The golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) or Syrian hamster, is a rodent belonging to the hamster

subfamily, Cricetinae.[2] Their natural geographical range is limited to a small arid region of northern
Syria and southern Turkey. Their numbers have been declining in the wild due to a loss of habitat from
agriculture and deliberate elimination by humans.[1] Thus, wild golden hamsters are now considered
Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[3]

However, captive breeding programs are well-established, and captive-bred golden hamsters are often
kept as small house pets. Syrian hamsters are larger than many of the dwarf hamsters kept as pocket
pets (up to five times larger), and weigh about the same as a sugar glider, though the wild European
hamster exceeds Syrian hamsters in size. They are also used as scientific research animals throughout
the world.

Contents

1 Characteristics

2 Discovery

3 Behavior

4 Survival in the wild

5 As research animals

6 As pets

7 Breeding

7.1 Breed variations

8 See also

9 References

10 External links

Characteristics

Skull of a Golden hamster

The size of adult animals is around 6 in (15 cm) long, with a lifespan of 2–3 years. Body mass is usually in
the range of 100–150 grams (3.5–5.3 oz), but Syrian hamsters from private breeders can be in the range
of 175–225 grams (6.2–7.9 oz).[4]

Filling the cheek pouches with food

Like most members of the subfamily, the golden hamster has expandable cheek pouches, which extend
from its cheeks to its shoulders. In the wild, hamsters are larder hoarders; they use their cheek pouches
to transport food to their burrows. Their name in the local Arabic dialect where they were found roughly
translates to "mister saddlebags" (Arabic: ‫ )أبو جراب‬due to the amount of storage space in their cheek
pouches.[5] If food is plentiful, the hamster stores it in large amounts.

Sexually mature female hamsters come into heat (estrus) every four days. Golden hamsters and other
species in the genus Mesocricetus have the shortest gestation period in any known placental mammal at
around 16 days. Gestation has been known to last up to 21 days, but this is rare and almost always
results in complications. They can produce large litters of 20 or more young, although the average litter
size is between eight and 10 pups. If a mother hamster is inexperienced or feels threatened, she may
abandon or eat her pups. A female hamster enters estrus almost immediately after giving birth, and can
become pregnant despite already having a litter. This act puts stress on the mother's body and often
results in very weak and undernourished young.[citation needed]

Discovery

Main article: Domestication of the Syrian hamster

Golden hamsters originate from Syria and were first described by science in the 1797 second edition of
The Natural History of Aleppo, a book written and edited by two Scottish physicians living in Syria.[6] The
Syrian hamster was then recognized as a distinct species in 1839 by British zoologist George Robert
Waterhouse. Waterhouse's original specimen (holotype) was a female hamster; he named it Cricetus
auratus or the "golden hamster". The skin of the specimen is kept at the Natural History Museum in
London.[7]

A yellow-colored golden hamster

In 1930, Israel Aharoni, a zoologist and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, captured a
mother hamster and her litter of pups in Aleppo, Syria. The hamsters were bred in Jerusalem as
laboratory animals. Some escaped from the cage through a hole in the floor, and most of the wild
golden hamsters in Israel today are believed to be descended from this litter.

Descendants of the captive hamsters were shipped to Britain in 1931, where they came under the care
of the Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research. They bred well and two more pairs were given to the
Zoological Society of London in 1932. The descendants of these were passed on to private breeders in
1937. A separate stock of hamsters was exported from Syria to the United States in 1971, but apparently
none of today's North American pets are descended from these (at least in the female line), because
recent mitochondrial DNA studies have established that all domestic golden hamsters are descended
from one female – probably the one captured in 1930 in Syria.[8]

Since the species was named, the genus Cricetus has been subdivided and this species (together with
several others) was separated into the genus Mesocricetus, leading to the currently accepted scientific
name for the golden hamster of Mesocricetus auratus.[9]

Behavior

Main article: Syrian hamster behavior

A long-haired male golden hamster

Hamsters are very territorial and intolerant of each other; attacks against each other are commonplace.
Exceptions do occur, usually when a female and male meet when the female is in heat, but even so, the
female may attack the male after mating. Even siblings, once mature, may attack one another. In
captivity, babies are separated from their mother and by sex after four weeks, as they sexually mature at
four to five weeks old. Same-sex groups of siblings can stay with each other until they are about eight
weeks old, at which point they will become territorial and fight with one another, sometimes to the
death. Infanticide is not uncommon among female golden hamsters. In captivity, they may kill and eat
healthy young as a result of the pups interacting with humans, for any foreign scent is treated as a
threat. Females also eat their dead young in the wild.[10]

Golden hamsters mark their burrows with secretions from special scent glands on their hips, termed
flank glands. Male hamsters in particular lick their bodies near the glands, creating damp spots on the
fur, then drag their sides along objects to mark their territory. Females also use bodily secretions and
faeces.

