All About Hamster

 

 

Hamsters are pets that are included in the favorite pets of many people around the world.

There are many reasons why people choose hamsters as pets apart from being small and furry, hamsters are also cute and tame pets.

Another advantage of raising hamsters is that they do not need a lot of space and only need a small amount of food to provide each day.

Hamsters belong to the group of rodents, still related to mouse.

Many types of hamsters around the world with the characteristics of each hamster belong to the Cricetinae family, this group is also divided into seven genera. 

 

-Genus Tscherskia or so-called Korean hamster (Tscherskia triton)

 -Genus Cansumys or also called Gansu Hamster (Cansumys Canus)

-Genus Allocritetulus is divided into two, namely:

 * Mongolian Hamster (Allocricetrulus curtatus) 

* Kazakhstan Hamster or also called eversman hamster (Allocricetulus eversman )

 

-Genus cricetulus with the most groups

* Hedgehog hamster (Cricetulus alticola)

* Chinese Hamster (Cricetulus Griseus)

* Kam's dwarf hamster or called (Cricetulus Kamnesia)

* Long-tailed hamster (Cricetulus longicaudatus)

* Gray dwarf hamster commonly called gray hamster or Armenian hamster, migratory hamster (Cricetulus migratorius)

* Sokolov hamster (Cricetulus sokolovi)

* Striped dwarf hamster or Chinese striped hamster (Cricetulus barabensis)

 

-Genus Critetus or commonly called European hamster (Cricetus critetus)

 

-Genus Phodopus or dwarf hamster, is divided into:

* White Russian dwarf hamsters are often called winter whire hamsters (Phodopus Sungorus)

* Dwarf hamsters Campbell (Phodopus campbelli)

* Roborovski hamster is more commonly called Mongolian hamster (Phodopus Roborovski)

 

-Genus Mesocricetus or golden hamster, divided into:

* Syrian hamster or golden bear hamster (Mesocricetus auratus)

* Turkish Hamster or better known as Brandt hamster (Mesocricetus Brandti )

* Caucasus hamster or Georgian hamster (Mesocricetus raddei)

* Romanian hamster (Mesocricetus Newtoni)

 

In general, hamsters have short tails and are not very visible,although there are some types of hamsters that have a longer tail.

In their natural habitat, hamsters are divided into two natural habitats, namely north and south.

In northern habitats, including Central Europe to Siberia, Mongolia, Korea and northern China. Whereas in the south it includes Pakistan and Syria.

In their natural habitat, hamsters live among deserts, sandy hills, foothills, bushy and rocky lowlands, river valleys, wide expanses of grass, and several types of hamsters also live in plant fields close to residential areas.

Hamsters are included in the omnivorous group, basically they eat seeds, fruits and plants but they also eat several types of insects.

Broadly speaking, the food for keeping hamsters is divided into:

-Dried food: dry grapes, dry carrots, hamster biscuits, crackers, rice, dry corn, peanuts

-Fresh food: carrots, celery sticks, apples, pears

-Animal food: insects, larvae

If you want to keep a hamster the safest food is whole grains and some fresh vegetables, but this should be paid attention to because fresh plants that have been exposed to pesticides are not good for hamsters.

Hamsters can be kept well in cages that are good for hamsters as special hamster cages and aquariums, avoid cages made of wood or plywood because hamsters will bite the wood and will poison them. A good temperature for hamsters is 26 Celsius or 64-80 Fahrenheit.

The average hamster can live between 2 to 3 years although there are several types of hamsters that can live up to 3.5 years. In the wild, hamster life is shorter because of their natural predators such as snakes and birds.

Hamsters can be easily bred in the right way. At the age of 4 or 5 weeks hamsters can start reproducing although there are some types of hamsters that can only reproduce at 3 to 4 months of age

Many people who raise hamsters want their hamsters to reproduce and reproduce in large quantities for sale purposes or just for fun, but many people have not learned much about how hamsters reproduce. There are many reasons why the chances of a hamster pregnancy are very small or even impossible, because of the lack of knowledge and information on how to properly raise hamsters.

Things that need to be considered for beginners who want to keep hamsters are divided into several important points, namely:

 

1. Food

You can prepare grains and nuts that are easy to get such as drops, almonds, rice and dry corn or sesame. Mix all these ingredients and feed the hamster 2x a day, morning and evening. It is necessary to remember that instant food can still be given to hamsters if only occasionally, alternating with eating hamsters with fresh fruit such as carrots, apples or pears. You should never give fresh fruit and vegetables too often, as this will wet the hamster's tail and become sick. Mixing seeds with dried fruit is also good for hamsters.

 

2. Cage The

Cage must be kept clean, so that it is more similar to its natural habitat, the base of the cage can be fine sand or soft rock specifically for hamsters, if using fine stone media or coarse sand you should provide a little fine sand for the hamster to clean his fur by rolling in the fine sand. The size of the cage should not be too small because it will cause the hamster to be easily stressed, don't forget to give the hamster a tool to play in the cage.

To maintain the comfort of your hamster, you can also put cotton in a container for the hamster to sleep or rest because in its natural habitat hamsters usually sleep in a hole filled with dry grass.

Do not forget to also provide clean water for drinking hamsters with special bottles that are widely sold in the market.Always clean the hamster sand 3-4 days or can be replaced with a new one in 1 week. Clean the dirt and clean the hamster's urine which smells so that it is sterile from bacteria and germs.

3. Care

Important to remember that hamsters do not need to be bathed in water, they usually clean their own fur with fine sand, which is why in the hamster cage it is very necessary to provide fine sand.

To maintain comfort, hamsters should not be held too often because it will make them stressed and get sick easily and even die quickly.

 

For fitness and health hamsters also need vitamins and anti-viruses which can be purchased at pet shops. To tame a hamster, the method is to stimulate feeding with your own hands, the hamster will begin to get used to the smell of your hands and will eventually become tame in a few days. Only handle the hamster while feeding or changing the bottom of the cage.

Hamsters will find it difficult to control their weight if they are continuously fed without a tool to play in the cage, hamsters that are too fat will make them prone to disease. Give insect food occasionally too. Since hamsters eat insects in the wild occasionally, the ones that can be cheaply bought at pet shops are larvae.

If you want to breed hamsters, you can put a pair of hamsters in 1 cage in 1 week, after that you can separate them again and see that in the next few days the female hamster will start to get pregnant, the characteristics of the pregnant hasmter can be seen in the enlarged nipples and stomach. the hamster will bulge. Give portions to eat a little more than usual because the need for a hamster who is pregnant is also more than usual.