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.

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.

For which you need to know how and when the Hamster should be handled. Initially It should be under parents supervision and use a cloth before handling the hamster; soothe your Hamster with one hand from top and pick it up placing your other hand at bottom but delicately keep your hold softer, not so stiff that it gets irritated and not even that loose that it jumps off and injure itself.

Hamsters don’t always like handling and they always communicate that when they are not in a mood. If the Hamster rapidly thumps or whirls its feet or hisses at you, it is not a good time to pick it up.

If you come near the cage and Hamster comes over and paws at the sides it’s trying to seek attention and should be duly answered by awarding with a treat of special snack or fresh food.

Here are some Likes and Dislikes of Hamster mentioned; as to what they will show their pleasure and what is the situation they are likely going to resist and in the due process may even bite you.

Hamsters need time to get acquainted to new situations and to settle down with the environment; therefore don’t rush things and let the hamster go underway its own process of getting acquainted. As it can takes couple of weeks for the Hamster to get used to it.

In the due course don’t handle the hamster too much or make lots of noise around it. Also never force things on your Hamsters. Hamsters are nocturnal creatures; they sleep in the morning, so respect the Hamsters routine and make sure the Hamster gets the sleep as it will keep the Hamster to remain in a good mood for the rest of the day.

The best way to get closer to your Hamster is giving goodies, including regular food, fresh treats and special snacks. So that Hamster in the sub-conscious picture you as bearer of Yummy things and await your arrival.

Hamsters don’t like handling when its their eating time or playing for a very long time as they get tired and overdoing it can really disturb the Hamster.

Hamsters are very sensitive to noise; so always provide them with a place which is quite.

Hamsters have poor eye sight; they are color blind and nearsighted they rely mostly on their senses of smell and hearing with smell they detect gender and food that is why they say that wash your hands before feeding Hamsters as your finger may smell like food and Hamster would not mind giving it a bite and that really hurts. They are particularly sensitive to high pitch noises and can hear communication in ultrasonic range, which is way too beyond human abilities. Therefore they must be kept at a quite place as in morning they sleep so we don’t disturb them and vice versa.

Hamsters have a very solitary nature and they needs some privacy to feel secure in their surroundings, for that purpose empty tissue boxes and round oatmeal containers should be placed inside their cages. Hamsters should be given some time to get used the surroundings and settle down with the environment, they should be left alone for sometime in the initial days of its adoption. Hamsters do communicate with humans when its starts to hiss, snap it jaws, freaks out when you touch it or adopts a defensive posture (i.e. ears back, eyes squinted) just leave it alone for a while.

Vegetables and Fruit seeds are what they benefit from the most, especially sunflower seeds and peanut seeds. But the ratio of their intake of food needs to be regulated, as these items specially sunflower seeds carries a lot of fat and too much consummation can cause obesity, specially in dwarf hamsters; therefore 3-5 pieces a day is enough.

Since Dwarf Hamsters commonly know as “Russian Hamster” they are mostly kept as pet, it is important to mention that they are prone to diabetes, so avoid giving vegetables and fruits with high level of glucose; such as banana, mangos and carrots etc.

Vegetables are also a favorite of hamster and they love Broccoli; lettuce is what they also like and carrot is what that gives them something to chew at; therefore they are fond of this as well but always wash it before serving it to your hamster.

Some of the common vegetables you should be giving to your hamster are

Peas
Zucchini
Corn
Turnip
Cucumber
Chestnut
Walnut

Don’t freak out if you see hamster eating their own feces; hamsters are hindgut fermenters just like horses, koalas, possums, wombats and pigs. They uses microbes that are washed out because they cannot be digested and therefore high-quality protein is lost therefore they must eat their own feces in this way they are able to extract the necessary nutrition from its food this process is called coprophagy.