Interesting facts about hamsters that you might not know. Interesting facts about Djungarian hamsters Found high in the mountains

Hamsters are wonderful pets. These are playful, active, cute rodents who enjoy care, affection, and games with their owner. About 25 breeds of animals have been bred in the world, differing in size and appearance. Many amazing and unexpected stories can be told about large European, tiny dwarf, wild American, and popular Djungarian hamsters. Below are the most amusing and interesting facts about these wonderful and cute pets.

1. The largest breed is the European hamster. The length of its body reaches 30 centimeters. And the smallest rodent is the dwarf hamster. It rarely grows more than 10 centimeters. But they live much longer than other breeds: up to four years!
2. The animals have a unique ability: they can store uneaten or found food behind their cheeks for quite a long time in special bags in order to eat it later. Animals can easily hold food in their mouths, the weight of which reaches 20% of their body weight!
3. The most popular and widely bred breed is the Syrian hamster, which is brown in color with a golden tint.
4. Some breeders call male rodents hogs, and females sows. Although their pets have nothing to do with pigs.
5. Hamsters have been known for a long time. This biological species was first discovered in the semi-deserts of Syria. But the animals got their name from the German word “hamstern”, which means “to accumulate, store up”.
6. Hamsters' vision is poor and colorless. Therefore, in studying the world around them, they rely more on a keen sense of smell and excellent hearing.
7. Rodents have special glands on their bodies that secrete an odorous secretion. Animals use this liquid to mark the road.
8. Hamsters' incisors, like those of all other rodents, grow throughout their lives and require grinding down with rough food. And the cubs are already born with teeth.
9. Animals can climb mountains to a height of up to four kilometers. They are also excellent swimmers, drawing in air with their cheek pouches and using them as air mattresses.
10. The owner must build a running wheel in the pet’s cage. The hamster is so nimble and agile that it can cover a distance of 10 kilometers in a wheel overnight!
11. Almost all Syrian hamsters existing today are descendants of a single female. In 1930, she gave birth to 12 cubs, giving birth to the breed.
12. The habitat of wild rodents is rapidly declining, so many populations are on the verge of extinction. The Syrian hamster and its close relative, Newton's hamster, are already listed in the Red Book as an endangered species.
13. Sex cells from males of the Chinese breed are used in pharmaceuticals to produce drugs against serious diseases, including oncology.
14. In Vietnam, it is legally prohibited to breed and keep hamsters as pets. They are believed to carry many dangerous infections. Disobedience to the law results in heavy fines.
15. Representatives of the forest North American species love to store shiny objects they find in their burrows: buttons, brooches, beads, coins. When they take a thing, they usually put a pebble or a stick in its place, as if exchanging.
16. Hamsters just look stupid and awkward. In fact, they are smart, agile and quick-witted creatures. Pets respond to a nickname, remember their cage neighbors and relatives, and can easily learn several tricks.
17. One year of a hamster's life is equal to almost 25 human years. It's a pity that furry pets live so short.
18. Pregnant females of some dwarf breeds have the ability to delay childbirth if they have not yet nursed cubs from a previous litter.
19. The assumption that hamsters are social animals is incorrect. In fact, they prefer to live alone and do not tolerate other individuals nearby. If you place several males in one cage, a fight with a bloody and even fatal outcome is inevitable.
20. It is also incorrect to believe that hamsters eat only plant foods. In their natural habitat, animals often feast on insects, and at home they can be given boiled chicken or lean fish.

1. In total, 7 genera of hamsters are known, including about 19 species. The largest is the common hamster (up to 35 cm in length, weight up to 400 g or more), the smallest is the Roborovsky hamster (4–5 cm in length, weight usually does not exceed 10 g).
2. In the wild, hamsters can be found in the steppes, semi-deserts and deserts of Eurasia. Some hamsters climb mountains up to 4000 m, some happily live next to humans - in fields, gardens, orchards, and even in buildings.
3. A popular pet in many countries, the golden or Syrian hamster has a rather limited range in nature - it can be found in western Syria and the border regions of Turkey. Millions of animals of this species, living in homes and laboratories around the world, all descend from a single litter obtained by Professor Aharoni in 1930. The hamsters were successfully reproduced, and a year later, part of the resulting offspring was exported to England, from where they began their further “march around the world” as domestic and laboratory animals.

