中國倉鼠（Chinese Hamster）

05-19

來自專欄動物君

中文字：1358，建議閱讀時間2分鐘，英文字：690

Chinese Hamster

Scientific name: Cricetulusgriseus

Origin: North- Eastern China

Life span: 2 – 3 years less in the wild

Ideal weight: 30 – 45 grams

Length: 8.2 – 13 cm

Sleep pattern: nocturnal (awake during the night)

Temperament: tame once use to the owner

Feed strategies: omnivore (eats meats and vegetables)

Colour: mahogany brown with a black strip or white with

Patches of brown.

About the Chinesehamster

Looks like a mouse without the long tail. It was firstdomesticated in 1919 and was mainly used as a test animal in laboratory』s butslowly started to become popular as a pet. As pets the Chinese hamster is veryintelligent and full of personality. While they would make good pets, theChinese hamster is nocturnal so it wouldn』t be awake during the day andrepeated waking up could cause the Chinese hamster to become aggressive andsick.

Sex

In the wild the hamsters are solitary creatures only comingtogether to mate. Its best to keep only one hamster but if wanting to keep morethan one make sure they are the same sex. The way to tell which sex the hamsteris sexing this is checking the genitals to find out its gender. The male willhave very visible genitals after 8 weeks of age but to know before then itsbest to check the two-genital opening if the two holes are close together itmeans it』s a female and if they are far apart they are a male.

Feeding

The Chinese hamster is an omnivore as it eats insects in thewild. The best way to feed the Chinese hamster is to replicate the food it eatsin the wild. Normal hamster food can be bought but you can prepare is ow foodusing fresh vegetables and a small bit of cooked chicken. The hamster will alsoeat linseed, pinhead oatmeal, hemp seed, sunflower seed and budgie tonic seed.

Health problems

Diabetes

Since hamsters don』t have much sugar in the wild it will not suffer from diabetes. Make sure the Chinese hamster has thefresh vegetables and treats on a seldom basis.

Catching a cold

Hamsters can catch colds of humans so when you are feeling sickmake sure not to handle your hamster or you will cause it to become sick.

Accommodation

A glass tank will be best as it allows you to see the hamsterbefore you physically interact with the hamster. The glass tanks are also veryeasy to clean. A full clean(replace everything substrate and bedding and cleanthe tank) should be done once week and a spot clean (remove poop and wetsubstrate) every two days this will keep the hamster healthy and happy.

Substrate

Substrate is the ground that the hamster will walk on the bestis that replicates the wild but it can be expensive and always need cleaninghere are some good examples:

Wood shavings – very cheap andabsorbent but doesn』t mask the smelly but easy to clean.

Hemp bedding – absorbent but can beexpensive to find

Recycled paper – absorbent, very softand easy to clean but don』t use paper with ink as it may poison the hamster

Carboard - absorbent but doesn』t absorb smell canbe tough to bend to the shape of the tank.

I would recommend wood shavings it』s more like their naturalhabitat and can find food in their tank to provide enrichment. But you can alsomix and match substrate using paper for bedding would be good as it is soft andprovides warmth.

Enrichment (equipmentto stimulate the mind)

While the hamster is stuck inside the tank you must provideentertainment for the hamster doing this will stop stereotypical behaviour(behaviour that has no aim or reason) using cardboard will entertain thehamster it can chew and explore. If you have lots of time you can build a lotof fun things with cardboard. Hiding the food around the habitat this will makethe hamster act very natural it will use its natural skill to hunt for food andthis will stop it from being bored. There is no need to spend money onenrichment recycle cardboard is all you need.

