The Hamster

Hamsters are thought to be originally from the desert lands of east Asia, including hamster species such as the common Syrian hamster and the miniature Russian dwarf hamster. Hamsters in the wildtend to spend most of their time digging and foraging for food.
Today, hamsters are commonly kept as pets with the average household hamster getting to around 2 or 3 years old. Hamsters are thought tobe easy first pets to keep for children due to the hamsters quite nature, small size and calm temperament.
Hamsters are solitary animals. Some types of hamster are so solitary that they will fight tothe death if more than one hamster is in the same territory.
Hamsters in the wild are nocturnal animals as the hamsters spend the daytime hours in burrows underground in order for the hamster toavoid the many predators within the natural environment of the hamster.The hamster will leave the safety of its underground burrow in the night when it is dark and the temperature is cooler in order tosearch for food.
Hamsters use their large cheek pouches to store food that the hamster finds so that the hamster can take the food back to the stash in the underground burrow. Nuts, seeds, vegetables,grass, fruits and berries are all part of the natural diet of the hamster.
There are more than 20 different species of hamster found in the wild (and even more in the commercial pet market). TheRussian dwarf hamster are among the smallest species of hamster with adult Russian dwarf hamsters rarely growing to more than 10cm in length. The more common Syrian hamster is the largest species ofhamster and some Syrian hamster individuals have been known to grow to nearly 30cm long, although the average size of a Syrian hamster is normally around 20cm.
Many species of hamster are very fast atrunning so that they are able to escape from oncoming predators. Due to the shape and size of the hind feet of the hamster, hamsters are often able to run as quickly backwards as they can forwards,...