Djungarian hamster interesting facts for children. Interesting facts about hamsters that you might not know. interesting facts about animals

Because of their adorable appearance and their restless breed, hamsters often attract attention and generate a lot of curiosity, especially among children.

However, it is very important to educate yourself on everything you need to know about hamsters before getting one. As soon as everything important facts knowledge about hamsters, you can begin to understand their needs, associated behavioral characteristics and how to care for them.

For this reason, if you are thinking about getting a hamster as a pet or you are interested in learning more about these wonderful rodents, take a look at this article. Here we look at 10 of the most interesting facts about hamsters.

There are many different types of hamsters

Although hamsters appear physically similar to the naked eye, there are actually 24 different species of hamsters. The most popular types of hamsters are:

Golden hamster.
Chinese hamster.
Djungarian hamster (Russian hamster).
Roborovsky hamster.

Knowing the characteristics of each species is important in order to know how to provide appropriate care for them.

Hamsters are prone to stress

IN wildlife Hamsters are easy prey for many predators. For this reason, hamsters are constantly on alert and are able to quickly respond to any danger. The hamster is therefore susceptible to stress and because of this needs a very positive environment in order to feel comfortable and safe.

Tension in hamsters has many causes, such as:

Passive lifestyle.
Weak mental stimulation.
Insufficient hygiene in the environment (cage).
Nutritional deficiency.
Pathologies that cause pain in hamsters or alter their senses.

Therefore, it is very important to know the symptoms of stress in a hamster. If you notice any signs of stress in your animal, we recommend taking him to a veterinarian to ensure stress is monitored as quickly and appropriately as possible.

Hamsters have a short lifespan

Although a hamster's longevity varies depending on its breed, hamsters generally have a short lifespan. Of course, this lifespan can be longer or shorter depending on the care received and environmental conditions. In general, it is estimated that a hamster can live between two and four years.

This life expectancy of hamsters should be taken into account before purchasing a pet, especially for a child.

Although these rodents generally require simpler care for their health and well-being, they will not live as long as a cat or dog. Therefore, before purchasing a hamster for your child, it is important that you explain to your child in advance what hamsters have short term life.

Hamsters eat their babies

Animal cannibalism has been the subject of numerous scientific research, and even today it is impossible with full confidence state what the exact reasons for this behavior are.

In hamsters this phenomenon is of particular curiosity and concern, but in general we can confirm that it occurs because the mother hamster perceives her children as weak or unable to survive.

However there are others possible reasons that confirm why your hamster is killing its babies, such as:

The stress of feeding and breeding a very large litter.
Nutritional deficiency in infant hamsters.
Having a daddy hamster in a cage.
Lack of space in the hamster cage.
The female's nest is located too far from where she breeds.

Sex identification in hamsters

Finding out the gender of your rodent is easier than you probably thought. The main way to determine the gender of your hamster is by looking at its tail. You need to observe the rodent's perianal area, which is just below its tail, and apply slight pressure to separate the hair from the skin.

In males this area is more pronounced than in females due to the presence of her testes. In addition, the distance between anus and the male hamster has a larger penis.

You can also check the umbilical gland to determine the sex of your hamsters. In male hamsters, a small “belly button” can be seen in the umbilical area, which is more noticeable than in females.

However, ideally you should wait until your hamster reaches sexual maturity to properly determine its sex. In general, these small rodents mature and become sexually active very quickly: approximately 30-50 days after birth.

After puberty, the hamster is ready to mate and reproduce. Therefore, it is very important to know about the reproductive cycle of a hamster. If you want to avoid unwanted litters, we recommend keeping your males and females in separate cages.

Hamster teeth never stop growing

Hamster teeth, as well as other rodent teeth, never stop growing. Therefore, the hamster must constantly sharpen its teeth to maintain an optimal and symmetrical tooth length.

In the wild, hamsters search for small pieces of broken tree trunks or branches, which they chew to maintain proper dentition. However, in the case of pet hamsters, it is their owners who should be responsible for providing such elements to their pets.

In general, we recommend offering your hamsters twigs from fruit trees. Ideally, you should consult with your veterinarian about how to properly provide your hamster with proper dental care.

