Why A Hamster? In a survey conducted by the American Pet Products Manufacturing Association, the hamster has consistently been voted the most popular small pet of the year 1990s. Most People who have cast their votes for the hamster feel that they are fun to watch, and they are good, educational pets for children.

Isnin, 22 September 2008

Wanted: Responsible Owner


Fine examples of happy, healthy hamsters are invariably rooted with the responsible owner. This is a person who takes the time - before bringing a new pet home - to learn about the housing, diet, exercise and social interaction the pet will require if he is to live a long and healthy life. Whether one is keeping a dog or atiny dwarf hamster as a pet, an animal deserves optimum living conditions, regular attention as well as veterinary care.


The hamster owner should know the basics of hamster care and be willing to make the time and effort to do it right. The owner needs to understand the hamster's need for cleanliness and take care to keep his habitat sasnitary. The hamster's bedding should be changed regularly, his food fresh and well-balanced and his access to clean, clear water constant. His owner should respect the hamster's nocturnal habits and reserve playtimes for later hours of the day - afternoon and evening - when he is most amenable to activity.

A responsible owner can be an adult or a child (many a child has actually proven to be the superior caretaker in this endeavor). A hamster is afine pet choice for children, although his care must never be relegated exclusively to a child. While caring for a hamster presents achild with the oppurtinity to learn the importance of providing a pet with food, water, attention and a clean environment, this must be done with adult supervision should the child lose interest or inclination.

The greatest part of being a responsible owner is the commitment made to the hamster: The individual should be dedicated to providing the hamster with all the necessary amenities, avoiding unintentional breeding and spending time every day with his or her pet. In return the owner will learn how attached people can become to these wee creatures, and what delightful relationship can exist between what was once a solitary desert dweller and the lucky person who takes him in. This oftencomes as a surprise to first time owners who find themselves hooked for life after that first experience of living in harmony with a hamster.

Choosing and Preparing for Your Hamster




Who doesn't love a hamster? Even if someone isn't crazy about rodents be cause of an experience with mice or rats that invaded the kitchen, most people can't help but notice the sweet, big-eyes mug of the hamster and smile.

The hamster's charm creep up subtly. You admire his compact, barrel like physique , his wide muzzle accentuated by atreat hidden within his cheeks and his bright eyes and rather large nose. These characteristics comprise a potrait of a pet that resemles a tiny stuffed toy or living miniature teddy bear. Heeding your first impression, you regard the hamster as a quiet, benign, unobtrusive little creature, until suddenly you recognize something so loveble about this little rodent that you simply must spend the rest of your life basking in that charm.

Ahad, 21 September 2008

A Solitary Pet



The conditions of the hamster's native land, a barren lanscape combined with a scarcity of food, were not conducive to sustaining large colonies of hamsters. The animals thus evolved into solitary creatures that fended for themselves. They typically came together only to mate, the female then taking on the responsibility of raising her young on her own. Assuming incorrectly that a single hamster is a lonely hamster, many owners ignore the natural solitary nature of these animals, and insist on housing them together, usually with dire, and quite violent, results.


Hamster personality is also often misunderstood. Although hamsters usually prefer the company of humans to that of their own kind, they are frequently labeled mean and ornery. In most instances, the hamster that lives up to those labels is simply a hamster that has been mistreated or was never socialized to human handling. The well-bred well-socialized hamster that is properly housed, entertained and cared for should be a gentle, sweet nature animal that comes to know and trust her owner and to enjoy the time they spend together. Indeed the bond that can form between a hamster and human can be surprisingly sound and touching.

The hamster, though the ideal pocket pet for the right owner, must not simply be locked in the cage and ignored. She is a solitary creature, but thrives on human care to help her adjust to life in captivity. Cleanliness, play, a healthy diet, a stress-free environment and regular human interaction are the ingredients vital to the health and well- being of this animal that boast a long and prestigious record of survival.