中文翻譯：

中國倉鼠（地鼠）

學名：Cricetulusgriseus

起源：中國東北地區

壽命：野外生存少於2-3年

理想體重：30-45克

長度：8.2-13厘米

睡眠模式：夜間行動者

性情：如果服你這個主，就會很溫順，不然。。。。

餵養技巧：兼顧葷素

我是誰

我看起來就像一個沒有長尾巴的老鼠。在1919年第一次被馴養並且主要用於作為實驗室測驗動物。隨著時間推移，由於它的機智及性格特點，也開始作為人類的寵物。但是這裡有一個關鍵點哦，由於我是夜間行動者，所以請主人不要總在白天吵我，如果你們總是弄醒我，會讓我變得脾氣暴躁且易生病。

傳宗接代那些事

生存在野外的我們不喜歡結伴，獨自行走江湖，只有為了傳宗接代時才會尋找另一半。所以啊如果主人想和我做朋友的話，盡量讓我獨處，如果您非要給我多找些夥伴的話，那請幫我找同樣性別的小夥伴吧。什麼，你不知道怎麼分辨我的性別？沒事，那接下來別眨眼，讓我來告訴你如何區分我的性別：最簡單的方法呢就是當我在傳宗接代的時候，通過體位就可以分辨出來啦（哈哈，如果你碰巧看見）。說到這，請允許我八卦一下你們人類男女那點事，據說只有人類才會正面性交哦（厲害了，我的主）。OK,言歸正傳，那科學認識性別的方法是：出生後8個月的雄性，你能看到明顯的雄性生殖器。什麼，你想知道8個月前如何區分我的性別，好吧果然是一個好奇的主，那你就得仔細看我的那個部位了，如果兩個生殖器口很靠近，那我就是雌性，如果離得很遠，那就是雄性，哎呀不說這個了，我臉都紅了，自己看圖吧。

我的一日三餐

主人你應該感到慶幸，我是一個雜食寶寶，在野外的時候我就吃昆蟲。主人可以用一些新鮮的蔬菜伴著一些煮過的雞肉作為我的主食。我還吃亞麻籽、燕麥片、葵花籽等。常規品種的我還是很容易買到的，當然在我的家族裡還是有珍貴血統滴。

我易患的病

糖尿病

我在野外生存的時候，不會接觸太多糖類物質，因此不會有患上糖尿病的風險。因此餵養我的時候一定要保證給我吃新鮮的蔬菜，另外時不時一可以給我做一些SPA，減少患病機率。

感冒

我非常容易感染人類的感冒，所以當主人你感冒的時候，請和我保持距離哦，不然我也會跟著遭殃。

我對窩的要求

一個透明的玻璃缸是最理想的居住環境，這樣既方便主人與我互動，也方便主人你打掃我的窩。對於我的窩，我也是有自己的要求滴，每周至少一次的全面打掃，沒兩天一次我排泄物的清理，只有這樣我才會更愛主人你哦。

我需要的傢具

我要的傢具非常簡單，主要用於鋪在窩裡，方便我睡覺及行走，前提條件就是要經常更換哦，給你幾個例子：

木屑：非常便宜也易吸水，也易於打掃，但是不利於吸味。

麻織品：親膚也易吸水，但是比較小貴。

紙巾：易吸水，也較為柔軟，方便打掃，但是千萬不能染上墨水之類的燃料，要不然我就變色啦。

紙板箱：吸水但不吸味道，也不利於彎折，需選好尺寸。

我更喜歡木屑，因為這更像我生存在野外的環境，我也能比較容易辨別出食物的方位，當然你也可以混合一些柔軟的紙巾或布藝讓我覺得這個窩更溫馨和溫暖。

娛樂生活

如果我成天被困在窩裡無所事事，是不是想想就很苦逼，所以主人你必須得提供一些娛樂設施供我消遣。這不單單愉悅我的身心，還可以減少我行為的呆板化，硬板紙就是不錯的道具。如果主人你肯用心，你可以用硬板紙做出不同造型來讓我探險。記得將食物藏在附近，可以讓我變得更敏銳，因為這樣可以讓我運用我天生的能力去覓食，我不想變得獃頭獃腦。

這就是我想要的娛樂設施