If you wish to ensure the best-ever care for your pet, it is important to know the exact age of the hamster. It allows you to understand the specific age-related needs of your pet. Based on the same, you can take proper care of the animal with respect to the overall health and age-related complications.
How to tell how old your hamster is – To know how old your hamster is you can check certain factors like activity level, hair growth, exercise capability, and others to check the age of the hamster.
Let us learn in detail about different ways in which you can determine the age of your hamster.
How to Calculate Hamster Age?
On average, a hamster is expected to live one human year for every 14 days of its life. Depending on the breed that you choose as your pet, a hamster can advance from birth to reach its old age in a period of 1.5 to 3.5 years. Knowing the exact age of your beloved pet is not as important as understanding the period of his lifespan. This allows you to provide the necessary nutrition as well as care according to different stages of life.
How to Count Hamster Years?
As you buy your hamster at the pet store, you are likely to know about its species. If you forgot to pay attention or simply did not know about the species, you can conduct a simple Google search to understand the breed or species of the animal. In the modern pet industry, only five hamster species are allowed to be sold in the market. Therefore, it becomes relatively simpler to determine the exact type or species of your pet.
Knowing the type of your hamster will offer you hints to what behavior you can expect. Moreover, you can also know about specific needs along with how long you can expect it to live. At the same time, you also get relevant information about the age of your hammy in weeks or months.
On an average, expect a maximum lifespan of around 1 to 3.5 years for your hamster. Some breeds might get elderly by the end of the 1st year of life. There can be some breeds that might be at the end of its middle age at around 18 months. Some general lifespan ranges for the common types of hamster breeds that are available as pets:
- Roborovski Hamster -3 to 3.5 years
- Syrian Hamster: 2 to 2.5 years
- Campbell’s Dwarf Hamster: 2 years
- Winter White Russian Dwarf Hamster: 1.5 to 2 years
- Chinese Hamster: 1.5 to 2 years
How to Determine Hamster Age?
Hamsters that might be 10 days or younger do not exhibit much activity other than wriggling and nursing. Between the period of 11 and 14 days, they will start moving around on their own. Their ears get erected and their eyes open up. Therefore, they start exploring the environment in more ways than just touch, smell, and taste.
As hamsters start moving around, they will start consuming solid & soft foods on their own. As they reach the age of 21 days, their mother might have already weaned them. However, in the wild, they might continue for some more days.
As they reach the age of 4 weeks, males will start achieving sexual maturity. Females tend to take a bit longer to achieve the same. They start exhibiting sexual behavior by the time they reach the age of 6 weeks. As Syrian hamsters tend to age, they are required to be kept in separate cages. The breed is estimated to be quite aggressive. Therefore, they might fight with each other while eventually killing themselves.
Hamsters tend to be at their playful best when they are of one year of age or they reach puberty. You will observe them running on the wheels and running around their environment during the wee hours of the night. They will sleep the entire day.
As these creatures will pass the mark of one year, hamsters will eventually slow down in their overall behavior. Just like humans, they will become slow by reaching the end of its life. Health problems will start showing up at the given age. Hamsters might even start soiling the bedding as they reach the age of passing away.
How to Determine Dwarf Hamster Age?
Dwarf hamsters might depict earlier signs of aging. These might include hair loss, reduced activity, loss of appetite, and so more. You can check these to take the best care of your pet.
How to Determine the Age of My Hamster?
Observe Their Hair
The fur of your pet is an important indicator of when the hamster might be at his life cycle. Hamsters are born hairless and pink. At the same time, old hamsters are known to experience significant thinning of hair before dying.
Hamster pups tend to spend the first week of their lives blind and naked. As they reach the 7th day, hair growth will eventually start leading to adult coloration. They become fully furred by the time of three weeks. As hamsters tend to enter old age upon passing every year, their coat will start becoming less lustrous. The entire coat will eventually start thinning.
If you have an adult hamster and you are not sure of its age, then do not assume that the hair loss in your pet is natural. Lymphoma, parasites, kidney inflammation, and hormonal imbalances are some specific conditions that could lead your pet to develop hairballs or bald patches.
How to Tell How Old a Hamster Is?
Based on the above factors, you can easily determine the age of your hamster. It is important to monitor its daily behavior and habits to understand the age better.
Conclusion
If you have just received your hamster from the pet store, it is most likely to be around 2-3 months old. While buying your pet, you should always ask the seller or previous owner about its age. When you do so, you are better able to take care of the animal. Enjoy most of your time with your little creature.
Usually, when you buy your pet from a pet store, a hamster might be of the age range 2-3 months old.
On average, the hamsters live up to one to three human years.
