Hamsters were discovered as pets around 1930. Professor I. Aharoni of the Department of Zoology of Hebrew University, Jerusalem, acquired an adult female and her litter of twelve babies near Aleppo, Syria (This is why they are called Syrian Hamsters). He gave one male and two females to the university and Dr. Ben-Menahem bred them. Some of their babies were sent to England in 1931 and that is where it was noticed that they make wonderful pets. Now it is believed that there are more hamsters in captivity than there are in all the hamster burrows in Syria!
The reason they are called "golden" is because they all used to have a golden-red fur over their backs and they also had darker marks on their foreheads and cheeks, with bellies that were bluish-grey to white. Now hamsters come in many different colors and markings. Trinket is called a cream colored hamster and Tucker is a banded golden hamster.
It is best to get a hamster when it is around 5 weeks old. Hamsters only live 2-3 years, and cost relatively little, so they are a good pet for children. Santa left Trinket for me for Christmas and my mom bought Tucker for me for my birthday. If you decide to get a hamster as a pet you have to be ready to make a commitment to be a good pet owner. The following is a list of things you will need to promise to do for your hamster:
When handling a hamster, you must be very careful. Hamsters can be very quick. It is important not to handle them too roughly or squeeze them. You also must be very careful not to let them fall.
Hamsters have very good hearing and smell. They are nocturnal which means they stay awake at night and sleep during the day. They have very poor eyesight, so you must make sure that they will not fall off of anything.
Hamsters need lots of exercise. Trinket and Tucker love to explore the house in their balls. One time I found them behind my mom and dad's bed! But I have to be very careful when they are in their balls that they do not roll down stairs, and I never put them on a table or anything else high when they are in the ball.
March 10, 1997
When we came home tonight the babies were there! We counted 10 of them. They are small (about an inch long), have pink skin (no fur yet), and their eyes are still closed.
March 12, 1997
They are still pink. We can see their teeth and toenails! Every so often we can hear them squeaking.
March 15, 1997
They are starting to get fur. Some are going to look like Trinket and some will look like Tucker.
March 16, 1997
Attached a new box (cage) to Trinkets cages. After inspecting it all day and in the evening moving her food into it, last night she transferred the babies into it. I guess she liked it better, or just wanted a cleaner home for her babies (we can't clean her cages while the babies are there).
March 19, 1997
The babies are getting more active, but they aren't leaving the nest yet. They are getting more fur. It looks like most of them are going to be cream colored like Trinket! My mom says that they probably won't open their eyes until around the 24th of March.
March 22, 1997
The babies are moving around alot even though they do not have their eyes open yet! They are able to find food and even are eating solid food. In a few days they should have their eyes open and in a week or so they won't need their mom anymore! THEY ARE SOOOOO CUTE!
March 27, 1997
The babies eyes are open! They have discovered the "tubes". They can actually climb all around the place now. They have 3 cages connected together by tubes and they just go all over! Poor Trinket is having a hard time keeping up with them.
March 30, 1997
The babies are going crazy crawling all over the place they are really good at using the tubes. It is fun to watch when there is a traffic jam in one of the tubes!! We added a water bottle and they all seem to know what it is for.
April 1, 1997
We separated the babies from Trinket. Poor Trinket spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to take them some more food! We will keep an eye on them for the next couple of days to make sure they don't miss their mom too much.
April 5, 1997
The babies are getting big. We separated the boys from the girls. It is hard to tell the difference, we hope we got it right. We lost 3 babies, but 7 survived. We have 2 cream colored, 2 cream colored with white markings, and 1 "golden" brown, and 2 blacks -kinda a charcoal grey with white feet and white around their eyes.
April 15, 1997
Well the first baby has gone to it's new home! A little girl in the 3rd grade at my school got to take one home. She wanted the female that was cream colored. It was love at first sight and she named her Goldie. The rest are still waiting for homes, although my dad's friend says that his children can have two. I have decided to keep the brown one. I wanted to name her Brownie, but my mom suggested Turbo (since Tucker and Trinket start with a T also). I like the name Turbo too. Maybe I will have a contest to name her. Does anybody think that is a good idea? By the way, the baby pictures haven't come back yet....maybe next week.
May 3, 1997
We got the baby pictures back but they came out really lousy, it was just too dark in their little "cave". We still have all the rest of the babies (that's 5). They are just about full grown. They really grow fast.
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