Dwarf winter white russian hamster (figure 2.3) is smaller than the Campbell’s russian hamster. It size is only about 8 to 10 cm long.
Roborovski Hamster (figure 2.4) is the smallest dwarf hamster its size is only 4 to 5.5 cm long. The colour is yellow-brown and striking whiskers make it a totally different appearance to the other two short-tailed species of Dwarf Hamsters.
The Chinese Hamster (figure 2.5) is a long-tailed Dwarf Hamster, it is the most ‘rat-like’ type. Its size is 10 to 12 cm long.
Behaviour:
Hamsters will be shy and afraid to be with new people so do not expect them to directly be tamed. Hamsters are noctural which means that they will be asleep at morning and awake at night due to the reasons that there might be fewer enemies around at night
during their life in the wild. They have a very good hearing and hate loud noises. They also have poor eyesight so they recognize things through the smells.
The owner should be able to know the hamster language. If the hamster’s ears are folded back, it is a sign that they’re asleep and do not play with it otherwise it will get annoyed and bite. When the hamsters squake it means that the hamster was afraid. When it strecthes its nose and yawn it means they are happy and comfortable.
Food:
There are two types of food for hamster:
To stay healthy, hamsters need to eat a combination between the dried and fresh fruit. Dried food is a mixture of biscuits, corn, broad beans, maize, locust beans, alfalfa, peanuts, oats, wheat, flaked pea, rolled barley and sunflower seeds. However now a days people give special hamster pellets and food blocks too. A hamster needs about a tablespoon of dried food mix a day, try to feed it at the same time for example every early in the morning.
Hamster also need to eat small amount of fruits and vegetables every day. Makesure to wash them in col water then dry it with paper towel. Do not need to peel them or took out the seeds. A hamster do not need to much fresh fruits and vegetables or else they will get a tummy ache.
Never give sweets, chocolate, salted snakcs, salted nuts or anyting spicy.
Housing:
Before buying hamster people need to decide which type of cage they want. The bigger the cage, the more space it has for the hamster to run around and play. There are many types of cage such as bar cages (figure 5.1), labyrinths (figure 5.2), and tanks (figure 5.3).
In the cage that has a bars, hamster could climb and gnaw. Bar cages also allow hamster to get a plenty air. For dwarf hamsters the bars of the cage must be no more than 9 mm or else the hamster may squeeze through.
Cages like labyrinth are like burrows where the hamster live in the wild. With a networks of rooms and tunnels it looks like a burrows. Although this type of cage is expensive people could start buying with a few units and add them later on.
Tanks are only suitable for the dwarf hamster since dwarf tend to stay on one level more than Syrians and don’t swing from bars. A tank needs slit in the lid to let the air goes in.
Things needed to take care hamsters:
There are some good ideas to take care of the hamsters. To set up a perfect comfortable housing for the hamsters, the owner should have a wood shavings to protect the hamsters from the cold. Bottle for the hamsters to drink, dish, also exercise wheel since hamsters run several miles at night during their wild-life time.
Hamsters are very clean and they are comfortable at the same temperature as humans. Hamsters wash themselves all over several times a day and have mini-washes at other times, they wash by licking their front paws over and over again and use them as face cloths. For the long-haired hamster the children could use bristle toothbrush or special hamster brush to brush it gently in the direction of the fur. Also give them hard things to gnaw so that its front teeth will not get to long. It could be carrots, an unshelled peanuts, toilet roll or special gnawing block from pet shop.
Conclusion:
Based on the data given in this report we can conclude that there are so many type of hamsters. The most common type is Syrian hamster which is larger than the dwarfs. Hamster has they’re own language using they’re action which the owner should understand. They also need to have both dried and fresh food to be balance and to keep them healthy. For the housing its up to the owner which type of housing they want to give to their hamster,and things needed to take care of hamster is so easy to find.
Based on my own experience hamster is a very cute and amusing pet. It is so easy to be tamed and it is so loveable. Hamster do not act wildly except when they could escape from the cage. Hamster’s food is also easy to find since it is available at the pet shop and we could just give them a fresh vegetables or fruits. For housing, if we do not have enough budget we could just place them in a container but makesure to have a slits and small holes for air to goes in.
Since hamster is a shy and afraid of new people, they may be aggressive at first but will soon be tamed. Hamster is the most easiest animal to bet pet by the children, since it is small, cute, and do not harm the childrens. It is so easy to tamed the hamster. The children will enjoy caring it as a pet.
References:
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Vella, Nadia. "Hamster Club :: Types of Hamsters." Hamster Club :: All the Hamster Information You Need. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.hamster-club.com/article.asp?ID=78>.
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"History of the." Hamster. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://hamster-pets.blogspot.com/2007/11/history-of-hamster.html>.
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Meredith, Susan. Hamsters. Usbourne publishing Ltd, 1999