Hamsters are the most common Pets among the rodents. This popularity is due to several reasons: they are unpretentious, take up little space and the price of the hamster to date is small.
There are two types of pet hamsters: Djungarian and Syrian. Jungar hamsters are smaller and have a pattern on the body in the form of strips.
Syrian hamsters are larger, their colours more varied, and coat length can be short or very long. Yes, and they live longer Junggar. It is not surprising that the Syrian hamster is the Dzungarian ahead in popularity among animal lovers.
Syrian hamsters: care and maintenance
The progenitor of this cute rodent was a hamster, was found on the territory of modern Syria. Currently the wild population occurs in Iran, Turkey and Bulgaria. In Russia you can meet Syrian hamsters in Dagestan.
Rodents build burrows-houses in the ground, sometimes burrowing to a depth of two meters. In each hole there are always two openings to exit. Designated for the habitats they choose, usually near the grain fields, to make it easier to get food. The most suitable climate for hamsters Syrians is the steppe.
First noticed and began to domesticate these rodents the British, but particularly popular homemade hamster acquired in the United States. And today, this animal is a favorite pet of the Americans.
Thanks to the breeders from the United States of Syrian hamsters acquired the unique color which delight our eyes.
More recently, Syrian hamsters were used for laboratory experiments, but eventually abandoned their services.
Description
The outward signs of Syrian hamsters:
- Of all domestic hamsters, Syrian the largest.
- Body length can reach twenty centimeters in females. Males are always somewhat smaller.
- Body type stocky, wide.
- Muzzle round with a small neat ears and black eyes like beads.
- The number of toes on the feet of the hamster are different. So, back to five fingers, and on the front legs of four.
- Wool Syrians is both short and very long. The color is very diverse and can be as plain or spotted.
- It’s tail is a very small, unobtrusive and slightly covered with hair.
- Animals are very smart and easy to get used to any host.
How to care for Syrian hamster
In order to make a hamster feel comfortable, be sure to get him a spacious cage. In addition, the hamster is very mobile animal, and to waste energy he would need the wheel where he can run. Still need a feeder and sawdust. It is sold in specialized stores in a wide range, so the lack of choice you will have.
Cage for a Syrian hamster should not be too small.
Sprinkle sawdust on the bottom of the cage and in the corner put a bowl of food. It is not recommended to replace the sawdust with the other. They absorb urine and neutralize the smell from her. In addition, the animal would be happy to dig into fragrant sawdust and feel comfortable and safe. Do not deprive him of this pleasure.
In any case, do not use cotton or other unsuitable materials.
Careful owners usually acquire their favorites a lot of tools for games. In the middle of the cage you can put wooden snag or ladder on which the animals will be climbing, and it’s funny to jump down. If wooden snag, then it will be even and the material for grinding teeth.
At the pet store, you can get a house for hamsters where he would hide during sleep. In short, the more spacious the cage toys, the merrier will be the day as a hamster and its owner. Because people can watch funny animal is never boring.
Taming
Hamsters have memory and can remember the wrongs done to him. If this happens, it can trust its owner, the animal will be gone.
In order to train your pet to their hands as often as possible, get him out of the cage and play with him. If hamsters with young man spoke little, and that’s what happens when hamsters are bred in large numbers, to make it a manual will be difficult. Most often it is the end of life will dislike relationship with the owner.
If your hamster at all your attempts to talk to him reacts to the bites, do not lose patience and continue. The young of all domestic hamsters are born wild, and manual are only through us.
Care
- Home care for the Syrian hamster is cleaning his cage. Out of the cage carefully to get the sawdust wet with the remnants of scattered food.
- Also sometimes have to wash the cage. Despite the fact that the chips absorb urine, it slowly seeps into the bottom of the cage.
- Purchase a disinfectant and then the problems with the smell you will have.
- Food bowls rinse with boiling water.
- Bathe hamsters only in extreme cases. Usually do so before selling the animals in order to alleviate the smell.
- Hamsters are neat, they can often be seen cleaning the fur, but if you decide to redeem, use only warm water, and then dry the pet with a Hairdryer.
- Take care while bathing the ears of the hamster and do not pour water with shampoo to the face. Remember that water treatment is stressful for hamsters.
