( Fun facts about hamsters – by Esha our little researcher @6th grade )

Everyone thinks that hamsters are mice and are yucky and unhygienic. Just like rodents are. That’s not true. Yes, they are rodents, but they make good house pets. Let us get to know more about them.

They belong to a subfamily called cricetinae. Funny name isn’t it!

When we are active during the daytime, they are snoozing with no alarm to wake them up! And when we are sleeping they show their true colors. In other words, they are nocturnal.

Hamsters eat dried food, seeds, berries, raisins and coriander leaves. They are omnivores and have meat and veggies as well. Surprising, isn’t it? Hamsters have special cheek pouches to store food. That may look disgusting, but it helps them collect a lot of food quickly when they want.

They have short tails, stout bodies, large eyes that shine like watermelon seeds, delicate feet, small ears and silky fur. Can you even picture a small animal so cute! Sadly hamsters have bad eyesight and are dependent on their sense of smell to find their way around, and are color blind too!

Do you know what are the main breeds of pet hamsters? They are Syrian Hamsters, also called Golden Hamsters, Dwarf Hamsters, Roboroski Hamsters and Chinese Hamsters. Another name for Golden Hamsters is Teddy Bear Hamsters; the only problem is they are not too cuddly as a teddy bear should be.

Baby hamsters are called pups. It is weird, isn’t it? It is the same name for baby dogs. Lucky for us hamsters can be easily trained to do tricks, and they respond well when their names are called.

Hamsters live for two to three years. The bad news is male hamsters live longer than female hamsters. But there is always a good news. Hamsters are clever and can remember their relatives well.

Now you know so much about them. Why don’t you test yourself? Unjumble the following words.

MSAHRET –
TUCNLOARN –
SRAYIN –
SUPP –
CRITINEACE –

And check out this great video from Petco Animal Supplies company.

Image Credit: Featured Image by saraspildener from flickr