Habitat
Campbell's dwarf hamster inhabits burrows in the steppes and semi deserts of central Asia, the Altai mountains, autonomous areas of Tuva and the Hebei province in northeastern China. The burrow can contain four to six horizontal and vertical tunnels. The tunnel leading to the nesting area can be as deep as 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) below the ground, but are usually 20–30 centimetres (7.9–12 in) deep. The burrows are lined with either dry grass or sheep's wool. They may sometimes share burrows with Daurian pikas, but only in the steppes and semi deserts of northern Manchuria. In parts of Mongolia, the hamsters may also share burrows with species of Meriones to save them from digging their own. In Tuva, Campbell's dwarf hamster has been found living with other hamsters such as the Chinese striped hamster, the roborovski hamster and the long-tailed dwarf hamster. The diets of the three types of hamsters are different to avoid fighting over the same type of food.
Campbell's dwarf hamster may also live near areas of human civilisation. In Mongolia, they may be found yurts during the winter to keep warm as they do not have thermoregulation like the Djungarian hamster. Campbell's dwarf hamster has five main predators: the Eurasian eagle owl, the steppe eagle, the corsac fox, the common kestrel and the saker falcon. In all distribution areas, there are more females than males. This is because males are at higher risk to predators as they cannot move as quickly. In a laboratory experiment, the average life span for a male Campbell's dwarf hamster in captivity was 278 days and the average life span for a female was 356 days. In a different experiment, hamsters kept in captivity born in the summer lived for an average of 2–2.5 years. Young hamsters that are provided a widely varied diet early in life are less likely to suffer digestive problems as they mature, but this is not always possible in the wild due to lack of food and this causes the life expectancy of captive hamsters to be greater than that of wild hamsters.
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