Mind sharing? Whatsapp Tumblr Reddit Digg Pinterest email

Hamster Facts and Information for Kids – Animal Facts

Hamsters are great little creatures to have as pets. They love lots of attention and enjoy interacting with their owners. They are the embodiment of adorableness, fun and extremely active little rodents, especially at night when the sun goes down. As far as pets go, hamsters are pretty beloved. But how much do you really know about these tiny furballs? Let’s get started. But before we start, take a moment to subscribe for more fun, fauna facts.

Let us know about your hamster in the comments below.

10. The Syrian hamster is the most commonly domesticated pet hamster around. These hamsters are sometimes called teddy bear or golden hamsters and are usually around 6 inches in length.They were first found by Alexander Russell, a physician, in Syria. Although hamsters were discovered for the first time in Syria, these lovely little rodents are in fact, native to the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. The first mention of the Syrian hamster was in a publication called, The Natural History of Aleppo in 1797.

9. . The first hamsters to begin the journey of domestication was done by a zoologist by the name of Israel Aharoni, in 1930. Aharoni dug up a wheat field, in Syria, where he found a mother Syrian hamster and her 11 babies. All domestic golden hamsters are descended from this wild female. These hamsters were transported to the Jerusalem Hebrew University. Some of the offspring were sent to different universities and the London Zoo in the mid-1930s. By the 1940s these hamsters had become pets in the U.K. and the U.S.

8. Hamster comes from the German word hamstern,” which means “to hoard.” Even domesticated hamsters will hoard, despite the fact that they don’t need to. The hamster has pouches in its cheeks that they can stuff full of food. Hamsters also like to burrow their food and hide it for eating later. Pet owners might notice bits of food under their hamster’s cage bedding – this is very normal, and the hamster will get to it … eventually!

7. Speaking of diet, the typical hamster diet consists of seeds, nuts, grained, cracked corn, and certain kinds of fruits and vegetables. Hamsters in the wild may eat other small animals like insects, but not pet hamsters! Although, you may find your pet hamster enjoys the occasional grub worm or feeder roach, but you should never feed your hamster a wild insect.

6. Hamsters are “crepuscular”. This means that hamsters are not diurnal meaning active during the daytime, like humans, or nocturnal (active at night, like owls), but rather “crepuscular”, which means they are most active during the twilight hours. Wild hamsters generally leave their burrows shortly before the sun goes down and return once it gets dark. While your pet hamster may be awake while you are trying to go to sleep or while you are trying to get a few more winks in the morning, he indeed did sleep while you were asleep.

5. Hamsters are popular pets, and for good reason, because they are typically very gentle and not too difficult to care for. Hamsters do have the ability to bite and they will if they are scared or surprised. If they are treated well and not awakened during their sleeping hours, they will not bite or scratch. Hamsters, like any other animal, have the ability to protect themselves if they need to – but like many gentle and domesticated animals, they will not bite or hurt a human if unprovoked. They make very good pets indeed.

4. The five hamster species most commonly kept as pets are Roborovski, Syrian, Campbell’s Dwarf, Chinese and Winter White Russian Dwarf hamsters. Roborovski Dwarf hamsters are the smallest type of hamster. Adult Roborovski Dwarf hamsters sometimes grow to as little as 2 inches long. A type of hamster called the European Hamster is the largest of the hamster species. They can grow to an incredible 13 inches long! Overall, there are 25 known species of hamster.

3. Hamsters love to run, and pet hamsters most commonly run on little wheels in their cages. In a single night, a hamster may travel up to 6 miles on their exercise wheel! But if their wheels are too small, they can cause pain, spinal problems, and even lead to arthritis. Wheels made with mesh or bars can also be bad for them because they can get stuck or hurt. Being a burrowing animal, hamsters also love tubes and tunnels of all types.

2. Hamsters don’t have very good eyesight, they are very near-sighted and they rely on their sense of smell to find their way around. They use scent glands found on their bodies to rub on rocks and other things they travel along in order to lay a scent trail for themselves. This is called scent marking. Hamsters are also colorblind.

1. Hamsters can be easily trained to do all sorts of tricks and will respond to their names when called. Taking care of a pet hamster means creating the right sort of environment for them to live in. Because these clever little creatures like to interact with their owners, it’s important to spend as much time as you can playing with them. Placing their cages where people tend to congregate in the home, is a great way of making sure a hamster never gets too lonely. The thing you need to remember if you’re thinking about adopting a hamster, is they are great escape artists, so get a good, secure cage for your tiny friend, take good care of him and you’ll have a fun pet for 3-4 years.

Well, there ya have it, 10 fascinating facts about the cute, cuddly, crepuscular rodent, the Hamster. We love hearing about your pets, so let us know about your Hamster in the comments below. If you;d lie to see some fun hamster habitats and help support this channel, check out the link to AnimalFacts.us in the description. Before ya go, take a moment to like and subscribe for more fun fauna facts. And, as always, catch ya next time.

*This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you).