Facts about Dwarf Hamsters

Dwarf hamsters are scientifically not considered dwarfs. The epithet is mainly attributed due to its miniature-like resemblance to the wild hamster. They make great pets and are very sociable. Depending on the variety, a dwarf hamster displays the following traits:

Campbell's Dwarf Hamster: This variety enjoys an average age span of 2.5 years, during which it reaches a length of nearly 10cm.

Chinese Hamster: The Chinese hamster reaches a length of approximately 12cm during its lifespan of 3 years.

Roborovski Hamster: This is a smaller hamster that measures only about 5cm during its entire lifespan of 3.5 years.

Dwarf Hamster Facts
The dwarf hamster is a rodent that enjoys a classification that spans across twenty-four species and seven genera. The tiny creature sports a name that is derived from the German 'hamstern', which means 'to stack'. This epithet is awarded to the rodent on account of its inherent ability to stack a lot of food within its expandable cheek pouches. The classification of the rodent dates back to 1839, but it was only in 1930 that the animal was successfully bred and domesticated. The process is credited to the name of noted zoologist Israeli Aharoni, in Syria. He highlighted the fact that its behavior varies according to the immediate natural environment, extent of interaction with humans and genetics.

The dwarf hamster is crepuscular. The animal displays the tendency to burrow during daytime, to avoid predators. Their diet comprises berries, nuts and scraps of fresh fruits and vegetables. It is also known to consume small insects, like meal-worms and crickets. When domesticated, too, they display the preference to look for food after dusk. These tiny versions of the wild hamsters are stout-bodied and have tails that are much shorter than the length of the body. They have furry ears and short, stocky legs. They have thick fur that varies between hues of black, white, brown and yellow, depending on the species. Some of them have a dark stripe that runs down the length of the body, from head to tail.

Dwarf hamsters have poor eyesight and are mostly nearsighted. They are colorblind, but display an acute sense of smell and hearing. It is these very inherent traits that the tiny creatures use to detect scraps of food, movement around and gender. They are highly sensitive to high-pitched noises. They have the ability to communicate ultrasonically. These rodents are very flexible and have fragile bones. When adopted as pets, the pet owner has to be very careful and alert and keep the animal away from rapid temperature change. The animals are hindgut fermenters and the eating of their own feces is actually a natural way of aiding digestion a second time. This practice also enables the dwarf hamster to make the most of food nutrients available.

Dwarf hamsters are omnivorous. They eat almost anything edible with the help of their sharp incisors. These teeth never stop growing during their lifespan and are consistently put to use as it regularly chews on food stored in its cheek pouches. In fact, when these storage chambers are full to capacity, the animal appears to have a swollen head. Hamsters are naturally endowed diggers. In the wild, they are known to spend much time constructing burrows, designing entrances and galleries and generating tunnels for temporary hibernation. They keep themselves busy with creating stockpiles of large amounts of food. Interestingly, they can survive for days without food. Today, dwarf hamsters are very popular in the pet trade. They are either bred in pairs or small groups.