Interesting facts about hamsters for children and adults

Habitual pets, if you try to learn more about them, will reveal many amazing secrets. Interesting facts about hamsters will really surprise someone. Creating these small rodents, nature did not stint on inventions.

Interesting about hamsters

A lot of things can surprise you in these animals. Most of the myths about them do not correspond to reality.

Teeth

This organ distinguishes rodents from all other animals. They are even born with teeth. But not everyone knows interesting facts about hamsters regarding these organs:

• hamster teeth do not have roots;
• each individual has only four of them;
• hamsters teeth grow all their lives;
• so that they fit in the mouth, they are regularly ground down on a stone.

Wool

An amazing discovery was made by the Oxford University zoologist Kingdon, investigating the phenomenon of the shaggy African hamster, which was also called poisonous. This rodent kills predators exceeding its size and strength.

It turned out that the hairs of a hamster in a fur coat are arranged unusually. Outside, they have microscopic holes resembling a carved lattice. Because of this, the hairs absorb liquid and hold inside. Rubbing the fur with the juice of a poisonous plant, the hamster becomes dangerous to those who try to bite him.

cheek pouches

This is the most important distinguishing feature of all hamsters. In them, the animals hide food and everything that interests them. Having reached his shelter, the hamster dumps what he has brought and hides it.

The rodent is able to drag at one time in the cheek pouches a burden that makes up a fifth of its weight.

In addition to food, animals are attracted to various shiny objects. Moreover, a greedy hamster, having hidden a heavy metal nut behind his cheek, can die of hunger without leaving his place because of the too heavy weight of the burden, but he will not dare to spit out the find.

With the help of cheek pouches, rodents are excellent swimmers. They take in air in them and therefore are easily kept on the surface of the water. True, they cannot dive.

Offspring

Hamsters can bring offspring from 2 to 4 times a year. A female dzhungarik can be fertilized right on the day of birth. Pregnancy lasts 16-18 days, and feeding the cubs – 21.

So that one offspring does not interfere with another, the female can delay the onset of childbirth. Usually there are no more than 8 hamsters in a litter. However, in the USA in 1974, on February 28, the Miller family was incredibly surprised when their pet brought 26 cubs at once.

Interesting facts about the common hamster: cannibal warrior

In addition to the domesticated species of these cute fluffies, their wild relatives still exist in nature. Steppe hamster (ordinary) is a real thunderstorm not only for fields and gardens, but also for animals. They say about them that, attacking a dog or a hare, these rodents win and … feast on the fresh meat of their victim.

They do not disdain to taste the flesh of a rival kinsman defeated in battle. These warlike creatures fight for possession of a female, for territory, protecting their supplies.

They say about steppe hamsters that they even attack humans. In fact, no deaths have been reported. Mostly zealous owners simply scare away a person, protecting the territory.

Interesting facts about Syrian hamsters: about food, friendship and family ties

These domestic rodents are not as warlike as wild steppe ones. But, preferring a solitary lifestyle, they will not tolerate a stranger on their territory. The Syrian hamster will ruthlessly bite to death the weaker one, which the inexperienced owner decides to hook up with him.

There is no concept of relationship for him. If he is not resettled in time, even his own offspring will suffer.

An interesting discovery about hamsters and food was made by zoologists: these rodents are omnivores. In addition to grains, seeds and fruits, they need animal protein. In nature, animals get it by hunting for insects, small living creatures, eating carrion. In captivity, they must be given boiled lean poultry meat, fish, otherwise the pet becomes aggressive and bites. The female may even eat her own offspring for this reason.

Interesting facts about Djungarian hamsters

Djungarian hamsters, unlike other types of hamsters, have an interesting ability of the body – to fall into a stupor (not to be confused with hibernation!). This condition lasts for several hours and is most often associated with a low ambient temperature. There are also cases when hamsters fell into a stupor due to severe stress.

Interesting Facts About Roborovski Hamsters

Roborovsky hamsters are the smallest among relatives. They are distinguished from other species by their friendliness and love of communication. They get along well with each other in the same cage. The main condition is the presence of an equal number of females and males. Although one male and several females will coexist remarkably in a cage. Aggression in this case is not observed. Indeed, in nature, male hamsters usually take care of not one female, but several.

Which breed of hamster lives the longest

Among rodents, a long-liver can be considered an individual that celebrated its fourth birthday. The usual lifespan of Jungarians and Campbell’s hamsters is from 2 to 3 years. Roborovsky hamsters live a little longer – up to 3,5 years. But there are facts of longevity. Cases have been noted when representatives of dwarf breeds broke a record of 5 years. Syrian hamsters officially declared a period of 3,5 years.

There is a legend on the Internet that the oldest hamster in the world lived to be 19 years old. However, no confirmation of this fact was found.

Records: the fattest hamster in the world, the largest and smallest

Rodents with cheek pouches are known about 19 breeds. Among them there are tiny dwarfs – PeeWee from the UK, which has a length of only 2,5 cm with a tail. But this is not a natural phenomenon, but a physical deviation, due to which the animal stopped growing in childhood.

Among the wild hamsters of Radde, a male 35 centimeters long and weighing just over a kilogram is registered. This fattest hamster prepared for the winter stocks not only in the pantry, but also accumulated on his sides.

Although the average hamster Radde stands out among relatives: its weight ranges from 500 to 700 g. People call it nothing more than a “dog”.

most expensive hamster

The price of the animal depends on whether it is sold by a private person, a pet store or a nursery, whether the animal has documents with a pedigree and how rare the rodent breed is.

You can buy a hamster from a private trader 5 times cheaper than in a nursery. But there is no guarantee that the animal is healthy, that it has good genes. In a pet store, animals are sold after being checked by a veterinarian. However, sellers will not be able to guarantee a good pedigree there either. Therefore, if it is important for the owner to get a real thoroughbred pet, it is better to pay more, but get what you want without cheating and with supporting documents.

The most rare is the Roborovsky hamster. They were brought to Russia in 1970. But only recently it was possible to develop a species capable of breeding in captivity.

A married couple should be purchased immediately. It will cost about 2000 rubles.

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