It is also very important to make sure that any branches or pieces of wood you offer your hamster are organic. The reason for this is that some trees may be coated in pesticides that are poisonous to hamsters.

Hamster diet

Care and feeding of a hamster are important aspects its breedings, which allow us to strengthen them immune system, prevent disease and ensure optimal quality of life. Hamsters are omnivores that enjoy a varied and balanced diet that meets their nutritional needs.

There are commercial foods specifically designed for hamsters that make it easier to feed nutrients in a balanced way. However, we also recommend offering your hamster very healthy fresh, natural and organic products.

These organic foods for hamsters include: healthy grains, legumes, nuts, fruits and vegetables. Of course, make sure you don't feed your hamsters food that is toxic to them.

Hamsters are nocturnal animals

Depending on the species, most pet hamsters are nocturnal. For this reason, it is not strange to see that many hamsters remain especially active at night or in the morning.

Hamsters have particularly large eyes, which are dominated by rods and photoreceptor cells, which are responsible for vision when there is little light in the environment. Therefore, we recommend avoiding disturbing your hamsters during the day when they are sleeping or resting.

Hamsters love to explore

Hamsters are very curious animals and they love to dig and sniff their environment. Hamsters primarily use their whiskers to detect and collect various information about various elements embedded in their space. Also, don't forget that these rodents usually dig burrows in the wild. This is why you should always offer this tunnel spot in his nest.

Hamsters are very smart

Like many other rodents, hamsters are particularly intelligent animals. Besides enjoying their well-developed senses such as smell and hearing (especially important for social interaction), hamsters can quickly learn tricks and exercises.

By using positive reinforcement to train your hamster, it can begin to associate certain actions with certain events and episodes. For example, a dog clicker can be a good tool to use during hamster training.

People learned to tame animals thousands of years ago, they observed their behavior, instincts, habits and used this information to better understand our little brothers. Now we can use information like this, such as interesting facts about hamsters, to find mutual language with a pet. Hamsters are now quite popular as pets, but are our views similar to them?

Perhaps one of the most interesting topics for discussion about hamsters - this is their vision of the world. The very existence of such a question raises the assumption that our views differ. This is actually true.

Hamsters are highly myopic

Now let's figure it out one by one, how do hamsters see? Since these animals show their main activity at night due to natural predators, they do not need well-developed daytime vision. Hamsters have highly developed myopia; they see relatively clearly only nearby objects, while the rest of the world is blurred and only outlines can be discerned. This way they can navigate well and not collide with anything (all attention is directed to a small area of the terrain).

As for light perception, it is developed rather poorly, the shades of red day are indistinguishable, but orange and green are quite. This feature appeared due to the need to get food for themselves at night, so if you want to impress a hamster, add yellow and green tones to their life.

Here's a small example of how hamsters see:

A hamster's mustache also helps them understand the world.

Many animals mark their territory, hamsters are one of them, for this they need special scent glands that emit a specific smell. Tubules extend from the glands, through which this smell then spreads. Usually the animals mark the bedding and bars of the cage, but if the owners are not careful, the animal will also mark the furniture and carpets where it often roams.

They will not explore the same territory all the time; they will rather remember it and notice individual changes. By the way, if you dim the lights while walking your hamster, he will be much more comfortable.

32 interesting facts about animals

Visual features are not the only thing that these little animals can impress us with; here is a selection of interesting facts about hamsters for children and adults:

