Where is the origin of hamsters

In addition, because they were disease-free and bred so rapidly, the hamsters quickly became valued in cardio-vascular research.

All Golden Hamsters in captivity today can trace their roots back to that original Syrian litter. Where Do Hamsters Come From? BY Kara Kovalchik. Big Questions Pets.

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It is somewhat amazing they ever became popular pets. Soon after the hamsters were contained, the mother hamster started eating her young — a preview of a habit that would horrify generations of hamster owners.

Some hamsters escaped. Some died. But enough of that litter survived to found a breeding colony for research. Those animals bred so well, in fact, that they became the founders of a pet industry. Wild Syrian hamsters remain exceedingly rare and elusive. According to Dunn, only three scientific expeditions have observed this species in the wild, the last in Because all hamsters collected on that trip were from the same litter, this means that pet hamsters show signs of inbreeding, including heart conditions.

This is mainly but not entirely true. One subsequent expedition did collect more Syrian hamsters, which also made their way into the pet trade in However, there have also been several other hamster species that have become popular pets. Diggy is a winter white dwarf hamster Phodopus sungorus , also known by a long list of other common names including Djungarian hamster and Siberian dwarf hamster. These hamsters are like little cotton balls with a light black stripe running down the back.

Winter white dwarf hamsters were first identified by eminent Russian scientist Peter Simon Pallas. Fortunately, the hamster did not get his name, as he initially identified it as a mouse. In the wild, the winter white dwarf hamster changes coat color from brown to white , to provide camouflage from predators in winter — much like snowshoe hares.

The molt begins in September and lasts a couple of months. Domestic hamsters like Diggy are white year round. These hamsters are more social than the Syrian hamsters, which makes them more docile in captivity. Hamsters may be thriving in homes around the world. The European hamster is one of the most widespread of the species. It has never been considered pet material, as this species is relatively large and aggressive.

In one experiment , captive-bred European hamsters, when presented with a caged ferret, attempted to mob and attack it. The main use of this species by humans is a disturbing one: They were trapped for fur coats. But better regulation and hopefully, more responsible fashion tastes , allowed the hamster populations to rebound. But then European hamsters faced an even more significant population decline.

The hamsters are not endangered, but their population trend reveals something all too common today: abundant animals becoming much less abundant. Habitat conversion received a lot of blame, but there is a really intriguing twist.

Researcher Mathilde Tissier noted that hamster populations declined as agricultural fields were converted to corn production. When she fed captive hamsters a diet of corn and earthworms similar to what wild hamsters would find in a cornfield, she found something highly distressing: Almost all hamsters ate their litters, every time. Many have blamed the plight of the hamster on loss of habitat and pesticides, which may certainly play a role.

But one of the big cause was a change in diet resulting from new agricultural practices. However, one area where European hamsters are doing well are in cities. Urban parks in Vienna and other cities have become known for their colonies of hamsters, and are often the best places for naturalists to see this species. Just minutes ago, Diggy woke up from her daytime slumber long enough for ten minutes of frantic sprinting on the hamster wheel. In the middle of the night, she can run for hours.

What is going on? And how does this relate to wild hamsters?