Look at your hamster in light of her existance as a wild creature and you will find the best of both worlds living within your home: a delightful, gentle, entertaining pet and a creature of the wilderness all wrapped up in a single, rather adoraable, package. What an honor to share your home with so distinctive a character.

Natural Burrowers



This is a lifestyle that took place primarily underground. A consummate burrower, the wild hamster spent a great deal of her time beneath the surface of the earth, hiding in the cool catacombs of tunnels, safe from the harsh rays of the sun, extreme temperatures, and the teeth and claws of rodent-hungry predators. She would emerge from her safe, cool sanctuary when the sun set to scavenge for her dinner.

Food was scarce in the hamster's native territory, a condition that subsequently served to mold the hamster into an animal that requires a great deal of exercise. In the wild, she was forced to travel vast distances to find sustenance. Joke as we might about hamsters running aimlessly on their exercise wheel - miles and miles in a single day - the hamster is driven by instinct to a life of activity.

Hamster owners need to understand that their pets will live longer and more contentedly if they are provided with appropriate and variegated opportunities to play and interact with people. This means making far more of an effort than simply supplying the animal with 24 hour access to an exercise wheel, to which the hamster can become addicted, not to mention exhausted and dehydrated.

Native Territory



In the golden hamster's ancient homeland, the day-time temperatures were generally warm, the night temperatures cool; food was intermittently scarce and abundant; and there was little vegetation and landscaping to safety conceal a tiny rodent from predators. Now envision a quite, gentle animal - the hamster - in the midst of such a scene, and evaluate how the characteristics of her native territory relate to the hamster's evolution.

From a physical perspective, here is a small rodent whose large expressive eyes offer the first clue to how animal would operate in the wild. A nocturnal creature requires large eyes to see effectively in the dark-ness. In the wild, she spends most of her waking hours under the cover of night, waiting until the atmosphere cools to seek her dinner. The hamster's prominent ears also have a story to tell. They are positioned high on the animal's head so the hamster might best take advantage of her acute sense of hearing, especially when faced with the challenge of detecting the presence of an approaching predator - or the voice of a trusted owner.



The ample cheek pouches are another survival function of the hamster. The hamster can stuff her pouches with almost half her body weight in food, which may the be hidden in private caches for another day when food is not so plentiful (a habit pet hamsters may practice in captivity, as well). This would certainly explain why this animal's name is derived from German word hamster, meaning "to hoard"

As far as hamster behavior is concerned, not much is known about the hamster's life in the wild, and apparently that is precisely how the hamster has intended it to be. The golden hamster remained unknown to public at large for so long (and her natural wild existence still remains somewhat of an enigma) because of her rather mysterious lifestyle.

Hamster Character



It is viewed as comedic when a hamster is cast as a mean and vicious villain in a child's horror story, or when, as occur in the immortal comic strip "Calvin & Hobbes", a precocious six year old pleads with his harried dad to read him his favorite book, one with a protagonist that just happens to be a hamster, for the umpteen hundredth time.

A hamster? What could be so interesting, so captivating about hamster? The very existence of such questions is precisely where the humor lies. Hamster enthusiasts know that there is plenty to be interested in and captivated by this humble, unassuming animal, and that her role as clever villain and fascinating children hero is not only pleasantly unexpected, but downright deserved. Get to know the hamster, and you will discover a quite fascinating creature that has mastered the super heroic habits of a small animal forced to survive in treacherous wild environs - an animal that is equally adept at adapting those characteristics to life in captivity.

As with all animals that leave come to occupy a domestic niche, the hamster's physical and behavioral characteristic have been molded through the ages by her native home, the desert. Understand the link between the hamster;s home territory and the appearance, behavior and character of the contemporary pet hamster within your home, and you will be better equipped to enjoy your pet. You will also be better equipped to enjoy your pet. You will also be better prepared to offer her the optimum care required to keep a hamster spry and healthy until the ripe old age of two or three.

