HAMSTERS SIMPLIFIED By Dr. George Felfoldi © 2018, George F. Felfoldi HAMSTERS SIMPLIFIED COPYRIGHT INFORMATION © 2018, George Felfoldi Please feel free to distribute this e-Book, As long as all the information is intact, And is unchanged. ALL OTHER COPYRIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTABLE OWNERS. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page Copyright Information Table Of Content History – Early Literature Etymology Description – Senses – Diet Behavior – Social Behavior – Chronobiology – Burrowing Behavior Reproduction – Fertility – Gestation And Fecundity – Intersexual Aggression And Cannibalism – Weaning – Longevity Society And Culture – Hamsters As Pets – Hamster Shows Classification – Relationships Among Hamster Species – Similar Animals Hamster Habitat Common Hamster Health Problems – Common Cold – Fur And Ear Mites – Tumours – Tyzzer's Disease – Wet Tail # 1 More On Hamster Common Illnesses – Cuts And Scrapes – Abscesses – Bar Rub – Circling – Coughs And Colds – Dry Eyes – Dehydration – Eyes – Injuries And Falls – Hibernation – Lumps – Testicular Lumps – Overgrown Nails – Parasites – Respiratory Infections – Strokes – Teeth – Urinal Problems – Weight Changes – Wet Tail # 2 All About Keeping Hamsters As Pets – 01 Choosing A Pet Hamster – 02 Make Sure The Pet You Choose Is Healthy – 03 Hamster Cages And Supplies – 04 Hamster Diet – 05 Taming Hamsters – 06 Play Toys And Activities – 07 Hamster Breeding Dedication Special Thanks About The Author Other Books By The Author HAMSTER HAMSTER are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains about 25 different spieces classified in six or seven genera. They have become established as a popular small house pets, but because they are easy to breed in captivity, hamsters are also often used as laboratory test animals. Hamsters are more crepuscular than nocturnal and, in the wild, remains underground during the day to avoid being caught by other predators. These rodents feed primarily on seeds, fruits and vegetation, and they will occasionally eat burrowing insects. As one of their more prominent characteristics, they have elongated cheek pouches extending to their shoulders, which they use to carry food back to their burrows. Hamster Temporal range: Middle Miocene -Current An adult hamster filling his cheek pouches with a green apple. Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family: Cricetidae Subfamily: Cricetinae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Genera Mesocricetus Phodopus Cricetus Cricetulus Allocricetulus Cansumys Tscherskia HISTORY Although the Syrian hamster or golden hamster (Mescoricetus auratus) was first described scientifically by George Robert Waterhouse in 1839, researchers were not able to successfully breed and domesticate hamsters until 1939. The entire laboratory and pet populations of Syrian hamsters appear to be descendants of a single brother – sister pairing. These littermates were captured and imported in 1930 from Aleppo in Syria by Israel Aharoni, a zoologist of the University Of Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, the hamsters bred very successfully. Couple of years later, animals of this original breeding colony were exported to the United States, where Syrian hamsters became one of the most popular pets and laboratory test animals. Comparative studies of domestic and wild Syrian hamsters have shown reduced genetic variability in the domestic strain. However, the differences in behavioral, chronobiological, morphometrical, hematological, and biochemical parameters are relatively small and fall into the expected range of interstrain variations in other laboratory animals. EARLY LITERATURE: In 1774, Friedrich Gabriel Sulzer, a companion of Johann- Wolfgang von Goethe, devoted an academic monograph in the domain of social sciences and natural history to hamsters, entitles “An approach to a natural history of the hamster” (“Versuch einer Naturgeschichte des Hamsters”). In several instances, he used the hamster to document the equal rights of all beings, including Homo sapiens. ETYMOLOGY The name “Hamster” is a loanword from the German, which itself derives from earlier Middle High German hamastra. It is possibly related to Old Church Slavonic khomestora, which is either a blend of the root of Russian (khomyak) and a Baltic word (cf. Lithuanian staras ”hamster”); or of Persian origin (cf. Av Hamaestar “oppressor”). DESCRIPTION Skeleton of a European hamster Hamsters are typically stout bodies, with tails shorter than body length, and have small, furry ears, short, stocky legs, and wide feet. They have thick, silky fur, that can be long or short, colored black, grey, honey, white, brown, yellow, red, or a mix, depending on the species. Two species of hamsters belonging to the genus Phodopus, Cambell's dwarf hamster (P. Campbelli) and the Djungarian hamster (P. Sungorus), and the two of the genus Cricetulus, the Chinese striped hamster (C. Barabensis) and the Chinese hamster (C. Griseus), have a dark stripe down their heads to their tails. The species of genus Phodopus are the smallest, with bodies 5.5 to 10.5 cm (2.2 to 4.1 inches) long; the largest is the European hamster (Cricetus cricetus), measuring up to 34 cm (13.4 inches) long, not including a short tail of up to 6 cm (2.4 inches). The hamster tail can be difficult to see, as it is usually not very long (about 1/6 the length of the body), with the exception of the Chinese hamster, which has a tail of the same length as the body. One rodent charachteristics that can be highly visible in hamsters is their sharp incisors (teeth); A white Syrian hamster showing its large incisors (teeth). They have an upper pair and lower pair which grows constantly throughout the hamsters life, so it must be regularly worn down. Hamsters are very flexible animals, but their bones are somewhat fragile. They are extremely susceptible to rapid temperature changes and drafts, as well as extreme heat or cold. SENSES Hamsters have a poor eyesight; they are nearsighted and also colorblind. Hamsters have scent glands on their flanks (and abdomens in Chinese and dwarf hamsters) which they rub against the substrate, leaving a scent trail. Hamsters also use their sense of smell to distinguish between the sexes, and to locate food. They are also particularly sensitive to high pitched noises and hamsters can hear and communicate in the ultrasonic range. DIET Hamsters are omnivores. Although pet hamsters can survive on a diet of exclusively on commercial hamster food, or other items, such as: – vegetables, – fruits, – seeds, – insects – frogs – lizards – small animals – and nuts, that can be given to them. Hamsters in the Middle East have been known to hunt in packs to find insects for food. Hamsters are hindgut fermenters and they eat their own feces (coprophagy) to recover nutrients digested in the hindgut, but not absorbed.