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.
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