It is hard to guess what a European hamster weights. But we have the answer:
An adult European hamster (Cricetus cricetus) on average weights 429 grams (0.95 lbs).
The European hamster is from the family Muridae (genus: Cricetus). It is usually born with about 4 grams (0.01 lbs). They can live for up to 4 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 36.3 cm (1′ 3″). On average, European hamsters can have babies 2 times per year with a litter size of 7.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The European hamster (Cricetus cricetus), also known as the Eurasian hamster, black-bellied hamster or common hamster, is the only species of the genus Cricetus. It is native to a large range in Eurasia, extending from Belgium to the Altai mountains and Yenisey River in Russia. Where abundant the animal is widely considered a farmland pest, and it has also been trapped for its fur. Across its global range, it is considered of least concern, but in many individual Western European countries it is considered critically endangered. Cricetus is also a monotypic genus.
Animals of the same family as a European hamster
We found other animals of the Muridae family:
- Nectomys squamipes with a weight of 185 grams
- Hairy-tailed bolo mouse with a weight of 39 grams
- Oligoryzomys destructor with a weight of 25 grams
- Notiomys with a weight of 21 grams
- Emin’s gerbil with a weight of 52 grams
- Taczanowski’s Oldfield mouse with a weight of 77 grams
- Small Luzon forest mouse with a weight of 35 grams
- Emin’s pouched rat bringing 1.28 kilos (2.82 lbs) to the scale
- Buff-bellied climbing mouse with a weight of 89 grams
- Handleyomys melanotis with a weight of 50 grams
Animals with the same weight as a European hamster
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Cricetus cricetus:
- Giant pocket gopher bringing 499 grams to the scale
- Brazilian yellow-toothed cavy bringing 450 grams to the scale
- Short-furred Atlantic tree-rat bringing 439 grams to the scale
- Camas pocket gopher bringing 360 grams to the scale
- Big-eared flying fox bringing 365 grams to the scale
- Bolivian tuco-tuco bringing 462 grams to the scale
- Black and rufous elephant shrew bringing 423 grams to the scale
- Social tuco-tuco bringing 400 grams to the scale
- Smoky pocket gopher bringing 403 grams to the scale
- Goya tuco-tuco bringing 400 grams to the scale
Animals with the same litter size as a European hamster
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (7) as a European hamster:
- Common planigale
- Fat-tailed dunnart
- Arctic fox
- Steppe polecat
- Northern red-sided opossum
- Little ground squirrel
- Richardson’s ground squirrel
- Mediterranean water shrew
- Linnaeus’s mouse opossum
- Tawny-bellied cotton rat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a European hamster
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a European hamster:
- Günther’s vole with an average maximal age of 3.83 years
- Southern grasshopper mouse with an average maximal age of 4.58 years
- Sand-colored soft-furred rat with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Northern common cuscus with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Pallas’s pika with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Wood mouse with an average maximal age of 4.33 years
- Steppe pika with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Forest dormouse with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Yellow-footed antechinus with an average maximal age of 3.5 years
- Golden-rumped elephant shrew with an average maximal age of 4 years