Hamster - Friendly Times



The 1990s have proven to be an especially hamster-friendly decade s far as numbers go. As more and more people move to urban and suburban environments where pets may not be welcome , many individuals still hanker to live with animals. The hamster proves to be natural in meeting that need. Her small size, cleanliness and ease of care mean that she can thrive in a tiny, metropolitan studio apartment with a "no pets" policy just as easily as she can in a large, suburban multi-bedroom home that hosts a variety of pets. And according to veteran hamster caretakers, she fills the pet bill quite nicely. The hamster has been repeatedly named a popular household pet because she provides her own warm brand of companionship.



You don't hear much about hamsters in the media. They don't incite much controversy or inspire much heated debate. They don't fortunately for them, sport rich pelts of fur like those that have made their cousin the chinchilla so legendary. They haven't become public enemy number one by entering human homes without an invitation, like the mouse. Very few associations exist for the promotion and protection of these small creatures, and there are far fewer fictionalized hamster characters than there are, say, mice and rabbits, yet their numbers are solid. The quite popularity of the hamster as a resident in human household indicates that, within American homes, there are thousands of well-loved hamster living peacefully and quietly, converting one person, one family, at a time to the joy that is hamster keeping.

The Road To Domesticity



Once in the care of humans, hamster were first enlisted as laboratory animals, an unpleasant fate to be sure, but one that led to an increase in the under-standing of keeping the animals healthy in captivity. This information would later prove vital to the success of keeping hamster as pets.

Today, hamsters continue to be used as lab animals, although the numbers of hamsters used for this purpose have declined substantially in the last twenty years or so. The contemporary efforts to improve experimental procedures and to reduce the number of animals used for those purposes are known as the 3Rs: reduction, replacement and refinement.

From the sterile halls of the laboratory environment, the hamster's reputation as a quite, gentle animal (attributes that made her a desirable laboratory animal in first place) spread. Hardly a surprise to those who had come to know her, the hamster soon found herself being targeted for a far more positive fate: that of a family pet.

The hamster proved to be a natural at this calling, of course, and has remained and blossomed within that friendly niche ever since. This great popularity is significant, considering that the hamster was officially discovered and enlisted into a partnership with humans only a few decades ago. That the hamster has become such a common house-hold name as a pet species both in home and schoolrooms in such a relatively short period of time is testament to her charm and to her decidedly ideal pet characteristics.

A Revolutionary Discovery


The hamster has come a long way from existence as a golden short haired rodent in t the wild to a popular pet that may sport any variation of coat type or color and reside in domestic homes - many of those with children.

The hamster's story began in 1829 when she was discovered near the Syrian city of Aleppo by British zoologist George Waterhouse. He called this little rodent Cricetus auratus or golden hamster. She went on to enjoy a brief period of popularity as a pet, primarily in England . But despite their prolific breeding habits, the novelty of owning these small, unique, tailless rodents wore off and so did the existence of Hamsters in captivity.



Yet the hamster would not remain unknown forever. In 1930 a zoologist name Professor I. Aharoni, from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, found a female hamster and her litter of twelve while conducting research in the Syrian desert. He had intentionally sought these animals, inspired by historical accounts he had read that described quite, docile animals known as Syrian mice and thought to have been keept as pets by the ancient Assyrians. When the zoologist discovered the little hamster family huddled in an underground burrow in the desert, he assumed that these were the socalled mice about which he had read.

Most of the hamsters died when Professor Aharoni attempted to bring the mother and her young back to Jerusalem, so he was left with just two females and a male. It was believed for many year that the Syrian hamster was first discovered by Professor Aharoni but, in actuality, the Syrian hamster existed in the wild before and after the time we initially thought. It is true, however, that Syrian hamsters today have the professor's original three hamsters as their common ancestors.



While finding a family of rodents out in a desert would not a first seem to be earth-shattering, this particular discovery came as quite a surprise to those who knew rodents. Most of the few who had ever heard of the elusive hamster had assumed that the hamster species, given the animals' lack of visibility in the last one hundred years or so, was extinct, both in the wild and in captivity. But the hamster had remained unseen, not because of a decline in her population
(extinction is, for all practical purposes, a foreign concept to rodents), but because her secret, solitary nature and nocturnal habits had made it so. Now, however, the secret was out, and the hamster would never again live within the shelter of obscurity.



