Mary Allen
The hamster is a rodent and closely related to the mouse. He’s about the same size too. Known to us primarily as a pet, especially the golden hamster. In nature, we only have the field hamster.
Hamsters have thick, soft fur. It is brown to gray. The huge cheek pouches are unique to hamsters. They reach from the mouth to the shoulders. In it, they carry their food for the winter into their burrow.
The smallest hamster is the short-tailed dwarf hamster. He is only 5 centimeters long. There is also a short stub tail. It weighs just under 25 grams. So it takes four such hamsters to weigh a bar of chocolate.
The biggest hamster is our field hamster. It can be about 30 centimeters long, as long as a ruler at school. He also weighs over half a kilogram.
How do hamsters live?
Hamsters live in burrows. They are good at digging with their front paws, but they are also good at climbing, holding food, and grooming their fur. Hamsters have large pads on their hind paws. They also help them climb.
Hamsters mostly eat plants, preferably seeds. This can also be grain from the field or vegetables from a garden. That is why the hamster is not popular with farmers and gardeners. Sometimes hamsters also eat insects or other small animals. But hamsters are also eaten themselves, mostly by foxes or birds of prey.
Hamsters sleep most of the day. They are awake at dusk and at night. You don’t see very well either. But they feel a lot with their whiskers, like the cat. The larger hamster species hibernate properly. The smaller ones only sleep in between for a shorter time.
Hamsters live alone except when they want to make children. Pregnancy lasts less than three weeks. There are always several boys. They are born without fur and drink milk from their mother. It is also said: They are suckled by their mother. Therefore, mice are mammals. After about three weeks, however, they are already independent and are moving out of their homes.