Hamster Doré

In the wild, the Golden Hamster lives mainly in the Syrian desert, in the region of the Aleppo plateaus, but some populations have been seen in eastern Turkey. It resists well to the very dry climate and extreme temperatures of these regions where in summer the days vary from 35 to 38 ° C during the day to 6 to 15 ° C at night. If this hamster prefers desert areas, the expansion of the species led it to dig its burrows in agricultural areas, near legume plants or irrigation wells. A nocturnal animal, it comes out at night and rests during the day in a burrow to shelter from the heat or predators. Each adult lives alone in a burrow whose depth varies between 36 and 106 cm for an average of 65 cm. The total average length of all the galleries of a burrow is 2 m but some reach 9 m long. Each burrow consists of a vertical duct leading to a chamber and at least one food reserve.

In nature, the Golden Hamster is a solitary animal, except during breeding season. It maintains at least a hundred meters between each burrow and can even be very aggressive toward its congeners if they enter its territory. This territory is delimited by leaving olfactory traces secreted by glands located on its flanks and females deposit a vaginal fluid that lets males know they are approachable. Golden hamsters also communicate with each other through small cries and intimidating teeth grinding. These warnings were observed in 92% of encounters between males, 39% between females and only 5% between males and females. Young also produce ultrasounds intended for their mother. Certain attitudes also allow Golden hamsters to determine their hierarchical status or their ability to reproduce, but it has not yet been possible to determine whether coat variations play a role in recognition between Syrian hamsters. In order for young to be raised under favorable conditions, females are programmed to only ovulate if the light is sufficient. They also resort to cannibalism if food resources are insufficient to raise an entire litter.

For the characteristics common to all hamsters read:

Small-sized animals, hamsters nevertheless need a sufficiently large habitat to meet their needs. Strictly solitary it is necessary to apply the golden rule: 1 hamster = 1 cage. Furthermore, whatever the species, the hamster needs a floor surface, as one block, sufficient to allow it to run to its heart's content. For Chinese and golden hamsters, the recommended minimum is 10,000 cm2, or 200 cm long × 50 cm wide, and 80 cm high. The floors don't count toward this minimum. The larger the cage and the more distractions it contains, the happier the hamsters. It is possible with certain models to combine several kits to obtain a very large cage, but since the hamster needs a large surface as one block such installations are not recommended. As distractions we can find: the very well-known hamster wheel, balls, fake food on string. You can also put a house because some hamsters are very fearful and they must therefore be able to hide.

As important as the habitat, if you want to prolong the life expectancy of the animal, it needs a balanced diet meeting its nutritional needs. So each day it will need:

Facing the growing popularity of these new pet animals, veterinarians specialized in order to meet the needs of these animals and expectations of their owners