Hamster and Gerbil Lecture (not done)

How many hamsters should you house together?

1 (solitary and can be aggressive)

What are the most nocturnal rodents?

Hamsters

Why do we know hamsters are very photoperiodic?

They are very nocturnal

What are some of the problems with housing hamsters?

Great escape artists

What happens if you store a hamster <40F?

They will go into hibernation

Describe hamster inregumentary?

Lots of loose skin

Why do we have minimum space requirements for rodents?

Animal welfare act, use the Guide to know how much you need

Why should cedar bedding be avoided with hamsters/

Oils can cause respiratory irritation, derm irritation, poss, and elevated liver enzymes

What enrichment can you do for hamsters?

Housing hideouts with igloos or PVC pipe

What should hamsters eat?

Seeds, grain, vegetable supplements

What do hamsters do with their food?

They hoard it in their bedding (do not use a hopper)

Why do you have to place hamsters food on the floor?

Because they like to hoard it in a corner

How much fiber do hamsters need?

Not much, so a pelleted feed is ok

Why do you want to avoid seed based diets?

Rodents wont eat seed hulls and will pick and choose seeds

Can be used as treats

T/F hamsters are copraphagic?

True

T/F gerbils are coprophagic?

False

How many digits do hamsters have?

4 on the front

5 on the back

What special glands do hamsters have?

Hardarian glands

Flank glands

What do flank glands do?

More mature in males and consists of sebaceous glands, terminal hairs, and pigment cells

They convert testosterone to dihydrotestosterone

Describe buccal pouches?

Two well developed cheek pouches on lateral aspect of the head and neck. Will store, bedding, and neonates

Why are buccal pouches immunologically privileged?

Limited lymphatic drainage to regional lymph nodes

What is the research application of buccal pouches?

Cheek pouch supports long-term survival of many foreign tissues which is useful for human oral cancers

Hamsters also have few spontaneous occurring tumors

What is the disease implication of buccal pouches?

Pouch impactions

Where is the brown fat?

Between scapulas and spreads ventrally under the scapulas

Also found around adrenals and kidney

What does brown fat do?

Thermogenesis, especially during hibernation

Warms capillary beds passing through brown fat

Why do we not use brown fat as a site of injections?

They are very vascularized

What is the dental formula for hamsters and gerbils?

Same as mice and rats

Where is enamel?

Labial surface of incisors and everywhere molars

What is the maxillary : mandibular ratio?

1:3

What is the problem with malocclusion?

Must manage it for life

What teeth at birth and are hypsodont?

Incisors

Describe the stomach?

Forestomach and glandular stomach are separated by a muscular sphincter

What hamsters have gallbladders?

All except chinese hamster

How large is a hamster cecum and colon?

Larger than other rodents

What are the lung lobes of a hamster?

1 left and 5 right

What infections are hamsters resistant to?

Pulmonary infections

What part of the respiratory tract is similar to humans histologically?

Trachea

What is the research implication of hamster respiratory tract?

Studies of chronic bronchitis and emphysema of humans

Long term smoking effects

When do hamsters go through puberty?

90-100 gms weight

Females: 6-8 weeks

Males: 8-12 weeks

What is he female repro cycle?

Estrous every 4 days, continually polyestrous and spontaneous ovulators

No post partum estrus

How long is hamster gestation?

15-16 days

What is the research application of their repro system?

Short gestation and large litters so used in teratology and birth defect studies of humans

When do you wean hamsters?

21 days

What is day 1 of the estrous cycle in a hamster?

3 hours of proestrus

12 hours of estrus

Obulation on 18-19 hrs on day one

4 hours of metestrus

Vaginal discharge on morning of ovulation

How long does diestrus last?

From days 2-4 of cycle

What is the causative agent of antibiotic induced enterotoxemia?

Clostridium difficile

Describe the behavior of gerbils

Nonaggressive, curious, monogamous pairs, burrowers, nocturnal (but somewhat diurnal)

What do escaped gerbils do?

Do not hide

What do agitated gerbils do?

Audible stomp

How do gerbils sit?

Semierrect posture

How do you touch gerbils tails?

Do not grab ever at the tip. If grabbed t base, be careful. very susceptible to degloving and necrosis

How should you handle gerbils?

Scoop them up (hate being on back)

Can be scruffed

Why do gerbils not get ring tail?

They can tolerate lower humidity

What is different in gerbil anatomy/

Elongated rear limbs (metatarsals)

Furred tail

Long strong claws

Describe the ventral marking gland?

Ventral midline sebaceous gland that is androgen dependent and more prominent in males

What can happen to ventral marking glands/

Infection or neoplastic