How many baby Roborovski dwarf hamsters are in a litter?
A Roborovski dwarf hamster (Phodopus roborovskii) usually gives birth to around 6 babies.
Each of those little ones spend around 21 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 1 grams (0 lbs) and measure 3.3 cm (0′ 2″). They are a member of the Muridae family (genus: Phodopus). An adult Roborovski dwarf hamster grows up to a size of 7.2 cm (0′ 3″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The Roborovski hamster (Phodopus roborovskii), also known as the desert hamster or Robo dwarf hamster, is the smallest of three species of hamster in the genus Phodopus, averaging under 2 centimetres (0.8 in) at birth and 4.5–5 centimetres (1.8–2.0 in) and 20–25 grams (0.71–0.88 oz) during adulthood. Distinguishing characteristics of the Roborovskis are eyebrow-like white spots and the lack of any dorsal stripe (found on the other members of the genus Phodopus). The average lifespan for the Roborovski hamster is 2-3 years, though this is dependent on living conditions (extremes being four years in captivity and two in the wild). Roborovskis are known for their speed and have been said to run an equivalent of four human marathons each night on average.
Other animals of the family Muridae
Roborovski dwarf hamster is a member of the Muridae, as are these animals:
- Mindoro black rat with 6 babies per pregnancy
- Gleaning mouse weighting only 35 grams
- Nectomys squamipes with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Eastern chestnut mouse with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Malayan mountain spiny rat with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Long-nosed mosaic-tailed rat with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Southern Plains woodrat with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Mearns’s pouched mouse with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Ethiopian striped mouse weighting only 18 grams
- Bibimys chacoensis weighting only 28 grams
Animals that share a litter size with Roborovski dwarf hamster
Those animals also give birth to 6 babies at once:
- Chinese striped hamster
- Seven-banded armadillo
- European ground squirrel
- South African pouched mouse
- Long-tailed weasel
- Arctic ground squirrel
- Brown antechinus
- California ground squirrel
- North American brown lemming
- Dwarf shrew
Animals with the same size as a Roborovski dwarf hamster
Also reaching around 7.2 cm (0′ 3″) in size do these animals:
- Montane grass mouse gets as big as 7.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Eurasian harvest mouse gets as big as 5.9 cm (0′ 3″)
- Aceramarca gracile opossum gets as big as 8.3 cm (0′ 4″)
- Southern pygmy mouse gets as big as 7.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Marsh shrew gets as big as 8.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Seba’s short-tailed bat gets as big as 6 cm (0′ 3″)
- American shrew mole gets as big as 7.8 cm (0′ 4″)
- New Holland mouse gets as big as 8.2 cm (0′ 4″)
- Rhinolophus hilli gets as big as 6 cm (0′ 3″)
- Drouhard’s shrew tenrec gets as big as 7.3 cm (0′ 3″)