Survival in the wild

Following Professor Aharoni's collection in 1930, only infrequent sightings and captures were reported
in the wild. Finally, to confirm the current existence of the wild golden hamster in northern Syria and
southern Turkey, two expeditions were carried out during September 1997 and March 1999. The
researchers found and mapped 30 burrows. None of the inhabited burrows contained more than one
adult. The team caught six females and seven males. One female was pregnant and gave birth to six
pups. All these 19 caught golden hamsters, together with three wild individuals from the University of
Aleppo, were shipped to Germany to form a new breeding stock.[11]

Observations of females in this wild population have revealed, contrary to laboratory populations,
activity patterns are crepuscular rather than nocturnal, possibly to avoid nocturnal predators such as
owls.[12] Owls, however, have also evolved to hunt at dusk and dawn, and even during the day on rare
occasions, so the predator avoidance advantage may not apply to owls in particular. Another theory is
that hamsters, which are extremely sensitive to temperature fluctuations, may be crepuscular to avoid
the extreme temperatures of full daylight and night time temperatures.[13]

Golden hamsters in captivity run two to five miles per 24-hour period and can store up to one ton of
food in a lifetime. They keep their food carefully separated from their urination and nesting areas. Very
old hamsters with weak teeth break this "rule" by soaking hard seeds and nuts with urine to soften it for
eating. Hamsters are extraordinary housekeepers and often sort through their hoards to clean and get
rid of molding or rotting food. They gather food in the wild by foraging and carrying it home in their
cheek pouches, which they empty by pushing it out through their open mouths, from back to front, with
their paws, until it is empty. If a lot of food is available to carry, they may stuff the pouches so full that
they cannot even close their mouths. Although these observations refer to studies using captive
hamsters, they shine some light on the hamsters' natural behaviors in the wild.[13]

As research animals

Main article: Laboratory Syrian hamster

Golden hamsters are used to model the human medical conditions including various cancers, metabolic
diseases, non-cancer respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, and general
health concerns.[14] In 2006 and 2007, golden hamsters accounted for 19% of the total Animal Welfare
Act-covered animal research subjects in the United States.[15]

File:Gait-of-healthy-Hamster.ogv

Animation showing the gait of a lab-bred hamster from the underside

In March 2020, researchers from the University of Hong Kong have shown that Syrian hamsters could be
a model organism for COVID-19 research.[16]

As pets

Main article: Syrian hamster care

A golden hamster listening from its plastic exercise wheel

Golden hamsters are popular as house pets due to their docile, inquisitive nature, cuteness, and small
size. However, these animals have some special requirements that must be met for them to be healthy.
Although some people think of them as a pet for young children, the American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recommends hamsters as pets only for people over age 6 and the child
should be supervised by an adult.[17] Cages should be a suitable size, safe, comfortable, and interesting.
If a hamster is constantly chewing and/or climbing on the bars of its cage then it needs more stimulation
or a larger cage. The minimum recommended size for a hamster cage is 450 square inches (2,900 cm2),
of continuous floor space (although the source of this recommendation is unknown). These can be made
from a plastic storage bin or a large glass tank. The majority of hamster cages sold in pet stores do not
meet these size requirements. Hamster Society Singapore (HHS) recommends a minimum of 4,000
square centimetres (620 sq in) for Syrian hamsters,[18] while Tierärztliche Vereinigung für Tierschutz
(TVT) recommends giving them as much space as you can and at minimum 100 cm × 50 cm × 50 cm (L ×
W × H) which is 5,000 cm2 (780 sq in).[19]

A hamster wheel is a common type of environmental enrichment, and it is important that hamsters have
a wheel in their cage. TVT recommends wheels should be at least 30 cm for Syrian hamsters, since
smaller diameters lead to permanent spinal curvatures, especially in young animals. They also
recommend a solid running surface because rungs or mesh can cause injury.[20] A hamster should be
able to run on its wheel without arching its back. A hamster that has to run with an arched back can
have back pain and spine problems. A variety of toys, either shop-bought or home-made, can help to
keep them entertained. Cardboard tubes and boxes are stimulating. Golden hamsters are energetic and
need space to exercise.[21]
Most hamsters in American and British pet stores are golden hamsters. Originally, golden hamsters
occurred in just one color – the mixture of brown, black, and gold, but they have since developed a
variety of color and pattern mutations, including cream, white, blonde, cinnamon, tortoiseshell, black,
three different shades of gray, dominant spot, banded, and dilute.[citation needed]

Breeding

Syrian hamster mating

Main article: Syrian hamster breeding

The practice of selective breeding of golden hamsters requires an understanding of their care,
knowledge about breed variations, a plan for selective breeding, scheduling of the female body cycle,
and the ability to manage a colony of hamsters.

A hamster mother emerging from a tube to see her two young, which are less than a week old

Breed variations

See also: Syrian hamster variations

Often long-haired hamsters are referred to by their nickname "teddy bear". They are identical to short-
haired Syrians except for the hair length and can be found in any color, pattern, or other coat type
available in the species. Male long-haired hamsters usually have longer fur than the female, culminating
in a "skirt" of longer fur around their backsides. Long-haired females have a much shorter coat although
it is still significantly longer than that of a short-haired female