How I live Syrian hamsters
Hamsters in the wild barely reach two years of age, but in the home there are real Champions. To date, the record life expectancy is seven years. So only you will depend on how you will live your pet. Active life, healthy diet and lack of stress – that is necessary for a long and happy life of a cute rodent.
Health hamster
Health rodent suggest to determine its weight. Hamster, if he is healthy, must weigh at least 150 grams. Sudden weight loss should alert you. Weighing recommend at least once a week.
A sick animal can be identified by its fur, it becomes dull or sticky oily hair, if long-haired hamster.
Seriously ill Syrian hamster can be defined as: to take him by the shoulders to lift. If the animal pulls the legs and tuck them bad. Most likely, your pet is no longer a tenant.
Hamster very harmful drafts, as well as the sun’s rays falling directly into the cell. Place it away from Windows. And also not recommended to put the cage on the floor.
Food
Hamsters diet should be varied. Hamsters are omnivores and often eat all they gives the owner. They do not give up quite harmful write: chips or crumbs from the cake. Not worth the extra time to recall what the result of such food. Given the size of the pet, his liver and kidneys go bad in a matter of weeks.
The diet should consist of the following dishes:
- Be sure to include fruits. Apples, pears and quinces – these are the products that can be given to hamsters in any quantity.
- Vegetables recommend pumpkin, carrot and turnip.
- To a lesser extent can be given fresh cucumbers, raw potatoes, cabbage and beets.
- Daily diet hamster needs to be wheat, corn, oats and sunflower.
- Little hamsters give oat flakes Hercules.
- In the summer bring Pets grass. It can be the leaves of the dandelion, knotweed, acacia flowers.
- One of the most favorite treats hamster – green peas. To give it whole pods, which he will eat with pleasure.
- As for meat, hamsters occasionally should be given pieces of meat. In nature, rodents eat bugs and caterpillars. It’s not entirely an herbivore and needs animal protein.
- In small amounts, and occasionally pamper pet cooked hard boiled egg yolk.
The Syrian hamster should be in a cage drinker with clean water at room temperature. To females during pregnancy and give more milk.
Leftover food should be removed from the cell. Hamster Thrifty animal. You can often see how the rodent stuffing its cheeks with food near the trough and transfers it to the other corner of the cell, where the gently puts the stock into a corner. To fight it is useless, because the instincts of a hamster not to win. So suck it up and watch the fun behavior of a household pet. As a rule, hamsters hoard more than you can chew, so try it for yourself to adjust the size of the daily diet that the animal carried the leftovers in a cage and forgetting about them.
Do not give hamsters citrus fruits, eggs, soft bread, chocolate, lard, any fat and oil.
Be careful if you let the hamster walk around the house. Besides the fact that you can occur, sometimes the animal just runs away with the house. Especially if it is a private house, not an apartment. There is a perception that if you let the hamster out of the cage, it is sure to be something to chew and spoil things. Such defects have female hamsters. In nature, they care about the family, and therefore constantly trying to create a burrow for the future offspring, while males do not possess the instincts of a permanent dispensation.
Reproduction
If you are not going to propagated in Syrian hamsters, then do not take opposite-sex couple, otherwise the babies will not be slow to appear. The female gives birth a lot, sometimes the number of offspring reaches twelve. Newborn babies all pink, wool they have gradually as they grow older. And also slightly reduced the number of kids.
Unfortunately, among these animals there are cases of eating their children. Forcing mother to do so, until the end is unknown. There are females that repeatedly eat children whatever they did, and any terms not provided. The babies feed on mother’s milk, but quickly move on to adult food. A month later, the hamsters become sexually Mature, and the reproductive period in the female hamster lasts 18 months.
Little hamsters squeaked constantly, but over time lose this ability. An adult hamster can be heard only during the fight with the other dogs. In the cell where the mother and offspring not do the cleaning within two weeks. The male from the cage should be removed for a few days before delivery. The female carefully put new food and water. She will be busy with the kids.
If in the cell there is no house where a family may be, let the female crumpled the paper, so she could hide it. Keep in mind that five weeks Mature kids will have to fight for territory and mating.
Care for hamsters are very fun. A loving and attentive host animal will live happily ever after.
