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Short answer, yes. Hamsters are rodents. But that is no bad thing! In fact, around 40% of mammal species on Earth are rodents, so they are definitely not alone. Nor is this a bad thing, as we will see being rodents means hamsters are part of the Rodentia order of mammals which is just a way we classify different animals.
That is it. It doesn’t make them smelly, or diseased, or scary… in fact, most of them are the cuddliest creatures you will ever meet!
What are rodents?
Okay we have said that hamsters are rodents, which makes them part of the Rodentia order of mammals, but what does that actually mean?
Well, all it really means is that they have a single pair of incisors at the front of both their upper and lower jaw. These are the cutting teeth in your mouth and humans have them too! The difference is that we have four in each jaw at the front of our mouths which are the similar size to the rest of our teeth, and they just have two pairs of really big ones. They are also much sharper than ours to allow hamsters and other rodents to cut into tough foods. Finally unlike our teeth on…
