line — all one-line, with one body color including the belly but white chest and paws. Some cowspot-patterned hamsters are also one-line.

3. Body: one-lines are flatter, like mochi in hand; three-lines are round, like a sausage. One-lines have sharper faces forming a clear triangle of ear-tip and nose; three-lines are classically round-faced and soft-lined, a bit like a horse. One-lines squint a lot, especially just awake or annoyed, looking fierce like a fox; three-lines keep round eyes. One-lines have larger, fan-shaped ears like a dwarf hamster or golden; three-lines have smaller, upright ears that fold to rice-grain size.

By temperament, three-lines are tamer and less likely to bite; one-lines are fiercer. For more on hamster breeds, consult an online vet.