The newly discovered hamster family was subsequently transported to Jerusalem. But sadly, because so little was know about their care at the time, only three of them survived. A successful breeding program was launched with those remaining survivors, however, and today, thanks to that legendary reproductive potency for which rodents are known, each and every contemporary pet hamster is thought to be the direct off-spring of those surviving three hamsters.

While their numbers began to grow and they naturally charmed the fortunate individuals who got to know them, those early hamsters and their progeny did not immediately take the pet world by storm. The species took a slight detour before that occurred.

Sabtu, 20 September 2008

Types of Hamster



Syrian Hamsters

The big guys that are about 5-7" long and weigh 4-7 oz. on average. Their tails are almost bare and their feet have fine fur on the top, but none on the bottom -- just bumpy pads. They can have many different colors and patterns and long or short fur. Syrian hamster sometimes called "golden hamsters" as well as stupid pet-shop nicknames like "black bears," "teddy bears," "fancy hamsters," "Dalmatians," "panda bears," and other dopey or misleading terms. They must live individually by the time they're 6-8 weeks old or they will kill one another. They're the easiest of the species to handle, and perfect for first-time owners. Of course children will need supervision handling any pet, and hamsters are delicate enough to make this especially true. The smaller four species can live in same- or opposite-sex pairs or small colonies if they're same-sex siblings from the same litter or if introduced carefully when young. Their temperaments and habits are different enough that they must live only one species to a cage. Pairs or groups may have to be separated if fights or bullying ensues, so it's essential to have an extra cage on hand just in case.



Dwarf Campbells Russian Hamsters

Dwarf hamsters are the most common type of hamster that were adopted as pet. They are cute, easy to care and most importantly they are funny. Their act and behavior will surely make you smile or even laugh. They move fast and playing at most of their time. One of my dwarf hamster always run in a small circle at full speed for a minute and then stop for a while for a break lying on it's back with all legs up and then continue running like mad scattering away the bedding.
Usually, dwarf hamsters are 2.5-4" long and weigh 1-3 oz. on average. They have stubby little furry tails and fur on both the tops and bottoms of their feet. There are many different colors and patterns. They're sometimes called "Siberian dwarfs," but this is a common pet-store misnomer. They're also called things like "fancy dwarf hamsters," "blueberry hamsters," "blackberry hamsters" and other cutesy, inaccurate names.

The Campbell’s breed by large commercial breeders have given the dwarfs a bad reputation as being Nippy biters. This is not so as most Campbell’s are friendly inquisitive little animals that like to be held. The biting trait is I believe inherited. And by carefully selecting only animals that don't bite I have breed this trait out of my Campbell’s. I do have several females that will nip if they have babies. But that is to be expected of any animal with babies.

Campbells Dwarfs have been Breed in captivity Scene 1963 originally as Laboratory animals Possible references to dates as early as 1943 I am researching this. As A result there are now a number of Coat and Color Mutations available




Roborovski Dwarf Hamster

Scientific Name: Phodopus Roborovski
Country of Origin: Central Asia, Northern Russia, Mongolia, and Northern China
Lifespan: About 3 to 3 1/2 years
Size and Weight: 4 to 5cm and 20g to 25g
Other Important Facts:

The Roboroski hamster is becoming increasingly more available in pet stores. It is fast and very lively, but rarely nip. This hamster is not normally recommended to the first time hamster owner, as they can be tricky to handle. Roboroski hamsters are very sociable and should be bought in pairs of the same sex although many pet stores cannot sex these hamsters confidently. Roboroski hamsters should never be housed in small cages despite their small size and require at least a 24" X 12" glass tank or plastic cage. They should never be housed in barred cages, because they will squeeze through the bars or may get half stuck.



