10 Fun Animal Facts- Hamsters

When most people think of Hamsters, the first thing they may think of are the memories of their first classroom pet when they were a child. Many teacher's have hamsters and other small rodents as classroom pets to teach children compassion, responsibility, caring and ultimately about death.

1. Hamsters are nocturnal, meaning they mostly sleep during the day and are active at night. But many hamsters will divide their days with periods of waking and sleeping, which makes it easier to play with them during the day.

2. Syrian hamsters or teddy bear hamsters as some call them are solitary animals and should be kept alone in a cage. They will sometimes fight to the death if kept in a cage with another Syrian hamster. Dwarf hamsters on the other hand are social animals and will live very happily in a group of other dwarf hamsters.

3. Roborovski Dwarf hamsters are the fastest hamsters of all the species.

4. Hamsters have pouches inside their cheeks and can stuff a large amount of food into them.

5. Female hamsters are called Sows, male hamsters are called Boars and babies are called pups.

6. According to Simple Pet Care, " Hamsters were first discovered in Syria in 1830 when an Israeli Zoologist working in the Syrian Desert found them burrowed into the sand and captured them. He brought three hamsters back to his lab and was successful in breeding them. Many years later, in 1839, they received their modern day name of the "Golden Hamster" by a British zoologist named George Waterhouse. All common household pet hamsters are descendants of the Syrian desert hamsters."

7. Back in the 1990''s someone thought hamsters were so cute that they created a website called "Hampster Dance" where several rows of animated hamsters danced over and over to a cute squeaky voiced song.

8. Hamsters are very curious animals and can squeeze their bodies into very tight spaces. They can squeeze their bodies through any space they can get their heads through.

9. There are Hamster Shows, much like Dog Shows where hamsters are given ribbons and awards for size, color and the coat (hair or fur) of the hamster.

10. Hamsters need a wheel in their cage. They will run in their wheels for hours each night, taking breaks to eat and drink and rest in between.

Sources:
http://www.simplepetcare.com/pets/2006/08/24/history-of-the-hamster/