Chinese hamster: photo and description, features of keeping at home

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Many consider a hamster to be an ideal pet. He sits in a cage, does not require special attention to himself. He eats little, toys are not needed, and most importantly - an adequate animal, distinguished by kindness. A great option for a child! The situation with the Chinese hamster is somewhat different.

Origin

It's obvious from the name - our hero comes from China. More precisely, hamsters live in the northern regions of China, are common in Mongolia. The full name is the Chinese dwarf hamster. It is worth arguing with the last moment, because the animal is quite large.

Size and weight

Chinese hamster reaches 10-12 centimeters in length. The animal weighs from 30 to 45 grams, males are larger than their girlfriends.

Description and color

Rodent is more appropriate to compare with a mouse, because it has a small tail. The description of the Chinese hamster says that the animal is somewhat elongated, with long legs. On the front paws - four fingers, back -five-fingered. The muzzle is very expressive, rounded cheek pouches are striking.

Chinese hamsters have neat, rounded ears and expressive beady eyes. The animal is easy to recognize due to its non-standard coloring, characteristic body proportions and the presence of a tail.

Rodent color can be as follows:

• main color is brown, a dark stripe runs along the back, the belly is white;
• spotted hamsters are distinguished by a mixture of white and gray shades, there is a strip on the back;
• white rodents are quite common, such Chinese hamsters are characterized by black eyes.

About the content

How picky is the little dweller? In fact, hamsters from China are easier to keep than their counterparts. To keep a Chinese hamster you need:

1. Cage with rare vertical bars. This is a prerequisite for a comfortable and safe life of the pet. Hamsters are nimble and agile comrades, thanks to their size they are able to crawl through wide bars and go to explore the master's apartment. At best, such a trip will end with the fact that the researcher will be discovered and placed in a cage. At worst, after a certain amount of time there will be a dried corpse behind the furniture. Therefore, it is advisable to take the choice of a cage seriously if the owner wants the little pet to live longer in this world.
2. Be sure to get rodent litter. Pet stores offer a huge selection of different fillers, ranging from cheap sawdust,ending with corn product. The main fillers that are popular among rodent owners are sawdust, wood and corn filler. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. Sawdust is cheap, but quickly gets dirty and practically does not retain the smell. Hamsters may get calluses on their paws from wood filler, corn filler is expensive. However, corn filler is the best one listed. The product does not cause allergies, the hamster can taste it, but there will be no trouble. Corn filler perfectly absorbs odors, dirty to clean is changed once a week.
3. Drinker and feeder. It is recommended to choose a heavy ceramic or metal feeder so that the hamster cannot turn it over. Plastic bowls look more elegant, but the pet is able to run such a feeder to the other end of the cage and scatter food. As for the drinker, you should pay attention to the fixer. At the pet store, you can ask for a hamster drinker with a fixer, they will offer several options to choose from.
4. Toys and houses, are they needed? The house is necessary for a Chinese hamster, the photo of which can be seen above. This is a shelter for a rodent, where you can sleep peacefully, hiding from prying eyes. As for toys, numerous tunnels and loopholes will come in handy. Hamsters are mobile, love to wind kilometers. This is not a joke, the kid is able to run up to 20 km per night, because he is very energetic. Take care of the presence of a wheel so that the pet can get rid of excess energy by actively running in it. Just pay attention to the material from whichwheel is made. Preference is given to metal mesh wheels, which are the safest. Avoid wheels with wide bars. Hamsters have small paws that easily fall through between the bars. This will cause them to break.

Care

The main question of interest to new owners is how to care for a hamster. In fact, the task is quite simple. It is enough to keep the cage clean, wash the drinker in time and add water, feed and love the pet.

Let's learn about cage cleaning. The frequency depends on the filler that is used. If we are talking about sawdust, you will have to clean the pan every three days. When using granulated (wood) filler, the cage is cleaned every five days. The longest-playing - corn filler. The cage is cleaned once every 7-10 days.

How is the cleaning done? The old filler is removed, the pan is thoroughly washed with hot water and soap or powder. Ideally, children's products are used. Be sure to clean the hamster house, because inside there are a lot of interesting and important things from the point of view of the pet. The remains of food, filler and other paraphernalia found in the cage will be in the house. The feeder and drinker are washed without soap, rinsed thoroughly with hot water.

The tray is allowed to drain, wiped dry. Do the same with the rest of the cell accessories. The Chinese hamster sits in a jar with a tightly closed lid during cleaning. Only in the lid it is necessary to make holes for air so that the animal remainslively. This is not sarcasm, there were times when the owners neglected it.

After the manipulations done, fresh filler is poured into the cage, the house, feeder and drinker are returned. The hamster can be planted out of the can.

Food

Let's move on to feeding the animal. Another question that novice owners face is whether hamsters can have Chinese cabbage, white and red. There is an opinion that cabbage is strictly prohibited for rodents.

You can give Chinese cabbage, but you should refrain from treating other types of cabbage.

In general, the basis of the diet is dry food for hamsters. Pet stores have a huge selection, ranging from domestic manufacturers and the cheapest species to expensive foreign ones. Pay attention to the composition of the product. Grains, fruits and vegetables are the minimum hamster diet.

List of approved foods:

1. Vegetables - lettuce, Chinese cabbage, cucumbers, carrots, zucchini, occasionally tomatoes.
2. Fruits - any, except citrus fruits, bananas.
3. Berries depending on the season.
4. Chicken meat boiled without s alt and spices.
5. Lean beef.
6. Fat-free cottage cheese, kefir is given once a week.

Unlimited sweets, fatty, s alty, smoked, pickled. Hamster and fried potatoes with sausages are completely incompatible.

The pet is fed twice a day, the evening portion is larger than the morning one.

Breeding

Breeding representatives of thisbreed at home is very problematic. The fact is that pregnant Chinese hamsters behave aggressively towards the father of the cubs. Females are able to show aggression towards the owner, as soon as the animal is nervous, how the birth occurs. Premature babies are born, who immediately die. Often the female herself dies, so it is better to keep one animal.

Content Issues

People think that a pet is boring, you need to get a friend or girlfriend. However, this opinion is misleading, Chinese hamsters are individual farmers. Males will begin to sort things out before bloody fights, females are hardly inferior to them in terms of aggressiveness. Cohabitation of same-sex animals is possible only if the hamsters are littermates, kept together since childhood and bought by a couple.

Conclusion

These are the requirements for keeping adorable hamsters. These cute animals live very little - from 1.5 to 2.5 years. It's up to you whether or not to have a pet with such a short lifespan.