Some Interesting Facts About Hamsters

My curiosity about hamsters increased as I decided to adopt a hamster as a pet, making me read few interesting articles that told me some interesting facts about hamsters. Proving to be great little pets, hamsters love a lot of attention and interaction from their owners. You could find 25 species of this popular pet with the largest being the European breed and the tiniest the dwarf hamsters.

Here are some interesting facts about this very adorable and popular pet.

    
a) Proving to be most adorable and popular hamsters belong to a subfamily known as Cricetinae; the European breed is the largest measuring 13.4 inches and belonging to the species Cricetus cricetus, while dwarf hamsters measuring 2 inches is the smallest  belonging to the species genus Phodopus.

b) You could find 4 basic breeds of hamsters, namely the Syrian, Russian Dwarf, Chinese and Roborovski hamsters.

c) Boars are the name given to male hamsters, sows to female and baby hamsters are known as pups.

d) Hamsters mostly eat dried food, nuts, seeds, vegetables and berries thought they are considered omnivorous and like to eat both meat and vegetables. Another significant feature is that hamsters have the characteristic of collecting and storing their foods in their cheeks, which they take to their colonies to eat later.

e) Golden brown Syrian hamsters are most commonly kept as pets; belonging to the Mesocricetus auratus species, this breed of hamsters grow unto a length of 4 to 7 inches. Being a native of Syria, the dry desert regions in Middle East these hamsters live for a period of 6 years if well looked after.

f) Most hamsters have short tails, stout bodies, small ears, short legs, wide feet and large eyes. Their coats could be brown, black, grey, white, yellow or a mixture of colors. Their bodies are covered with thick and silky fur that could be either long or short. 

g) It is very significant to note that hamsters are short-sighted and use their sense of scent to move around. These rodents use their sweat glands found on their bodies to rub against rocks and other things and leave a scent trail for themselves. It is still more significant to find that hamsters are color blind.  

h) The lifespan of hamsters is 2 to 3 years; it would be significant to note here that 1 human year is equivalent to 25 hamster years.  

i) Hamsters are mammals that are more active during the night than the day; sleeping mostly during the day they could bite if disturbed in their sleep as they are startled. Otherwise they are gentle creatures that love to interact with their owners.

j) It is significant to note that dwarf hamsters live up to 4 years, with certain breed of dwarf hamsters being able delay the birth of their pups if they already have a litter they are nursing.

Lastly it is best to know that hamsters are expert escape artists and could travel great distances when they escape out of their cage at night; so ensure their cage is escape proof.