Back in middle school, my sister and I got our first non-fish pets. I got turtles and she got a hamster named Houdini. I spent more time with her pet because mine weren’t very cuddly or friendly. After my turtles passed away, I got my own hamster named Wiggles and I would eventually get one in college named Fidget. They are fun to watch and handle, but you have to be careful. Tough to clean especially if you get the long-haired ones.
Now, there are wild hamsters, which differ from domesticated ones. So, lets look at the differences:
- Wild hamsters are larger than domestic species.
- Domestic hamsters are bred to be friendly and non-aggressive.
- Wild hamsters are solitary and aggressively territorial.
- Due to predators and disease, wild hamsters have shorter lifespans.
- Wild hamsters have a more varied diet than domestic species because they have to hunt and forage.
- Domestic hamsters have more variations in color because they don’t need natural camouflage or temperature regulation.
- Wild species in northern regions will hibernate in winter.
How about some general facts too?
- Hamsters get their names from their cheek pouches due to the German word ‘hamstern’, which means ‘to hoard’.
- They have multiple mates and females will birth 2-4 litters per year.
- Females will grow a plug once they have been inseminated. They are also territorial and will drive the males away after mating.
- Hamster teeth never stop growing, so they have to gnaw on hard objects to keep them short.
- Due to being nocturnal, most hamsters are blind in daylight.
- European hamsters are critically endangered due to habitat loss and pollution.
Pictures and videos time!
Legends of Windemere 
What a cute Video, Charles. Thank you.
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You’re welcome
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😊
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awe. Hammies are so cute. We had two. One got so chubby he got his bum stuck in his hamster tube and we had to rescue him.
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Had a dwarf hamster throughout college. Would randomly backflip. Thought it was a trick, but been thinking it could have been a sign of neurological issues.
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It seems many things are endangered these days. Humans have overdone a lot.
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True.
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They are certainly cute little buggers. And they can hold a lot of food in their cheeks!
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It’s funny watching them walk with full cheeks.
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They do look really funny with the huge cheeks!
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We had them as kids, too. Once our hamster got out and we only found it weeks later when my Mom looked in her sewing drawer and found it had made a nest in her fabric!
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They are really good at escaping and surviving in the house. As long as a vacuum or cat doesn’t get them.
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Who would have guessed they ate candle wax.
Alas hamsters hold traumatic memories in our family as we were looking after a friend’s hamster and it escaped from its hamster stack cage while the patio doors were open, it was never seen again. With no mobile phones back then it was a fortnight before the friends were back from holiday and we could break the bad news!
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Guess it shows they aren’t stupid since they found it gives them protein during the winter. It can causes issues, but it isn’t like humans don’t eat stuff that causes health problems too.
Sorry about the escapee. Hope he lived a long life in the wild.
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