Furry Friday/Saturday: Roborovski Hamsters

IN MEMORIAM AND LAMENT...

Roborovski hamsters are the smallest of all hamster species. These special pygmy hamsters come from the Mongolian steppes, where climate is harsh all year round...

They are also extremely fast, hate being picked up (and wriggle violently) and can ping across a room quicker than a wild housemouse. An escaped robo is far harder to recapture than any other type of pet hamster. Trust me I have had Syrian, Russian and Chinese hamsters and these are nowhere near as swinish when on the run as the megatrotting robbie.

For scale: here's a robo in a toilet tube:



Compared to an ordinary golden hamster:



Robbies have a plump, tubby body with harvesty-coloured fur, beady eyes with white-highlighted eyebrows, hardly any tail and fat pink noses:



Their coat is woolier and softer than an ordinary hamster's:



Because of their flighty nature, robbies do not make good pets for children. Being the most social of all hamster species, however, they are really good to watch and love to do things together:



Adult female roborovskis come into heat every four days. The newborn babies resemble baked beans with paws. This is what they look like as soon as they get fur:



I think these crisps (or "chips" as you Americans might call them) were a bit too salty: