Archive for October, 2009

That can really be a very tough job but if some of the things are taken care of no doubt you are going to end up with one of the most memorable experiences of your life. First of all you have to make up your mind as if you are ready to have a hamster as if you are some one who can not bother even a little bit of mess around the house or even the place where you have placed the cage then simply don’t go for it. As with a hamster in house you should prepare yourself for wood shaving and hamster feces on your floor.

Buying a hamster is a much deliberated process and you should consider it out thoroughly before hitting your nearest pet store; there are some do’s and don’ts that you have to follow.

Always go in the evening to buy a hamster as the day time is rest time and they are active at night because they are nocturnal. So if you go in the day they will all be hiding, as naturally we all would like to have a hamster that is active and playful and when they are resting they are not.

One very important thing is that while always buying a Hamster watch closely for any signs of illness that is weeping eyes or a wet area around the tail. Wet tail is a very serious disease.

Always think before buying a hamster as where you are going to place it; as they are nocturnal creatures and needs not to be disturbed while they are resting and they are of solitary nature so keep them away for places that are very noisy.

Hamsters are top of the line pets especially as the children first pet. Its temperament and clam nature is usually claimed to be responsible for its popularity but the list does not ends here.

Hamsters grow very rapidly and they re short lived. As compared to other pets children don’t have to wait long for them to grow up so that they can play with them. They are very small creatures, so the children can easily handle them and the element of fear would never exist because of the size of the rodent.

Hamster also don’t need much looking after, they are solitary creatures and are nocturnal; they are active at night and rest in the day. So they will be ready to play when your children arrive from school and in due course the hamster can rest.

The great thing about hamster is that they are happy without a pair. So it wouldn’t be a compulsion to always buy a pair, as they are happier when alone. Having said all that; as to why hamsters are best considered for pets, it’s in expensiveness is another element for its popularity, as they cost no more than 7-15 dollars and their small size is enough to indicate that how much they are going to eat.

Hamsters through out the developed world are used for research purposes. Annually only in America 1,000,000 hamsters are used in laboratories to carry out researches. The reasons for them being used the most are

• Availability and ease of reproduction

• Relative freedom from spontaneous diseases along with weakness to introduce pathogenic agents such as viruses, bacteria and other micro organisms that causes diseases

• Anatomical and physiological features with unique potential for study

• Rapid development and short life cycle

Chinese Hamsters are known laboratory animals and they are preferred because of their temperament and calm nature. It has been used to carryout researches on infectious diseases, radiobiological, endocrine, carcinogenic and mutagenic research.

Syrian Hamster is then the second best choice for carrying out researches because of their susceptibility to N-diethyl nitrosamine with the resultant development of respiratory tumors. They are considered highly suitable for researches that are for highly concentrated and prolonged smoke inhalation studies.

Armenian Hamster is used for research to study meiosis and their susceptibility to carcinogenic and mutagenic agents. The former is used for the propagation of cancer and the later deals with changing the genetic material that is DNA and thus results in increasing the process of mutation.

Hamsters get fertile at different ages depending on the specie they belong to; Hamsters can get pregnant at the age of 4 to 8 weeks, as few are fertile at the age of 4 weeks, some at 6 weeks and all are at 8 weeks. Usually it’s recommended for them not to breed before they are 4 months old and after the first gestation they should breed after 7-9 months.

Male Syrian Hamster become fertile around 10-14 weeks old, where as female Syrian hamster is fertile by 6-10 weeks old. One gestation can produce 4-12 Hamsters. The life of female Syrian Hamster can shorten if she has multiple gestations; Syrian Hamsters are fertile for 12 months.

Roborovski Hamster are fertile at 4-5weeks. The gestation can produce 3-5 hamsters. It is recommended for them not to conceive until female are 3-4 months old and male 2-3 months of age. Gestation period for Roborovski Hamster is 18-21 days.

Chinese dwarf Hamsters are fertile at the age of 6-8weeks. However they should not breed until they are 4 months old. Gestation period is 23-30days.

When the pregnancy is over the male and the female should be separated, the gestation takes a lot of energy from the female and getting pregnant immediately after one can have serious repercussions on her health.

Don’t disturb the nest at the time of gestation and provide some privacy at the time when the female is giving birth to her pups. After the period of delivery let the female take care of all her pups because if you make noise or otherwise disturb them the female is going to eat the pups out of fear to save them from any threat.