Siberian or Winter White Russian dwarf hamsters

These little guys are hard for some to distinguish from the Campbells. One key is that they come in a much smaller number of colors and patterns. None of the known mutations have red eyes, for example -- only Campbells have those. There are a few other distinguishing characteristics, but the distinction is best made in photos and is covered well at the link below. Winter Whites are also good first hamsters, but for older children and adults, since younger kids may have trouble handling the smaller species. Pet shops sometimes mix the two dwarf Russian species in tanks, but that creates constant friction with potentially deadly consequences. The two dwarf Russian species are the only two species of hamsters that can interbreed, but doing so weakens each species, and the practice of hybridization is warned against by many.



Chinese mouse like hamster

Longer, thinner, lighter hamsters with a bit more tail than the Russian dwarfs. These guys are best suited to experienced owners, and are unusual finds in pet shops in the U.S. They can live in closely monitored pairs or small groups, but the balance of dominance is often delicate, and separations are more likely to be necessary than with dwarf species. Of course, a knowledgeable breeder would be more likely to provide carefully reared, closely bonded pairs.

The Evolution of Hamsters

While a great deal is known and understood about the whys and wherefores of rodents, our pet hamster species have remained somewhat elusive members of that family tree because of their wild ancestors solitary, secretive lifestyles. As is true of all rodent pets, the hamster's true beginnings are found in the wild, yet because of his tendency to burrow and spend a great deal of time underground, he was able to shield himself from prying humans for thousands of years. Consequently, the hamster is a relative newcomer to the roster of known animal species in general and pets in particular.



The classic golden, or Syrian, hamster, is the native desert rodent that evolved into several different known species of hamsters - twenty-four, to be exact - and only a few of these are kept as pets. Hamsters in general were traditionally found in a variety of regions from mountains, to deserts, to agricultural fields. As a member of the adaptable rodent family, the hamster has been ever-nimble in his ability to deal with the elements, resulting in the evolution of a large and impressive band of hamster species.

Within the rodent order, there are several suborders, the hamster being a member of the suborder Myomarpha, the mouse like rodents. This includes the various hamster species, raging in size from the tiny dwarfs that measure only 2 to 4 inches in length, to the fascinating common hamster, the grandaddy of the family, that may reach lengths of up to 8 to 11 inches, to the ever popular golden hamster that sits somewhere between the two in size.

Rodent Reproduction



To further ensure that their species survive through eternity, especially when confronted daily by successful predator species that range from foxes to bears to humans, rodents are phenomenally quick breeders. Most species reach sexual maturity within a few weeks after birth, and if left to their own devices, rodents begin reproducing right away. As though driven internally to pass on their genetic blueprints to future generations, rodents typically produce large litters and often find themselves caring for two or three generations just weeks apart in age.

Isnin, 15 September 2008

Physical Characteristics



The Teeth

On a more scientific plane, we can tell a rodent, any rodent, by its teeth. te name rodent, in fact, is derived from the Latin word rodere, which means "to gnaw". While the various rodent species are differentiated by variations in color, size coat type, behavior, sleeping habits, social structure and dietary preferences, all share a common characteristic in their front teeth ( incisors).

The rodent incisors are marvels of engineering that continue to grow throughout the individual rodent's life. The jaw is structured to ensure that the rodent's life. The jaw is structured to ensure that rodent can constantly gnaw in order to keep its chisel - like incisors filed. This gnawing also allow those incisors to contact the lower set of teeth at just the right angle to finish the job. If the incisors are not properly filed - which will happen in the unfortunate rodent with a misaligned jaw - the animal will starve to death and suffer a great deal of pain in the meantime, as his teeth continue to grow and pierce various regions of his mouth and face.



Hip Glands

Another characteristic that hamsters have is two large glands on each side of their body, close to the position of their hips. Males have larger glands than female hamsters. The glands secrete a substance that is oily and acts as a territory marker. Their fur usually hides the glands, but sometimes a wet spot or matted fur will indicate the location on the hamster's body.

