Syrian hamster care

Syrian hamster care includes all the actions which a person might take to promote animal welfare in the Syrian hamster when it lives with humans either as a pet or laboratory animal.

Environment

Pet hamsters typically live in a hamster cage.

Hamsters should experience light for 12–16 hours a day.[1] Among other health effects, daily exposure to light influences the estrous cycle of females and hamsters thrive with regular light.[1] Hamsters prefer humidity levels of 40-60%.[1][2] Breeding hamsters prefer a room temperature between 69 °F (21 °C) and 71 °F (22 °C), whereas hamsters who are not breeding prefer between 72 °F (22 °C) and 74 °F (23 °C).[1] Hamsters prefer quiet rooms and become stressed when sudden noise disturbs them.[3]

The cage should be at least 360 sq inches minimum. The bedding should not be pine or cedar wood shavings because those can be a problem to your hamsters respiratory system. Instead use a paper based bedding. The cage should also include an exercising wheel. The wheel must be an appropriate size for your hamster. For Syrians 9 inches or over is the standard, and for dwarf hamsters 8 inches is the lowest you can go. The wheel can not be wire or mesh, because that can give your hamster bumblefoot. Silent spinner wheels are a good choice. Having small 'houses' for your hamster to sleep and take refuge in is also a good idea.

Diet

In the wild hamsters are omnivorous but mostly eat plants.[4]

For domesticated hamster researchers design diets to maximize growth, breeding, milk production in mothers, and the maintenance of health in adult hamsters.[4] The diet of the hamster is less studied than the diet of other laboratory rodents.[4] A typical nutrient recommendation for a hamster diet is 17-23% crude protein, 4.5% crude fat, and 6-8% crude fiber.[5] Hamster diet must include Vitamin E.[5] Vegetables which are good for hamsters include cucumber, carrots, celery, kale, and lettuce (however iceberg lettuce isn't good for a hamster).[6] Apples are an appropriate fruit to offer.[6] Domestic hamsters begin to eat food pellets when they are 7–10 days old.[5] Every day adult hamsters eat 7-15 grams of food. Food should not only consist of pellets, so a mix with seeds and other hamster-safe ingredients is best. Treats are not important to a hamsters health, but will increase their trust in you if hand-fed.

Treats such as sunflower seeds and yogurt drops are great for hamsters; though do be aware that yogurt drops must only be given at most once a week because of the amount of sugar in them. Any more than once a week is too much sugar for a hamster.[7]

Hamsters will drink up to 10ml of water for every 100g of hamster body weight.[7] Nursing mother hamsters will want extra water.[7] It can be difficult to provide fresh water to hamsters in a water dish because they are likely to soil the dish with bedding and need it changed twice daily.[8] Providing a water bottle is usually the easiest way to provide fresh water to domestic hamsters.[8] Water bottles in cages must be positioned at a height which the hamster can reach without stretching. Giving a hamster distilled water is the best thing to do, as most hamster owners will recommend.

Hamsters hoard their food and will carry their food from the place where they find it to a hiding place of their choice.[7] Pet owners enjoy presenting food to pet hamsters in a food dish.[9] Hamsters seem to not care whether their food is served in a dish or placed on their floor, and in any case, they will hide their food in storage after accepting it.[9] If a hamster is given fresh vegetables which it does not eat, then those foods may rot and cause a health problem for the hamster if they are not removed after a day or so.[6]

Handling

Hamsters which are frequently and gently handled will learn to respond peacefully to being handled. However, enforcing trust by taming is very important. [10] When hamsters bite, they bite in front of them.[11] A typical hamster-holding technique is to grasp the hamster from above around its belly with a thumb and third finger.[11] With two hands, a hamster may be cupped and held while left free to walk on the palms.[11] Sleeping hamsters often bite when disturbed.[10]

If given time and a chance to do so, hamsters will jump from any platform without regard for height or consideration for their safety.[10]

Hamsters are less likely to bite a bare hand than a gloved hand.[10] If a hamster seems like it might bite, but it must be handled, then it may be collected by offering it a jar to enter. Hamsters are curious and if given a jar are likely to enter it, at which point the jar may be lifted with the hamster inside.[10]

