Whether you’ve always been fascinated by hamsters or are simply curious about how their eyesight works, understanding a hamster’s eyesight is important. In fact, knowing what a hamster’s vision looks like will help you understand their behaviour and needs. After all, hamsters have very poor eyesight, and if you’re not aware of this, you could endanger your hamster’s life.
Hamsters have eyes similar to ours, though they’re not as sensitive to light as we are. They also have large pupils and large retinas, which allow them to collect more ambient light. While their eyes are largely spherical in shape, their pupils are black and dark in the center, while human eyes have white iris and a smaller pupil. If you’re curious about how a hamster’s vision works, continue reading to discover more information about hamster eye anatomy.
Hamsters have poor eyesight compared to most other animals. They spend most of their lives in low-light environments and sleep more during the day. They don’t see ultraviolet rays from sunlight, so they avoid being in direct sunlight or in bright light. Additionally, hamsters can’t tolerate high temperatures and do better in low light conditions. And since their eyesight is so poor, hamsters need to rely on other senses.
Despite their poor eyesight, hamsters have several other special traits that help them see. Their binocular vision and panoramic field of vision help them recognize objects and navigate in low-light conditions. In addition, their single eyelids are responsible for cleaning their eyeballs. To see what a hamster’s eyelids look like, sneak up on a sleeping hamster, preferably in a darkened room, and observe their eyelids.
Although hamsters do not have color-blind vision, their ears are sensitive and their sense of sound is incredibly strong. In fact, they have the same sense of sound as humans and a high sense of smallness as humans do. Because of this, their eyesight is monochromatic – meaning that every color is seen as a single color. Still, mammals have been able to show that hamsters can perceive some shades of blue and green. Fortunately, 97% of their eyes are made up of rod cells.
Besides being born blind, hamsters can develop blindness through injury, infection, or congenital conditions. The result is a red-eyed hamster that doesn’t frolic around with his or her peers. But hamsters with healthy eyes can also go blind due to infection or injury. A veterinarian can prescribe the correct medication and dosage to prevent vision loss and help your hamster get back on its feet.
While hamsters’ eyesight isn’t as advanced as those of humans, the creatures have developed other senses. While this makes it hard to understand hamster vision, studies have shown that their eyes are monochromatic, meaning that every color is perceived as a single color. Hamsters are able to see some shades of blue and green, but not red. They can’t see UV light, either.
