Salmonellosis:

These infections are usually used by Salmonella enteritidis bio typhimurium. If salmonellosis occurs in a child who has a rodent pet, the pet’s feces should be cultured for Salmonella. Negative cultures may occur because shedding may be only intermittent. So the feces of the Hamsters should be carefully put away and avoid any excessive contact with it.

Lymphocytic choriorneningitis:

LCM virus is found many rodent species and spreads to humans through contact with infected aerosols, direct animal contact or rodent bites.

The LCM virus (an RNA virus of the arenaviridae family) is transmitted among rodents horizontally through secretions (urine, saliva, feces)

In hamsters LCM virus infection can be detected only by laboratory tests. In humans the course of infection varies from clinically inapparent to a flu-like infection with fever, headache and severe myalgia, occurring 5 to 10 days after infection.

Humans should avoid contact with hamsters upon having cough, cold or suffering from flu, as that can easily be transmitted and vice versa. Hands should be properly washed before and after handling hamster for the health of both hamster and humans. Try to avoid the hamster bite as this can be the primary source of receiving diseases from Hamster.

Having said that; Hamsters convey their feeling through body language but for a moment we have to imagine that how many feeling are there; so how can they be translated through body language but Hamster are very good at it. They have different convulsive moments and every Convulsive movement, as well as sudden continual face washing, signifies fright. Defensive raising of both front paws can be observed in males that have been unexpectedly attacked by females and have no way of escaping.

Puffing up the cheeks and showing the abdominal regions are to be construed as a threat. Lying motionless on the back shows resistance and fear. Stiff-legged walking of a young animal, with its tail stiffly stretched up and its hindquarters turned toward the adult hamster, denotes fear and submission. This can also often be observed in vanquished adult hamsters. Stretching and yawning with half-closed eyes is an expression of cosines and inner peace.

Though that doesn’t means that they are dumb or deaf; as for speaking of deaf they have hearing power superior to humans and Hamsters do vocalize from time to time. They squeak – this is a mating call; when ever they are trying to woo their partner or to make the partner aware of their desire or to alert the partner about their sexual jaunt to start. They scream – when they are in distress; when you try to handle them and they don’t want to get handled or when they are constantly disturbed by something or they want to get attention. They also produce sounds apart from screaming and squeaking; when they catch cold they also sneeze and cough; though that is a very meek sound that they produce but if one try to hear it with some attention that does sounds like a usual sneeze and cough sound.

One toy to specially deal with hamsters urge to run for long distances is the Hamster wheel; this is a very great creation and hamster just can not get enough of that, you will notice that as soon as the hamster eats his food or gets done with the rest session he would climb into the wheel and run, run and run..

A very interesting situation arises when the hamster inside the wheel after running for hours look around to see that where is he now after running so long and he gets sort of confused that still its where I started from.

Another very frequently used toy Is the hamster ball; it can play for hours in that ball and it’s a very interesting thing though you should be very careful because your hamster can injure itself if fallen from even a little height with the hamster inside.

Scientific name Mesocricetus auratus
Potential life span 2-3 years
Adult body weight 100-150 grams (Adult females are slightly larger than adult males)
Desirable environmental
Temperature range 65-75 F
Desirable relative
Humidity range 30-70%
Recommended age
at 1st breeding male: 10-14 weeks; female: 6-10 weeks
Length of estrous (heat) cycle 94 hours
Gestation (pregnancy) 15 1/2-16 days
Average litter size 5-10 young
Age at weaning 3 weeks

Now the real deal
Hamsters can store food into their cheeks up to 20 % of their body weight.
Hamsters can run at 2-3 mph for long distances and 5-7 mph for short distances.

Hamsters can travel about 8 Miles in search of food.

Hamsters react to their names.

Hamsters are color blind.

Hamsters can hear sound in Ultrasonic range.

Hamsters can dig up to 3 Meters in the wild.

Hamsters can only see up to 6 Inches in front of them.

Hamsters can store as much as 38 pounds of grain in a single burrow.

Hamsters follow path by trails of smell they leave by rubbing their body with things along the path.

Hamster’s heart beat falls from 400-4 beats per minuet during hibernation state.

Hamster remembers their relatives.

Consider going to a place outside where there is some nice green grass as Hamsters like to eat grass and if they do so don’t stop them it wouldn’t hurt. They also like clover, so if there are any clover patches around, let the hamster have some fun running on those clover patches

You have to be very careful as Hamsters run very fast, so keep it close to you possible even under its cage top if it’s helpful.

This change of atmosphere is definitely going to take some time for the hamster to settle down with, as the world will seem huge to such a tiny little thing, it is probably going to be scared at first and it is recommended to keep the Hamster around yourself so that it feels protected. You can sit in middle in nowhere they wouldn’t run away from you as it can be very scary but do keep an eye on it.

Make sure it never gets lost and if it does then it’s very difficult to find.

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 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.

• 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.

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.