History

In the first ten years after the 1930 start of the domestication of the Syrian hamster, 70 scientific articles were published based on Syrian hamster research and 6 of those were concerned caring for hamsters.[12] In 1945 at the New York Academy of Science at a conference on animal colony maintenance there was a presentation including care of Syrian hamsters.[13] The 1947 first edition of the UFAW Handbook contained a chapter on the care of Syrian hamsters.[14] In 1950 The Care and Breeding of Laboratory Animals contained a chapter on Syrian hamster care with recommendations about cage size, handling hamsters, hamster diet, cleaning hamsters, and hamster breeding.[15] In 1960 the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources published a guide on the care and breeding of Syrian hamsters.[16]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Magalhaes 1968, p. 16.
  2. ↑ This is the same as the human comfort level.
  3. ↑ Field 1999, p. 22.
  4. 1 2 3 Field 1999, p. 24.
  5. 1 2 3 Field 1999, p. 25.
  6. 1 2 3 Magalhaes 1968, p. 19.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Field 1999, p. 26.
  8. 1 2 Logsdail 2002, p. 30.
  9. 1 2 Logsdail 2002, p. 19.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Magalhaes 1968, p. 20.
  11. 1 2 3 Magalhaes 1968, p. 21.
  12. ↑ Magalhaes 1968, p. 15 narrates the history by saying there were six, then references them as follows:
    • Menahem, H.B. (September 1943). "Notes sur l'elevage du Hamster de Syrie, Cricetus auratus". Arch Inst Pasteur Algerie (12): 403–407.
    • Hindle, H. M. Bruce and E. (1934). "The Golden Hamster, Cricetus (Mesocricetus) auratusWaterhouse. Notes on its Breeding and Growth". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 104 (2): 361–366. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1934.tb07757.x. ISSN 0370-2774.
    • Beiträge zur Biologie, insbesondere Fortpflanzungsbiologie des Hamsters (Cricetus cricetus L.). Ergebnisse und Probleme. (= Monographien der Wildsäugetiere. Band 1.) In: Zeitschrift für Kleintierkunde und Pelztierkunde. "Kleintier und Pelztier." Band 12, Nummer 1, 1936.
    • Deanesly, Ruth (2009). "The Reproductive Cycle of the Golden Hamster (Cricetus auratus)". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. A108 (1): 31–37. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1938.tb00019.x. ISSN 0370-2774.
    • Black, Sam H. (1939). "Breeding hamsters". International Journal of Leprosy. 7 (3): 412–414.
    • Laidlaw, Patrick (1939). "Maintenance of the Golden Hamster". International Journal of Leprosy. 7 (4): 513–516.
  13. ↑ Magalhaes 1968m p. 13 discussing
    • Cumming, C. N. W.; Carnochan, F. G. (1945). "ANIMAL COLONY MAINTENANCE-FINANCING AND BUDGETING; VIEW-POINT OF THE COMMERCIAL BREEDER". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 46 (1 Animal Colony): 115–126. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1945.tb36164.x. ISSN 0077-8923.
  14. ↑ Magalhaes 1968, p. 15 notes
    • Hindle, E. (1947). "Chapter 15 - The Golden Hamster". In Worden, Alastair. UFAW Handbook. London: Bailliere Tindall and Cox. pp. 196–202.
  15. ↑ Magalhaes 1968, p. 15 gives this information about
    • Poiley, S.M. (1950). "Breeding and care of the Syrian hamster". In Farris, E.J. The Care and Breeding of Laboratory Animals. New York: John Wiley and Sons. pp. 118–152. ISBN 0471256080.
  16. ↑ Magalhaes 1968, p. 15.

References

  • Magalhaes, Hulda (1968). "Housing, Care, and Breeding". In Hoffman, Roger A.; Robinson, Paul F.; Magalhaes, Hulda. The Golden Hamster - its biology and use in medical research (1 ed.). Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press. pp. 15–23.
  • Field, Karl J.; Sibold, Amber L. (1999). The laboratory hamster & gerbil. Boca Raton [u.a.]: CRC Press. ISBN 0849325668.
  • Logsdail, Chris; Logsdail, Peter; Hovers, Kate (2002). Hamsterlopaedia : a complete guide to hamster care. Lydney: Ringpress. ISBN 1860542468.
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