Syrian hamsters are loners; you shouldn’t add company to them, as they will become aggressive and can even kill their opponent.
Some species of hamsters may soon be on the verge of extinction due to the decline of their natural habitats.
Hamsters are quite friendly and gentle animals, but if they are frightened or offended, they can bite strongly.
Hamsters can respond to their name.
If you wish, you can teach the animal a few tricks; they are quite smart and amenable to training.
One year of a hamster’s life is approximately equal to twenty-five years of a human’s life, so the animals live on average from two to three years.
In hamsters, males tend to live a little longer than females.
You may sometimes hear male hamsters referred to as hogs and female hamsters as sows.
In golden hamsters, males predominate, with slightly fewer females.
Golden hamsters can live up to six years with proper care.
What hamsters don't like most is sharing their cage space with anyone.
Hamsters love fresh vegetables and yoghurt, but if they are spoiled, they may stop eating their regular food.
Hamsters need to be given special vitamin supplements daily.
Golden hamsters can come in over forty different shades.
Golden hamsters have four toes on the front of their feet and five on their hind feet.
The golden hamster's record litter consisted of more than twenty cubs.
Gestation in female hamsters lasts just under three weeks (sixteen to eighteen days), the shortest in any placental mammal known today.
Hamsters are very smart animals, they remember their relatives.
In the wild, hamsters live in the mountains at an altitude of almost four kilometers.
Hamsters can store not only food, but also air behind their cheeks, so they swim perfectly, staying on the water with the help of such “floats”.
Hamsters can be quite different in size (from five to thirty-four centimeters), but they are easily recognized by special pouches located behind their cheeks.
Hamsters build holes for themselves with many emergency exits and passages.
Hamsters, like squirrels, store more food than they ultimately eat during the winter (up to ninety kilograms).
Newton's hamster and the Syrian colored hamster are already considered endangered and are listed in the Red Book.
In Vietnam, hamsters are considered primarily carriers of diseases, so keeping them as pets is subject to a fine of thirty million Vietnamese dong (about fifty-seven thousand rubles).
In the Chinese hamster, ovarian cells are used in pharmacology (in medicines for multiple sclerosis and chronic lymphocytic leukemia).
Dwarf hamsters may delay giving birth slightly if they are still nursing a previous litter.
If the hamster wheel had not been secured, it would have traveled ten kilometers overnight.
Hamsters, like many rodents, are born with teeth that grow throughout their lives, so they need to grind them down.
Hamsters can carry food that weighs up to twenty percent of their own body weight.
Often hamsters drag shiny things into their hole; hide what you would be sorry to part with.
Hamsters can eat not only fruits, vegetables and grains, but also insects if they lack protein.

– wonderful pets, they are very smart and quite easy-going, it’s easy to get along with them, despite different views to the world.

Such a pet will easily dilute gray everyday life and will help children learn how to handle animals.

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. About big European, tiny dwarf, wild American, popular Djungarian hamsters there are many amazing and unexpected stories to tell. Below are the most amusing and interesting facts about these wonderful and cute pets.

The most large breed- 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!
The animals have unique ability: they can quite long time store uneaten or found food behind the cheeks in special bags to eat later. Animals can easily hold food in their mouths, the weight of which reaches 20% of their body weight!
The most popular and widely bred breed is considered Syrian hamster brown color with a golden tint.
Some breeders call male rodents hogs, and females sows. Although their pets have nothing to do with pigs.
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 German word“hamstern”, which means “to accumulate, store up”.
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.
Rodents have special glands on their bodies that secrete an odorous secretion. Animals use this liquid to mark the road.
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.
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.
The owner must build a pet in the cage running wheel. The hamster is so nimble and agile that it can cover a distance of 10 kilometers in a wheel overnight!
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.
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.
Sex cells from males of the Chinese breed are used in pharmaceuticals to produce medicines against serious illnesses, including oncology.
In Vietnam, it is legally prohibited to breed and keep hamsters as pets. They are believed to tolerate many dangerous infections. Disobedience to the law results in heavy fines.
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.
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.
One year of a hamster's life is equal to almost 25 human years. It's a pity that furry pets live so short.
Pregnant females of some dwarf breeds have the ability to delay childbirth if they have not yet breastfed the cubs from the previous litter.
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.
It is also incorrect to believe that hamsters only eat plant foods. IN natural environment In their 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).

Dagestan hamster

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. Popular in many countries a pet- the golden or Syrian hamster in nature has a rather limited range - 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.

Barabinsky hamster

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.

Gray hamster

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.

Common hamster

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.

Gray hamster

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 Barabinsk, Transbaikal and Chinese hamsters different types, and others - forms within one polymorphic species. They differ in the number of chromosomes, but produce fertile offspring.

