Hamsters
Photo from Pixabay is in the public domain.
Photo from Pixabay is in the public domain.
Hamsters like to eat seeds, grains, nuts, fruit and vegetables.
Photo from Pixabay is in the public domain.
Wild hamsters eat insects, frogs and lizards too.
A lizard
They have pouches in their cheeks that they stuff with food. They carry their food back to their home, so they can eat it later.
Hamsters make good pets. The most common pet hamster is called the teddy bear hamster or golden hamster.
A golden hamster
Sadly, they don't like living near other hamsters. They will try to bite them, and may kill them.
Some hamsters are friendly such as dwarf hamsters.
A dwarf hamster
Photo by Algirdas is in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Some hamsters are friendly such as dwarf hamsters.
Hamsters dig underground tunnels. The tunnels are called burrows. They use burrows for sleeping and for storing food. Living underground keeps wild hamsters cool when it's hot outside.
Hamsters cannot see well. They mark things with their smell so they can find their way back home.
Hamsters' teeth keep growing. So hamsters must bite hard things. This makes their teeth shorter. Hamsters bite wood or twigs. They don't eat the wood!
Look at its long teeth!
A hamster mum can put her babies in her mouth. She puts the babies in her mouth when she must run away from danger.
Babies are born without fur
Hamster babies are called pups. They soon grow fur.
Photo from Pixabay is in the public domain.
Hamsters are nocturnal. This means they sleep in the day and get up at night.
Wild hamsters will go for a long sleep if the weather gets very cold.
Photo is by Katanski. It is licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
This kind of hamster has a black belly.