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Thursday 21 May 2015

Hamster

There are about 24 species of hamster, only about five of them are found in a typical pet store. These five are Robo hamsters, golden, or Syrian hamsters, Russian dwarf winter white hamsters, Chinese hamsters, and Campbell's dwarf hamsters.

The most common species, and the most popular as a pet, is the Syrian hamster. All Syrian hamsters are descended from a single female wild hamster found with a litter of 12 young in Aleppo, Syria in 1930.

The Syrian hamster is a native of the steppe country of Asia Minor and the Balkans.

Syrian golden hamsters are natural alcoholics; in the summer they store fruits and by the time winter comes, the fruits will have fermented into alcohol. They also prefer alcohol over water.

Once a hamster gives birth, it can get pregnant again the same day.

Some hamsters hide their young in their cheek pouches to carry them when they fear danger.

Many hamsters only blink one eye at a time.

Hamsters can store half their own weight in food in their cheeks. The absence of saliva glands means the food remains fresh and dry.


At top speed, hamsters can reach 600 strides a minute.

In the 1998 article voluntary Wheel running: A Review And Novel Interpretation, in the journal Animal Behaviour, states that a hamster will run as far as 5.6 miles in a night on wheel.

In the wild hamsters can run six miles a night.

Hamsters are nearsighted and colorblind. In order to compensate, they use their whiskers and their sense of smell to navigate.

Hamsters have glands under their stomach that produce a scent enabling them to retrace their steps home.

Hamster comes from the German word hamstern," which means "to hoard."

The Arabic name for a hamster directly translates as "Mr Saddlebags."

President Kennedy kept two hamsters--Debbie and Billie--in the White House as pets. The two escaped often, one time being found under Kennedy's bed. Debbie later ate Billie and died of indigestion.

Hamsters are illegal in Hawaii.

Sources Radio Times, Mentalfloss.com

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