A rodent by any other name
Hamsters belong to the rodent subfamily Cricetinae. Little ears, short tails, and those famous roomy cheeks are part of the package.
~ WELCOME TO THE BURROW ~
Oh, hi there!
If you think the best things in life have whiskers and fit in the palm of your hand, you’re in the right place.
Pull up a sunflower seed and stay a while. This little homepage is dedicated to the surprisingly fascinating world of hamsters.
The cheek-pouch files
SMALL ANIMAL, BIG FACTSA little of this, a little of that
Wild hamsters eat seeds, fruit, vegetation, and even some insects. There’s more to their menu than sunflower seeds.
A burrow to call home
Cheek pouches help hamsters bring food back to their burrows, where they can tuck it away for later. Tiny pantry, big plans.
Facts adapted from Wikipedia: Hamster · CC BY-SA 4.0
Meet the hamsters
THE CUTE DEPARTMENTThe Syrian hamster
Mesocricetus auratus
The golden hamster pictured above comes from a species native to northern Syria and southern Turkey. Syrians are solitary and territorial: a hamster with a strong sense of personal space.
Get to know the Syrian hamster
POCKET-SIZED PERSONALITY
The winter white dwarf
Phodopus sungorus
A familiar dwarf species, alongside Campbell’s and Roborovski hamsters. This little one is a pearl-colored winter white.
Meet the winter whiteCool links & proper credits
No hamster homepage is an island. Follow these links for more tiny-animal knowledge.
Keep exploring
- The hamster encyclopedia entryBiology, behavior & species
- Hamsters on Wikimedia CommonsA whole burrow of openly licensed photos
- The golden hamster storyLearn more about the Syrian species
Photo & text credits
Syrian hamster photo by Dennis Blöte · CC BY-SA 2.0.
Winter white hamster photo by Dirk Goldhahn · CC BY-SA 2.5. Display cropped to fit.
Fact text adapted from Wikipedia’s Hamster, Golden hamster, and Winter white dwarf hamster articles and their contributors; adapted fact text is CC BY-SA 4.0.