Hamsters | Hamster Facts | How to take care of a hamster

 there are many different wild species out there including the European hamster but only 5 of them are domesticated and that includes the Syrian hamster, Chinese hamster, Roborovski, winter white, and Campbell's dwarf. Syrians were first named in 1839 and they were first brought to the US in 1971. hamsters have cheek pouches on the sides of their mouth which they can store food and nesting materials and these can expand down to the sides of their hips. the word hamster comes from the German word hamstern which means to hoard because hamsters hoard food in their cheek pouches they bring it back to their nest and they create very large hoards.  in the wild hamsters can create burrows as deep as 3 feet under the ground and they make different chambers such as a bedroom chamber, a chamber for their food as well as a bathroom chamber. hamsters have 16 teeth that include, 4 incisors and 12 molars.hamsters are omnivores which means they can eat a variety of different foods such as seeds, grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables as well as animal proteins like lean cooked meats as well as insects.

  hamsters are nearsighted so they have pretty poor vision. hamsters cannot catch the common cold as Rhinovirus is not zoonotic so if you come down with the cold you can still interact with your hamster without worrying about them getting sick. hamsters are illegal in places like Australia and Hawaii since their climate is very similar to hamsters and they are concerned that if a hamster were to escape that they could create wild colonies that could cause damage to native plants and animals. hamsters have pregastric pouches that allow them to digest the lactose enzymes which means hamsters can have dairy, unlike other animals. hamsters can travel up to 5 miles in a night in the wild. hamsters are solitary animals and do best on their own. hamsters cannot successfully hibernate in captivity and doing so can lead to death.  hamsters can start reproducing as young as 4 weeks of age. a healthy hamster's teeth will be a yellow/orange color. If your hamster's teeth are white that can be a sign of stress or malnutrition. hamsters naturally don't drink a ton of water due to the fact of where they originate from. Syrian hamsters in the wild are considered to be on the vulnerable list due to increased agriculture.

 Hamsters have 4 toes on their front feet and 5 toes on their back feet.hamsters will eat their offspring if they feel threatened or stressed. Many other animals do this and the reasoning for it is because in the wild if a predator animal has sniffed out a hamster nest then the hamster would rather the energy from their offspring to go to them rather than the energy go to the predator. a Syrian hamster cannot be crossbred with a dwarf hamster because they are different species, the same goes for if you tried to breed a Chinese hamster with a dwarf hamster it's not possible since they just aren't the same species. Syrian hamsters and Chinese hamsters were commonly used for human medical research. hamsters use their scent glands on their hips to help mark items so that they can find their way back when they travel really really far. hamsters produce 2 different types of poops and one of these poops they eat because it helps them to reabsorb any nutrients they missed when they were first digesting them. and hamsters cannot physically throw up because they lack a gag reflex.

How to take care of Hamsters

the first thing for your hamster is you're going to need a cage I recommend using aquariums and bin cages you are going to need a large cage for a hamster something along the size of 450 sq.inch of floor space that's equivalent to around a 40-gallon aquarium. when placing the hamster's cage try to put it somewhere where there is a low traffic area so there are not too many people maybe not too many loud things going around like the TV or things like that. also, try to keep it out of direct sunlight so you don't put it in a window because you don't want it always shining in your hamster's cage and it could heat up a little too quickly in your hamster's cage. you are going to want to include things such as hideouts and you can get a variety of different types toys in there so like different tubes and different things to stimulate your hamster's brain and you also want to include chew toys in your hamster cage because hamster teeth are continuously growing they never stop growing so they do need something hard to chew on to wear their teeth down so that they do not end up having any medical issues. the next thing you are going to need for your hamster is bedding and hamsters are natural burrowers in the wild they will burrow and make houses underneath the ground so you do need a lot of substrate.you should give at least a 6-inch amount so that your hamster has enough room for it to burrow and things like that there are some unsafe types of beddings such as pine, cedar, and scented beddings anything that is called soft woodshavings is not safe for your hamster it can give them a respiratory infection.

you also are going to need some type of wheel because hamsters in the wild can run up to several miles per night so they need a wheel to burn off their energy so for a Syrian hamster and a Chinese hamster you want to get the proper size and it needs to be at least 8 inches most Syrian hamsters will need a larger wheel than an 8 inch most will need at least an 11inch wheel and for Dwarfs, you should probably go around 6 to 8 inches. next you are going to need a diet for your hamster they need to eat something and a hamsters diet should include some type of seed mix and a pelleted mix and then some fruits and vegetables on the side. there are a lot of seed mixes on the market you can find so many different brands of seed mixes for hamsters but a lot of them don't meet the requirements the hamster needs. a hamster should have at least 17 to 19 percent protein 4 to 7 percent fat and 8 to 13 percent fiber. Feed your hamsters 2 tablespoons every 2 to 3 days I find this is a good amount and it gives some time to eat it you do not need to be refilling a hamster food dish every day it might seem like the dish is empty but your hamster has cheek pouches that they put all of the food in and they will take it all back.

 next is cleaning your hamster's cage, your hamster's cage really should only be cleaned every once a month if it is the proper cage size and you should be cleaning spot cleaning it every several days so just going finding where your hamster pees or if you see a lot of soiled bedding cleaning that out every once in a while to make sure it doesn't become over dirty and then only cleaning it out once a month because hamsters can get very stressed if you're always cleaning their cage and when you do clean your cage make sure you're not using any harsh chemicals on the cage. some water and vinegar mix is good it's pet-safe and won't hurt your hamster. also, make sure to include some previous bedding from the old cage into the new clean cage that way your hamster isn't too stressed out because they will smell their old bedding and they might feel a little bit better. your hamster itself does not need to be bathed, a hamster bathed in water can actually become very stressed and they can even catch it cold or even passed away so you never want to be bathing your hamster in water instead if your hamster gets smelly or they look a little greasy, you can give them a little bit of chinchilla bath sand and they can roll around in that and that should clean them pretty good.