Mesocricetus auratus (Syrian hamster)

Origin: The steppes and desert regions of Syria and Turkey.
Length: 12.5 to 17.5 cm. (Excluding 15 millimeter tail)
Age: 1.5 to 3 years old.
Syrian hamsters are fun, adorable animals that are often kept as pets. They look very cuddly, but their small size makes them very fragile.
Furthermore, they are real nocturnal animals that will sleep a lot during the day.
These hamsters come in many different coat colors and textures.

Grooming
Experience: No experience is necessary to keep this hamster.
Food: For hamsters, special hamster food is available in the pet store. In addition, you can sometimes offer vegetables, fruit and insects as a snack.
Water bowl: Not required.
Water bottle: Yes.
Change water: Every few days.

Food:
A Syrian hamster needs 8 to 15 grams of food per day. The animal regulates its food intake, so it is not so bad if you give more. Make sure that the food is not expired if you feed more and it is not all eaten.
Make sure that the food is given in a sturdy food bowl that is in a place where dirt and bedding cannot easily get into the bowl.

Water
You can use a water bottle with a metal nipple for the water. You can clean these every other day. If you see green / yellow deposits on the inside of the bottle, you should clean it with a brush.
If you use a water bowl for the water, make sure it is a sturdy bowl that, like the food bowl, is in a place where it cannot get dirty. Also, the bowl should not be too deep, otherwise the hamster might fall into it.

Cleaning:
Cleaning the loft does not have to be a big job. Hamsters can be house trained and will therefore do their business in one corner. In this corner you can place a toilet bowl or toilet house. You then clean it every two days.
If you then have such a toilet bowl, you only have to clean the rest of the loft once a week.
Make sure you also bring the food bowl and water bottle / water bowl with you when cleaning.

Handling
Syrian hamsters are very calm and can often become very tame. Please note that they are more frightened than dwarf hamsters. Make sure you approach the animal calmly. The best way to pick up the animal is to fold your hands together like a bowl and scoop the animal up like that. Make sure your hands do not smell like food or a strong scented soap. Hamsters have a very good nose and when they smell this they can bite in response.

Housing
Minimum enclosure size for 1 hamster: 100 x 40 x 40 cm
Temperature: 20 to 25 degrees.
Hours of light: 12 hours (no extra light or heat lamp needed.)
Ground cover: Various ground coverings are available for purchase at the pet store. Note that for a hamster, a bedding that gives off little dust is best. It should also be a bit of light material so that the animals can dig and play well in it.
The bedding layer should have a height of approximately 20 cm, so that the animal can dig well in it.
Layout: The layout of a hamster house should look like this: There should be a food bowl, a water bowl or bottle, ground cover 20 cm thick on the bottom, several sleeping houses, a toilet house and an exercise wheel.
Make sure that the food and water bowl are in a place where bedding cannot easily get into the bowls.
It is possible to create several floors in your cage, but make sure that this elevation is arranged in such a way that the animal cannot fall off the edge. Hamsters have poor depth perception and will therefore fall off edges.
It is also possible to add a sand bath to the loft. Hamsters love to roll and bathe in sand. You can simply use a small container of chinchilla sand for this.

Behaviour
Lifestyle: Syrian hamsters are twilight and nocturnal active. They do not show themselves during the day. In nature they hibernate when the temperature drops below 10 degrees. However, the animal does not have to go through this hibernation to stay healthy. In addition, hamsters are real distance runners. In nature they even walk several kilometers a day.
Character: Syrian hamsters are very calm and easy to tame. However, they can occasionally come out fiercely and then they sometimes want to bite. That is why it is important to always handle the animal calmly. But otherwise they are animals that are quite petted and also find it fine to sit on your hand.
Points of attention: Too much stress can cause animals to get "wet tail". This is a bacterial infection of the intestines. They then get severe diarrhea. This occurs especially quickly in young animals. This can be deadly.
In addition, the animals have scent glands on their flanks. As a result, the coat can sometimes be a bit wetter there.

Costs and Purchase
Legislation: You do not need any additional permits or papers for this animal.
One-off costs: The one-off costs are the costs that you pay for the stay and everything that has to be included, such as the food bowl, water bowl, houses, exercise wheel and other items. These costs can quickly run into the hundreds of euros, depending on the quality.
Fixed costs: For the fixed costs you have to think of the costs for the feed and the bedding. This can be tens of euros per year.
Unexpected costs: With the unexpected costs you should think of the costs that you have to pay for the vet if your animal becomes ill.