Golden hamster Golden hamster The golden hamster or Syrian hamster ("Mesocricetus auratus") is a rodent in the subfamily Cricetinae, the hamsters. Their natural geographical range is limited to arid areas of northern Syria and southern Turkey. Their numbers have been declining due to a loss of habitat caused by agriculture and deliberate elimination by humans. Thus, in the wild, they are now considered vulnerable by the IUCN. However, captive-breeding programs are well established, and captive-bred golden hamsters are often kept as small house pets. Additionally, they are also used as scientific research animals throughout the world. The size of adult animals ranges
Domestication of the Syrian hamster hamsters in the UK. From the UK these hamsters also spread throughout Europe. Albert Marsh of Mobile, Alabama established the commercial hamster industry in the United States in the 1940s. Marsh first got a hamster when he was gambling and won it in a wager. Somehow he got more hamsters after this one, perhaps from the breeding stock managed by Guy Henry Faget in Carville, Louisiana. At the time, Marsh was a highway engineer but unemployed. After getting his hamsters, he learned to breed them and founded Marsh Enterprises and the Gulf Hamstery, which promoted Syrian hamsters as pets, for