Hamster trivia

Q: Is it true that some hamsters are classified as an endangered species?

A: Yes – believe it or not, despite the reputation that hamsters and other pocket pets have as fast reproducers, the European field hamster (Cricetus cricetus), also called the black-bellied hamster or the common hamster, was named an endangered species by the Berne Convention in 1979.

Q: Do hamsters really have two stomachs?

A: Something like that – the hamster’s stomach is divided into two parts. Like the humongous hippopotamus, the hamster eats a diet of mostly cellulose (plant matter), a food that’s very hard to digest. So, like the hippo, the hamster is a pregastric fermenter. What does that mean? Basically, the food it eats goes into the first part of its stomach, where it sits and ferments for a little bit (less than an hour, normally).

Once the food has been softened up, it moves into the second part of its stomach, where digestive acids break down the food into absorbable components. Being a pregastric fermenter also means that hamsters cannot be given antibiotics for illness – the antibiotics would halt the fermentation process in the first stomach and allow harmful bacteria to churn out toxins that would quickly overwhelm the hamster’s little system.

Q: When did hamsters become pets?

A: While the Syrian hamster – the most common type kept as pets in the U.S. – was first noted by Westerners in 1740, and used in research beginning in the mid-1800s, it wasn’t until the 1930s that they were promoted as pets. Albert Marsh of Mobile, Ala., won a pair of Syrian hamsters in a bet and began breeding and selling them. Until 1971, every Syrian hamster in the U.S. was descended from Marsh’s original pair.