   

4. Several other species are also kept in captivity: the Chinese hamster, and representatives of the genus of hairy hamsters - the Djungarian, Campbell's hamster and Roborovsky's hamster. The rest are practically unknown to anyone except zoological specialists.
5. The idea of ​​hamsters as good-natured bumpkins is not entirely true. Most of them are quite aggressive animals. In nature, almost all hamsters lead a solitary lifestyle, without maintaining any constant positive contacts with their fellow tribesmen. The male, by smell, finds a female ready for mating, mates with her, and this is where his participation in procreation usually ends - the female raises the cubs alone. This asociality of hamsters also extends to communication with humans: in captivity, they are, as a rule, poorly tamed, do not become attached to the owner and are not interested in communicating with him. In lines that have been raised in captivity for many generations, aggression towards humans is usually stopped, but one should not expect the same from animals caught in the wild: when you try to pick them up, they will bite furiously, and in representatives of relatively large species the bites can be very painful.

   

6. Contrary to popular belief, hamster burrows are almost never complex. In general, the life of a single person is not conducive to acquiring a large and complex home. A hamster's burrow usually has one or two exits, a nesting chamber and, in some cases, a storage room. But the volume of reserves in some species can be very significant. Hamsters do not go into real long-term hibernation (like gophers, for example), so they have to take care of a “food warehouse” for the winter - so that it is not so sad to while away the long winter evenings.

   

7. One of the most famous features of hamsters is their cheek pouches. This device really deserves at least a special mention. It is clear that in order to create any significant feed reserves, you need to have a device for their transportation. In this case, evolution “tried” - in the cheek pouches, hamsters can carry a volume of food comparable to the size of the hamster itself.
8. As everyone knows, the basis of a hamster’s diet is grain (seeds of various plants, both wild and cultivated). However, in addition to this, hamsters can use a variety of food sources. The green parts of plants are used mainly as a source of water - since abundant dew does not always fall, and hamsters most often have no other ways to get water in nature. Some species of hamsters can happily eat various fruits and roots. Also, most species, to one degree or another, exhibit predatory tendencies and make up for the lack of protein through animal food - from insects to frogs and lizards.

   

9. The uniformity of the “hamster” appearance and lifestyle has its exceptions. For example, the name of the rat-shaped hamster speaks for itself - in appearance it can really be confused with a rat. The “rat” color, the elongated body shape, the relatively long tail - all this goes well with the “rat” lifestyle: unlike other species of hamsters, the rat hamster inhabits relatively moist habitats and has an appropriate metabolism.
10. In total, 7 genera of hamsters are known, including about 19 species. About - because the status of some forms remains a subject of debate among zoologists. Djungarian and Campbell's hamsters were previously considered one species, but now the species status of each of them is beyond doubt. But some researchers consider the Barabinsk, Transbaikal and Chinese hamsters to be different species, while others consider them to be forms within one polymorphic species. They differ in the number of chromosomes, but produce fertile offspring.

Hamsters are small field rodents. They come in different breeds - ordinary, Syrian, Dzungarian, Sungur, the rarest breed is the Robrovsky hamster. We present interesting facts about hamsters.

Interesting facts about hamsters - nutrition. Many people think that hamsters only eat seeds, nuts and berries, but this is not true - in fact, these animals are omnivores and can even eat meat, eating small insects.

Hamsters are very thrifty animals and collect food in their cheeks so that they can later take it to their colony and eat it in case of hunger. In total, they can “hide” food weighing 20% ​​of their own weight in their cheeks. Hamsters store about 90 kg of various food for the winter.

The hamster gets most of its moisture from food, but if it lives at home, it must have a drinking bowl with fresh water.

These are almost the only animals that are born with teeth. Hamsters' incisors grow throughout their lives and therefore require constant grinding. It is important to give your pets cookies and other foods that help them take care of their teeth. If the incisors are not ground down, having grown to a certain size, they can pierce the jaw.

Lifestyle and habits

Hamsters are nocturnal, so they most often sleep in the morning and wake up in the afternoon. This furry animal loves to burrow and dig, this is its natural instinct.

Usually animals live alone in burrows with a huge number of entrances and labyrinths. Syrian hamsters are so intolerant of forced proximity that they can even kill a hamster that is placed in their cage. They need personal space and are ready to “win” it by all means. This once again suggests that, despite the fact that these animals get along well at home, it is difficult for them in captivity, they love freedom and are truly happy in their natural habitat.

Hamsters are very fond of shiny objects, so on the way to their burrow they often collect metal objects, buttons, twigs, and then lay out these treasures in their home.

Fluffy pets are very clean and wash themselves. It is not advisable to bathe them in water, as this is a real stress for the animals. Although these mammals are excellent swimmers. In the wild, hamsters wash themselves using sand.