Some hamsters may rub themselves against the sides of their cage, imitating instinctual territorial behavior. Hamsters in the wild rub themselves against the walls of their burrows to mark their presence. Hamsters have a mild musk scent that can be detected as times when their glands are actively secreting. Since their eyesight is not strong, hamsters rely upon these markings to discern their territory from other hamsters.

Survival Techniques


Because more are relatively small size, rodents may often reside somewhat unobtrusively in the midst of human domiciles, often living right under human noses for weeks or even months before a telltale chewed corner of a sack of flour or bird seed alerts their two-legged hosts to their presence.

Diet also played a key role in rodent survival. Their physiological makeup enables most rodents to thrive on a variety of foodstuffs, thus ensuring that even when their favored or traditional dietary items disappear, there are always alternatives available. Most rodents can survive on veritable smorgasbord of options, including vegetarian fare or foods of animal origin including insects and worms.



In terms of physical similarities, most rodent species are relatively small and compact. They use their delicate little "hands" to carry out a variety of functions, including collecting and manipulating food and grooming. Some rodents, such as the hamster, are graced with ample cheek pouches, in which they can store large amounts of food to hide away for a time when food is not plentiful - a rainy day, if you will.

Sabtu, 13 September 2008

Rodents and Humans


Imagine a vast forest, home for centuries to a complex, interconnected ecosystem of thousands of birds, mammals, insects and plants. Now imagine that forest is razed for cattle grazing or stripped for building identical tract homes. Just where do those resident animals go?


Those species that cannot adapt to human encroachment into their habitats are doomed either to displacement because of the loss of their food supplies and living space, or to outright destruction. This latter fate has typically resulted from intentionally destruction by inter looping humans, predators themselves, who have historically viewed their non human counterparts on the food chain as competition.

To their credit, rodents for the most part, even those targeted just as vigorously for destruction, have not suffered the same sad fate as the predators. In fact, they have generally emerged survivors of human activity.

The names of only a few of the planet's hundreds of rodents species appear on the various lists that track the threatened an endangered species of the world. In light of the condition of most animal populations today, that is truly amazing. While individuals who do not care to coexist with mice, rats and their brethren may not be impressed by this fact, even they must admire how nature has enabled these rodent survivors to persist so efficiently.

What is Hamster?


The Hamster is a member of the rodent order of mammals in the vast sea of species that compromise the animal kingdom. The rodent order is, in fact, the largest of all mammal species are rodents, and almost all of those species are quite large in number.

While rodents tend to be stereotypically regarded as pests in the eyes of humans (particularly rodents of rat and mice varieties), theirs is an amazing group of animals found all over the globe in all geographical regions and climates. Humans have access to great deal of information about various species of rodents, because where there are humans, there are probably rodents close by.


Rodents tend to live proximity to humans--a testament to rodent adaptability. As human populations have spread through the ages, they have invari-ably overtaken lands that were originally occupied by nonhuman animal species. Some species have survived the enroachment while a great many others have not.

Rodents are associated with gnawing; hence their name in Latin,rodere, which means to gnaw. They are able to gnaw so well because of their characteristic teeth that are designed for this jaw movement - one pair of upper and one pair of lower incisor teeth. Rodents are the most numerous of all mammals - 50% os all mammals can be found in the order Rodentia.

Unfortunately, they are known for carrying disease and parasites and are associated with spreading (due to the fleas they carried) the Black Plague throughout Europe. To this day , the possibility of a rodent invading our food supply, home and/or workplace has caused concern for humans. If the telltale sign of a gnawed cardboard box seen, many of us panic and start setting traps. Usually all that needs to be done to control their presence, however, is to store food correctly in secure, airtight containers.

Rodents have been domesticated for many thousands of years. It is interesting to note that if weren't for wild rodents, we might not have the domesticated cat. Cats were called upon to control rodent population and thus became tame and were considered part of household. Our paths will always cross with rodents because they are attracted to our food.





LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails