Body length is up to 28 cm, tail length up to 14.5 mm. The upper body is brownish in color. The underside of the body is black or dark gray. There are small bright spots on the cheeks and behind the ears. .
Most often, hamsters live in the steppes with a predominance of perennial grasses, which are very attractive for their nutrition and housing, but they can also live in forest belts. They prefer to settle on developed lands, especially in fallow lands. The species is common in Georgia and Russia; found in the North Caucasus , in the Stavropol Territory and in the Ciscaucasia .
Radde hamsters are nocturnal. Animals dig deep burrows with one or more exits. At a depth of 1 m, the main passage branches into several horizontal ones, with cameras for stocks and housing. The most intensive digging of holes occurs during the period of young growth [3] . In winter they hibernate.
Most often, his diet includes peas , clover , aster , alfalfa , Japan , various root crops, etc., etc. Very high fecundity . In the lowland territories, females of Radde hamsters give birth up to four times, in the mountains - twice a year.
Hamsters Radde can be tamed and used as a pet [4]
Vegetation is completely destroyed within the burrow; the size of the damaged areas (“bald patches”) reaches 50 m² or more. In addition, the hamster Radde is a carrier of such a dangerous infection as tularemia . The main control method is trapping and water burrowing. .
