Although hamsters are considered to be not the smartest animals, they still have enough intelligence to function well enough in their lives.
Hamsters have enough intelligence to solve certain problems in life, to remember to a certain extent what is happening around them, and to show emotions.
How big is a hamster’s brain?
A hamster’s brain is 2-3 cubic centimeters in size, or smaller than a human’s little finger nail, and is quite small compared to the brains of other animals. However, despite their small size, their brains are large enough to be able to function well in the environment that surrounds them.
They can remember the way out of a maze, they can learn tricks and they can recognize faces.
In today’s article, we will learn all about the size of the brain of hamsters, as well as other issues such as their intelligence, memory, and similar issues.
How big is a hamster’s brain?
Hamsters don’t have a big brain, it’s the size of a pea, but since they are small animals, it’s quite enough, because we can’t ask too much from such small pets.
For example, the brain of humans is about 1200 cubic centimeters or at least 500 times larger than the brain of hamsters, but even with this size, hamsters have a functional brain.
However, although the brain of hamsters is small, it does not prevent them from thinking, remembering, making decisions, and showing emotions, showing when they are happy or sad.
Since hamsters have a small brains, it limits their ability to receive and send information, which is their weak point.
Due to the size of the brain, hamsters cannot be compared with other animals, such as dogs, which have larger brains and greater thinking capacity.
Hamsters with their small brains cannot cope with some more difficult things such as creative thinking, but they can also show happiness, anger, and nervousness in certain situations.
Although hamsters have small brains, they can still recognize their owners and distinguish them from strangers, which is especially important for owners.
How smart are hamsters?
Hamsters are smart enough, although not as smart as other animals such as dogs and cats, which are still smarter than your little pet.
Also, hamsters are smart enough to be able to learn and be trained for certain tricks, they can memorize certain events from the past, and so on.
Although they have small brains, hamsters can solve problems, they can find their way in the maze, and they also react very well to positive and negative events.
Hamsters are not the smartest animals, but they have enough intelligence to recognize faces or respond to calls for their attention.
Hamsters know very well and are smart enough to escape from the cage, which they usually try to do at every possible opportunity.
In fact, hamsters are also called experts in escaping from cages because they can take advantage of every opportunity that is presented to them.
Do hamsters have a good memory?
Hamsters have a pretty good memory, they can remember certain things for up to 3 months.
They can remember how to get out of a maze, recognize faces and remember where they stored their food in the cage, bedding, or hiding places.
Hamsters remember well when you give them food rewards for positive events, but they can also remember when they receive negative reinforcement.
Although hamsters have small brains, this does not prevent them from learning tricks and skills that they need in their lives.
They do not have a memory like cats and dogs, but they still have enough memory for such a small animal.
Hamsters are very skilled at many things which is a sign that they remember well at least in the first three months, and then if things are not repeated they gradually forget them.
How many IQ do hamsters have?
It is not yet known exactly how much the IQ of hamsters is, although there are certain opinions according to their ability which they show in their everyday life.
More research needs to be done to calculate exactly how smart they are. Hamsters still successfully solve certain skills, tricks, and other ways to check their intelligence.
Hamsters are generally intelligent, but they have less intelligence than other animals such as cats and dogs.
How do you mentally stimulate a hamster’s brain?
You can stimulate your hamster’s brain to some extent so that it can improve its memory to some level.
To succeed in this you need to enrich their life in the cage by introducing new toys and objects for mental stimulation.
With the help of the toys, the hamsters will dig, search more in the cage and try to use their brain more.
Do hamsters show emotion?
Hamsters just like other animals can show emotions when something happens in their life.
They cannot speak but through their body language, they can show what they feel in a certain situation in their life.
They show their emotions if they are happy, when they are sick, or when they are angry with someone in their environment.
That’s why it’s very important to get to know your pet well so that you can more easily learn and understand their emotions.
Can you train your hamsters?
Although hamsters have a small brains, it does not mean that they are not capable of being trained, on the contrary, with persistence you can teach them many things.
Once the hamster gets used to you, then you can start training it in certain things such as climbing, jumping, and similar things.
You can also train your hamsters how to use the toilet or how to do certain tricks.
Hamsters are stubborn little animals, but if you don’t give up on training them, you will eventually succeed in teaching them something new in their life.
Read more: How Smart Are Hamsters? (Memory, Recognition)
Are hamsters smarter than guinea pigs?
Hamsters are less intelligent than guinea pigs. If you train hamsters they will have a much harder time learning certain things than guinea pigs.
Hamsters are more delicate than guinea pigs, which are more calm and more concentrated in a given situation.
It is enough to put a hamster and a guinea pig in a cage together and you will immediately notice the difference in their behavior that undoubtedly shows what their intelligence is.
Hamsters have less gray matter, and therefore it can be concluded that guinea pigs are indeed smarter than hamsters.
Read more: How To Handle and Relieve Stress in Hamsters? Let’s Discover
Conclusion
Although hamsters have very small brains, they are still intelligent animals.
Their brain is 2-3 cubic centimeters in size, or the size of your little finger nail, but even with such a small brain, they remember very well, at least in the first three months.
They are smart enough to find their way out of the maze and find their hidden food and other things. Hamsters are experts at escaping from cages or other enclosures.
Although they don’t have as developed a brain as dogs or cats, they are quite smart enough for their size.
Although hamsters have small brains, we can still conclude that they use them maximally and smartly in their short life.
Read more: Can Hamsters Have Nightmares? Let’s Discover