You may know some of these facts, but others might suprise you. Here are 25 hamster facts:

1. There are many different wild hamster species, like the european hamster. Only 5 of all of those hamsters are domesticated however. They are the syrian hamster, chinese hamster, roborovski, winter white and campbells dwarf.


2. Syrian hamsters were named in 1839, and were brought to the US in 1971. 


3. Hamsters have cheek pouches at the sides of their mouth which they can store food and nesting in. They can expand to the sides of a hamsters hips. 


4. The word hamster comes from the German word 'hamstern' which means ;to hoard.'


5. In the wild, hamsters can create burrows as deep as 3 feet underground. Hamsters make many chambers like the food chamber, bedroom or bathroom.


6. Hamsters have 16 teeth. 4 incisors and 12 molars. 


7. Hamsters are omnivores, so they eat many different foods.


8. Hamsters are nearsighted, which means they can't see very well. 


9. Hamsters cannot catch the common cold.


10. Hamsters are illegal in Australia and Hawaii because their climate is very similar to a hamster's, which means they can make colonies if one escaped. 


11. Hamsters have pregastric pouches which lets them digest lactose enzymes, unlike many other animals.


12. Hamsters in the wild can travel up to 5 miles a night. 


13. Hamsters are solitary and do the best on their own.


14. Hamsters cannot hibernate, as it could lead to death.


15. Hamsters can start reproducing once they are 4 weeks old.


16. A healthy hamster's teeth are orange or yellow. White teeth mean stress or malnutrition.


17. Hamsters naturally don't drink a lot of water due to where they originate from. 


18. In the wild, syrian hamsters are considered to be on the vulnerable list due to increased agriculture.


19. Hamsters have 4 toes on their front feet and 5 toes on their back feet. 


20. Hamsters will eat their offspring if they feel threatened or stressed. 


21. A syrian and chinese hamster cannot be crossbred with a dwarf hamster as they are different species. 


22. Syrian and chinese hamsters were commonly used for human medical research. 


23. Hamsters use their scent glands to help mark items as their own and to find a way back if they travel far. 


24. Hamsters produce 2 different types of poos, and one of them they eat for better nutrition. 


25. Hamsters cannot throw up.

All of the information on this chapter comes from Victoria Raechel's video called '25 hamster facts.' More information on this channel in chapter 1.