Turkish hamster
Mesocricetus brandti (Nehring, 1898)
The turkish hamster (Mesocricetus brandti) is a species in the family Cricetidae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 108 g to 198 g and live up to 3.9 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.
Quick facts about the turkish hamster
- Weight
- 108 g – 198 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 3.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 10 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 15.4 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 8.59src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 45 days – 48 dayssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 3src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the turkish hamster live?
Not recorded
What is the turkish hamster?
The Turkish hamster (Mesocricetus brandti), also referred to as Brandt's hamster, Azerbaijani hamster, or avurtlak, is a species of hamster native to Turkey, Azerbaijan and other surrounding nations. The Turkish hamster, first catalogued in 1878, is a fairly close relative of the Syrian or golden hamster, though far less is known about it, and it is rarely kept as a pet. The population of the Turkish hamster is said to be declining in the wild, yet this hamster is often used in laboratory testing. Turkish hamsters have lifespans of about two years and are solitary, nocturnal animals, which hibernate.
They are reported to be more aggressive than other members of the family Cricetidae. They are tan and dark, sandy brown in color. Like all hamsters, the Turkish hamster has cheek pouches that allow it to carry large amounts of food at one time.
It is named after Johann Friedrich von Brandt, a German-born Russian zoologist and first Director of the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Science in St. Petersburg.
From the Wikipedia article “Turkish hamster” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Turkish_hamster&oldid=1361367762), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the turkish hamster endangered?
The turkish hamster is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.
How is the turkish hamster classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyCricetidae
- genusMesocricetus
- SpeciesMesocricetus brandti (Nehring, 1898)
Synonyms Cricetus brandti, Mesocricetus brandii, Mesocricetus koenigi
Other names and names in other languages (22)
- Brandt s hamsterEnglish
- Brandt's hamsterEnglish
- Brandt's hamsterEnglish
- Brandt’s hamsterEnglish
- قداد تركيArabic
- همستر تركيArabic
- křeček BrandtůvCzech
- Hámster TurcoSpanish
- lähi-idänkultahamsteriFinnish
- Hamster doré de TurquieFrench
- ブラントハムスターJapanese
- Tyrkisk GullhamsterNorwegian Bokmål
- Chomik tureckiPolish
- chomiczek tureckiPolish
- Хомяк БрандтаRussian
- Закавказский хомякRussian
- Maloaziiskii HomyakRussian
- Zakavkazskii HomyakRussian
- Koca AvurtlakTurkish
- Türk AvurtlağıTurkish
- Türk hamsteriTurkish
- 布氏中倉鼠Chinese
Relatives of the turkish hamster
Other species in the same genus Mesocricetus.
Golden hamster
Mesocricetus auratus
Romanian hamster
Mesocricetus newtoni
Ciscaucasian hamster
Mesocricetus raddei
CompareTurkish hamster vs Golden hamsterTurkish hamster vs Romanian hamsterTurkish hamster vs Ciscaucasian hamster
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the turkish hamster?
An adult turkish hamster weighs 108 g – 198 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the turkish hamster endangered?
The turkish hamster is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.
How long does the turkish hamster live?
The turkish hamster has a recorded lifespan of 3.9 years.
How long is the turkish hamster pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 15.4 days.
What kind of animal is the turkish hamster?
The turkish hamster (Mesocricetus brandti) belongs to the family Cricetidae in the order Rodentia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Turkish hamster (Mesocricetus brandti). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/turkish-hamster
“Turkish hamster (Mesocricetus brandti).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/turkish-hamster.
@misc{turkish_hamster_2026,
title = {Turkish hamster (Mesocricetus brandti)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/turkish-hamster},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}