Animals love to run, so having a wheel in their cage is a must. Hamsters can run about 10 km per day.

Peculiarities

These are quite smart animals - they remember their name and their relatives. Pets can be taught a wide variety of tricks using food. Hamsters can quickly be taught the commands “stand”, “roll over” and “fu”.

Rodents can swim and use their cheek pouches to do this. Having sucked in air at the bottom, mammals swim, using them as floats.

Mammals have very poor vision, they do not distinguish colors, so they perceive the world largely by touch and smell.

Even though hamsters are quite tame, they can bite at any time, so you need to be careful around them. Rodents especially often bite when they are disturbed in a house, which they perceive as their own hole, especially if its small children live there.

If a hamster runs away in an apartment, it will be quite difficult to catch it, since it can squeeze through even a small gap. If he is not found immediately after his disappearance, then you can observe his “trace” - while traveling around your home, he can gnaw on many things.

If it so happens that the hamster lives at home, under no circumstances should it be left in direct sunlight, since the animal can quickly die in the sun.

Hamsters are small animals from the order of rodents. The hamster family includes 19 species. The smallest hamsters have a body length of only 5 cm, and the largest - 34 cm, sometimes females are larger than males. The coat is thick, the color of different species can vary from grayish-brown to dark brown, the belly is white, gray or black. The paws are short, the ears are small, rounded, and the tail is short. A characteristic feature of hamsters is the presence of voluminous cheek pouches.

Hamster distribution

Hamsters are quite widespread. They can be found both in Europe and Asia. Hamsters are found in Mongolia, Syria, Korea, China, Russia, as well as in Eastern and Central Europe.

Hamsters usually live in open spaces - in steppes and forest-steppes, deserts and semi-deserts, as well as in mountains up to an altitude of 3.6 km.

Nutrition

Hamsters are omnivores. They can eat food of both plant and animal origin, but still prefer a plant-based menu. Hamsters willingly eat all kinds of grains and tubers. In summer, they diversify their diet with various larvae and insects.

Lifestyle

Hamsters are active animals that live alone. They dig good holes with many passages. As autumn approaches, hamsters begin to make winter supplies. They arrange special storerooms in their burrows, where they store their supplies. Hamsters bring wheat, corn, peas, millet, buckwheat, rice, potatoes and other seeds and tubers into the hole. Moreover, the animals carefully sort all the grains and tubers into piles. Hamsters hide grains and tubers in their cheek pouches and carry them into the pantry. Sometimes they have to carry their burden over a distance of more than 1 km. Usually one hamster makes reserves weighing from 0.5 kg to 16 kg, but sometimes more. The hamster eats these grains and tubers in winter and spring until new food grows. During the winter, hamsters do not hibernate, but they may go into torpor for a while.

Hamsters can swim well. The cheek pouches help them with this. The animals fill these bags with air, and they help float on the water, like an inflatable ring.

The female brings cubs 2 to 4 times a year. The cubs grow very quickly - after about 1-1.5 months they already become adults. Hamsters live from 1 to 4 years.

Up to 90 kg of grain can be stored in a hamster's hole.

The smallest hamster is the Roborovsky hamster. Its body length does not exceed 5 cm, and its weight is only 30 g.

The largest hamster is the common hamster. Its weight is approximately 700 g, and its body is up to 34 cm in length.

Until the middle of the last century, the common hamster was hunted for its fur.

Brief information about the hamster.

Hamsters are cute, fluffy and funny rodents. They are quite popular pets. Interesting facts about hamsters will be presented in this article.

1. In total, about 25 species of hamsters are known, from the largest (European), reaching 34 centimeters in length, to the smallest (dwarf), not exceeding 6 centimeters.

2. Hamsters are extremely active animals. In the wild, they travel long distances in search of food. Therefore, your pet hamster should have a running wheel.

3.A famous feature of hamsters is their cheek pouches. By the way, they can hold as much food as the hamster weighs.

4. Unfortunately, the hamster's lifespan is very short. One year of animal life is equal to about 25 human years. It is easy to calculate that on average hamsters live 2-3 years.

5. Hamsters have poor vision and lack color perception. They are helped by their keen hearing and sense of smell.

6. Hamsters are nocturnal mammals. They sleep during the day and are active at night.

7. Hamsters are quite smart animals; they can be trained to respond to their name, as well as perform various tricks.

8. Hamsters' teeth constantly grow throughout their lives, so they can chew on the cage or objects that are in it.