Georgy Rurikov,
employee of the Institute of Problems
Ecology and Evolution (IPEE RAS)

The order of rodents is very rich in representatives, and even among the species themselves there is a great diversity, as, for example, among the family of hamsters, which includes the hamsters themselves - in Latin Cricetiane. Interestingly, the very meaning of the word “hamster” comes from ancient Iranian and means “throwing down the earth” - hamsters destroy crops.

These are recognized pets of many. Their activity, cheerful disposition, cute appearance attracts people different ages, and the ease of maintenance allows these rodents to live in any home. IN natural conditions There are even more varieties: voles, muskrats, lemmings, water rats - this is not the entire list of the hamster family.

Appearance

A hamster is a very small rodent, from 9 to 30 cm. It has a dense build, short legs and a tail, small ears. Sometimes the hair on the tail is folded into a tassel, and the tail can be longer than 2 cm. In general, the appearance of a hamster is similar to a mouse. These animals live in burrows and underground. The body of this animal is stocky or elongated, with a cervical interception. The hind legs are longer, like the limbs of jerboas, and have powerful claws on five toes, of which the lateral ones are shorter than the middle ones.

Semi-aquatic forms of hamsters may have webbing between the toes of the hind limbs. Thus, in underground hamsters the body has the shape of a roller, the neck is practically not prominent. The color varies from light to dark brown, the back is darker than the belly. Along the spine individual species There is a stripe and spots on the front of the body.

For large number The species is characterized by soft and smooth wool. The hamster's cheekbones are low and round, rarely diverging backwards. Sometimes it happens that facial section shortened The orbits of the eyes are small, the supraorbital processes of the frontal bones are absent. Bone upper jaw forms cheekbones that cover the outside of the hole under the eyes. The masticatory muscle canal passes through the top. Distinctive feature hamsters have large cheek pouches necessary for carrying food supplies.

The auditory openings vary in width and are often enlarged. Lower jaw usually with an angular process. The hamster has only 16 teeth, the front teeth are larger than the back teeth, the cheek teeth have crowns located low or high. Cheek teeth with crowns of different heights, lumpy, irregularities in two rows are a secondary complication of the teeth, namely their shape. There are even teeth that take the shape of a triangular prism. These are represented by fused dentinal columns.

In the skeleton lower section fusion of two tibia bones of different sizes is observed. The burrowing lifestyle made the limbs, ears, and tail of hamsters shorter, and the incisors and claws became suitable for digging. Underground or semi-underground species have reduction of the eyes and isolation of the incisors from the mouth, but most hamsters retain large eyes, long tails, and are adapted to running, so their limbs are longer. If hamsters live near a pond, they develop the ability to swim. Adaptation to climbing is expressed in some members of the family.

Solitary animals

Hamsters are solitary animals, except for Roborovsky hamsters. Therefore, in cages, even among individuals of different sexes, there can be fights, and a weak hamster can die. Also, keeping females should be done more carefully: in Djungarian, Syrian and Campbell hamsters, frequent births can be harmful to health. Late mating of a female - after one year of age - will also be harmful. This leads to a lack of milk and maternal instinct.

Reproduction

Reproduction occurs throughout the year in the south; in the north it is seasonal. The duration of a hamster's pregnancy is from 16 to 35 days. From 2 to 18 cubs are born. Maturity comes early, at 40–50 days, but life expectancy is very short - 1–2 years, in captivity up to three years. This does not prevent their large numbers.

Habitat of hamsters

Hamsters inhabit the earth over a vast territory. The exception is Antarctica and the island states - Iceland, the Arctic islands and the Australian-Malayan region, Iceland. Rodents can infest gardens and man-made landscapes.

Nutrition

Hamsters feed on fruits and seeds of various cereals, grass, and insects. Individual individuals stock up on a large amount of food supplies for the winter. Animals are prone to changes in numbers and long-distance migrations. There are also species that are listed in the Red Book - the Syrian hamster and Newton's hamster. In Russia in wild conditions There are 12 species of hamsters. IN natural conditions they have many enemies - these are mainly birds of prey (kite, kestrel, raven) and animals (fox, ermine, badger).

Representatives of hamsters are carriers dangerous diseases- plague, tularemia, leptospirosis. Due to this fact, keeping them at home in Vietnam is prohibited.

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