Like many rodents, the Chinese dwarf hamster as a pet made his entrance on the research laboratory. The first animals were in China for the treatment of pneumonia and fever black study later. The first group of animals in the United States in 1957 as the research sample at Harvard. It was not until the 1970s that these animals started to become pets. They were popular in the UK, but it was not until the 21 Century that they began to gain in popularity in the United States. One of the reasons is that some states a ban on owning this type of hamster, probably for fear that the pets would have escaped overrun native species.
Compared to other dwarf hamsters, the Chinese hamster is long and thin. It looks like a mouse or even a rat. Kept as pets by all the hamsters, this has a visible tail (although short, compared to a mouse or rat). Its typical color is agouti, and there is a single dominant mutation called spot. This animal is mostly white with dark patches of skin on his body. It still has the dark stripes extending from the nape of its neck to the tail as well as the standard color variations.
Compared to other dwarf hamsters, the Chinese hamster is long and thin. It looks like a mouse or even a rat. Kept as pets by all the hamsters, this has a visible tail (although short, compared to a mouse or rat). Its typical color is agouti, and there is a single dominant mutation called spot. This animal is mostly white with dark patches of skin on his body. It still has the dark stripes extending from the nape of its neck to the tail as well as the standard color variations.
In the world of the Chinese dwarf hamsters, females rule. And although they are smaller than the males, they rule with a vengeance. Female regularly fight each other and with men. Once a dominant female has established a nesting site, other women, men and young people of both sexes are not welcome. Women will also attack and kill any weaker or sick member of their species.
All hamsters can escape artists, and the Chinese dwarf hamster is no exception. It can flatten its body so that it crawl through surprisingly small spaces.
These animals have a strange way to mark their territory. By Author Albert Chang, Arthur Diani and Mark Connell (Chapter 17, "Biology and Care," from the book Laboratory hamsters, edited by GL Van Hoosier, Jr. and Charles W. McPherson, Academic Press, Inc., 1987), the most commonly used labeling pattern "the flank gland scratching vigorously with its hind foot, immediately followed by a drag it is of pressing the perineal anogenital region on the substrate." Dominant females mark more often.
The scientific name of the Chinese hamster is the subject of debate. Sometimes they are called Cricetulus griseus Cricetulus and sometimes barabensis. To reduce confusion, some people, myself included, decided to call it the universal barabensis Cricetulus griseus.
Note that this animal belongs to the genus Cricetulus, and not of the genus Phodopus, which includes the other dwarf hamsters.
One thing to keep in mind is in the attitude of the Chinese dwarf hamster as a pet that you need to create many hiding it. And as with all hamsters, forget never wake up a sleeping hamster and do not chase a whole cage try it out, as it only teach you an enemy.
