The Syrian Golden Hamster - A Guest Article
16.02.2024 · Emma Michendelis
The Syrian Golden Hamster and its Bred Varieties
Many people have observed a golden hamster or kept one as a pet. When the little rodents stand on their hind legs to check their surroundings, they look really cute. It gets entertaining when they furtively stuff their cheek pouches to "hoard" food into their bunker. In between, the little rascals run a few rounds in their exercise wheel or climb through their hamster cage. If they weren't crepuscular and nocturnal, hamsters would be perfect pets for children. As it is, they are more suitable for teenagers and older. Before purchasing, it's important to learn about proper hamster care.
The Syrian Golden Hamster, scientifically known as "Mesocricetus auratus", is the original species for both Golden Hamsters and Teddy Bear Hamsters, the latter having longer fur, especially the males. Both breeding lines exist in wild type, with a golden-red back and a white belly. Meanwhile, breeders offer numerous other colorations. Examples include cream, cinnamon, copper, dove gray, white, black, or variegated with large patches or spotted patterns. There are also banded hamsters, which have a white fur belt around their belly, including Panda hamsters.
Besides the short-haired Golden Hamsters and the long-haired Teddy Bear Hamsters, there is also the Rex breed, which has medium-length, scruffy fur. Due to the enormous popularity of Golden Hamsters, they are bred worldwide. Spontaneous mutations occur everywhere, or breeders strive to cultivate new traits. The list of all color and fur variations would be long. Many hamsters are also just crossbreeds or hybrids from two different breeding lines.
Body Structure and Weight
The Syrian Golden Hamster belongs to the genus of mid-sized hamsters and the family of burrowing rodents. It lives on the high plains of Aleppo in northern Syria and in the border region with Turkey. In the wild, golden hamsters are somewhat slimmer in their face and body.
Over decades, captive-bred offspring developed a cylindrical body. Their legs and stubby tail remained short. The ears, which are not too large, still point upwards like in the wild form, ensuring their hearing is not impaired. Hamsters like to sit on their hind legs to stand upright when surveying their surroundings. With their front paws, golden hamsters can grasp very skillfully and hold food. They have cheek pouches that they stuff with food when they want to carry it to their underground bunker. Otherwise, these cheek pouches are inconspicuous. Characteristic are their button eyes, which usually appear black and are set slightly to the sides.
Females are lighter than males. Normal weight is considered to be 80 to 150 grams, and up to 180 grams for males. The body flows smoothly into the head, which tapers towards the nose. From tail to nose, golden hamsters are 120 to 170 mm long. In human care, golden hamsters live an average of 20 months; up to three years is possible but rare.
Instinctive Behavior of Golden Hamsters
All hamsters are very similar in their nature, yet the species differ from each other. Golden hamsters are also very strongly shaped by their instinctive behavior. Accordingly, in the wild, they are accustomed to barren areas that don't offer much. Therefore, they see each other as food competitors. If it's not mating season, even the bred varieties of golden hamsters will fight fiercely. This can lead to severe and even fatal injuries, with bad luck for both animals. The mere sight of other golden hamsters in an adjacent cage causes stress for the animals and shortens their lifespan. Visual contact should therefore be avoided, and solitary housing is a prerequisite.
As prey animals, golden hamsters will always cautiously and suspiciously survey their surroundings. That's why they only emerge at dusk and stay in their self-dug burrows during the day. Therefore, species-appropriate housing includes providing hamsters with a 30 cm layer of wood shavings stuffed with some hay. The hay stabilizes everything when the hamsters dig their tunnels. The wood shavings should be completely replaced monthly, but always only half of them, so that the cage cleaning doesn't neutralize all odors.
The multi-chamber house for hamsters, open at the bottom, stands on the wood shavings. It is perfect if everything is elevated on stilts, attached to the sides, or located on upper levels. Golden hamsters like to climb but are not very good at it and often fall. Therefore, the levels should be a maximum of 40 cm high; otherwise, the hamsters could be seriously injured.
Hoarding food is also one of the basic needs of these animals. They receive 1 to 2 tablespoons of dry food for golden hamsters per day to prevent overeating. Fresh food is also important.
It is interesting to note that hamsters tend to use corner litter trays of appropriate size if they are placed in suitable locations. Ideally, several corner litter trays should be offered to the animal. Used chinchilla sand from the sand bath would be suitable as bedding. This is very important for all hamsters, as they relax and clean themselves in chinchilla sand. Only such sand with round grains is suitable for hamsters.
Interesting to know
- Golden hamsters and other hamsters sleep deeply and soundly. It harms them to wake them from this rest. With a few exceptions, it is therefore important to ensure that the animals sleep undisturbed and start their evening on their own.
- They are not vegetarians, but omnivores. Nevertheless, it is very important that the proportional composition of the food is correct so that the animals remain healthy for a long time.
- The temperature should be around 20°C, but not drop to 15°C. Golden hamsters fall into hibernation and at this temperature into torpor. This quickly becomes fatal. It must not get too warm either; above 30°C, it becomes critical for the small rodents.
- With a little care and a few mealworms, most golden hamsters quickly become tame. While they are hostile towards each other, they are happy to befriend their humans.
This article was kindly provided by Robert Brungert and https://www.hamster-haltung.de.