Burrowing for answers: Investigating Syrian hamster welfare through owner surveys.

IF 1.8 3区 农林科学 Q2 VETERINARY SCIENCES Veterinary Record Pub Date : 2024-11-02 Epub Date: 2024-08-07 DOI:10.1002/vetr.4534
Alice Fox, Vikki Neville
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Abstract

Background: Syrian hamsters are a relatively common pet species in the UK. However, we know very little about how they are kept. The aim of this study was to identify areas of good and poor practices among Syrian hamster owners using owner surveys.

Method: A survey of pet hamster owners was conducted with questions on husbandry, behaviour and health.

Results: There were 548 survey responses. Over 95% of the owners provided a wheel, hideaway or chew toy, and over 90% housed their hamster alone. However, 18.4% of the owners used hamster balls, hamsters may have been fed a diet that was not entirely appropriate, and over 45% of respondents reported that their hamsters were housed in close proximity to predator species. Most (65.9%) hamsters had never been taken to a veterinarian. Hamster ball use, shallower substrate depth and more frequent handling were significantly associated with greater owner observations of bar biting.

Limitations: A key limitation is that the respondents may not be representative of the average pet hamster owner, so this research does not provide a complete picture of the current state of hamster welfare.

Conclusion: There are some welfare concerns regarding the way Syrian hamsters are currently kept in the UK. Therefore, attempts to better distribute information about hamster care to owners should be made.

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挖掘答案:通过主人调查调查叙利亚仓鼠的福利。
背景:叙利亚仓鼠是英国比较常见的宠物物种。然而,我们对它们的饲养方式知之甚少。这项研究的目的是通过对仓鼠主人的调查,确定叙利亚仓鼠主人的良好做法和不良做法:方法:对宠物仓鼠的饲养者进行调查,问题涉及饲养、行为和健康:共有 548 份调查回复。超过 95% 的仓鼠主人为仓鼠提供了车轮、藏身处或咀嚼玩具,超过 90% 的仓鼠主人单独饲养仓鼠。然而,18.4%的主人使用仓鼠球,仓鼠的饮食可能并不完全合适,超过45%的受访者称他们的仓鼠被饲养在天敌物种附近。大多数受访者(65.9%)从未带仓鼠看过兽医。仓鼠球的使用、较浅的基质深度和较频繁的操作与仓鼠主人观察到的较多的咬栏行为有明显关联:一个主要的局限是,受访者可能无法代表普通的宠物仓鼠主人,因此这项研究无法全面反映仓鼠的福利现状:结论:英国目前饲养叙利亚仓鼠的方式存在一些福利问题。因此,应尝试更好地向饲养者传播有关仓鼠护理的信息。
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来源期刊
Veterinary Record
Veterinary Record 农林科学-兽医学
CiteScore
2.10
自引率
9.10%
发文量
1181
审稿时长
6-12 weeks
期刊介绍: Veterinary Record (branded as Vet Record) is the official journal of the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and has been published weekly since 1888. It contains news, opinion, letters, scientific reviews and original research papers and communications on a wide range of veterinary topics, along with disease surveillance reports, obituaries, careers information, business and innovation news and summaries of research papers in other journals. It is published on behalf of the BVA by BMJ Group.
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