How big does a Golden hamster get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) reaches an average size of 18 cm (0′ 8″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 10 years, they grow from 2 grams (0 lbs) to 98 grams (0.22 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Golden hamsters have 8 babies about 4 times per year. The Golden hamster (genus: Mesocricetus) is a member of the family Muridae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The golden or Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) is a rodent belonging to the hamster subfamily, Cricetinae. Their natural geographical range is limited to arid areas of northern Syria and southern Turkey. Their numbers have been declining in the wild due to a loss of habitat from agriculture and deliberate elimination by humans. Thus, wild golden hamsters are now considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.However, captive breeding programs are well-established, and captive-bred golden hamsters are often kept as small house pets. Syrian hamsters are larger than many of the dwarf hamsters kept as pocket pets (up to 5x larger), and weigh about the same as a sugar glider, though the wild European hamster exceeds Syrian hamsters in size. They are also used as scientific research animals throughout the world.
Animals of the same family as a Golden hamster
We found other animals of the Muridae family:
- Moncton’s mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 14.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Jackson’s soft-furred mouse with 3 babies per litter
- Brush mouse with 3 babies per litter
- Indian bush rat with 4 babies per litter
- Narrow-nosed harvest mouse with a size of 8.7 cm (0′ 4″)
- Mexican water mouse with a weight of 40 grams
- Bush vlei rat with a size of 15.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Greater bandicoot rat with 6 babies per litter
- Brush-tailed rabbit rat with a size of 18.9 cm (0′ 8″)
- Alston’s cotton rat with 5 babies per litter
Animals with the same size as a Golden hamster
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Golden hamster:
- Baird’s pocket gopher with a size of 15 cm (0′ 6″)
- Dusky mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 15.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Luzon short-nosed rat with a size of 15.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Northern pika with a size of 16 cm (0′ 7″)
- Eastern woodrat with a size of 21.2 cm (0′ 9″)
- Stein’s rat with a size of 17.1 cm (0′ 7″)
- Sierra Madre ground squirrel with a size of 17.2 cm (0′ 7″)
- Striped bush squirrel with a size of 17.8 cm (0′ 8″)
- Robust yellow bat with a size of 15.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Fire-footed rope squirrel with a size of 20.5 cm (0′ 9″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Golden hamster
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (8) as a Golden hamster:
- Southern long-nosed armadillo
- White-tailed antelope squirrel
- Campbell’s dwarf hamster
- Townsend’s ground squirrel
- White-bellied woolly mouse opossum
- Steppe pika
- Brown rat
- African wild dog
- Dusky antechinus
- Grayish mouse opossum
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Golden hamster
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Golden hamster:
- Bengal fox with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Striped possum with an average maximal age of 9.58 years
- Horsfield’s tarsier with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Plains viscacha with an average maximal age of 9.33 years
- Red acouchi with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Pudú with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Least weasel with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Common ringtail possum with an average maximal age of 8 years
- Pale fox with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Mindanao treeshrew with an average maximal age of 11.5 years
Animals with the same weight as a Golden hamster
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Mesocricetus auratus:
- Kobe mole bringing 95 grams to the scale
- Rio de Janeiro arboreal rat bringing 93 grams to the scale
- Long-footed water rat bringing 83 grams to the scale
- Congo rope squirrel bringing 112 grams to the scale
- Giant roundleaf bat bringing 115 grams to the scale
- Fringe-tailed gerbil bringing 96 grams to the scale
- Pará spiny tree-rat bringing 108 grams to the scale
- Lady Burton’s rope squirrel bringing 109 grams to the scale
- Common rufous-nosed rat bringing 89 grams to the scale
- Slender rat bringing 97 grams to the scale