Famous hamsters and guinea pigs in books, films and online

Hamsters and guinea pigs do not always get the starring roles that rabbits and rats do, but the ones that make it are unforgettable. Here are the famous ones, from the early internet to picture books, film and the White House, with who made them and why people love them.

Who are the most famous hamsters online?

The Hampster Dance, 1998

Before memes had a name, there was the Hampster Dance. In 1998 Deidre LaCarte, a Canadian martial arts instructor, built a page on GeoCities as part of a traffic contest with her sister and a friend, the Daily Dot reports. It was a tribute to her own pet. In her words, she "made up a page about my hamster, Hampton". The page filled with rows of little dancing cartoon hamsters set to a squeaky, sped-up tune, and it spread across the early web by email and word of mouth. The Daily Dot notes that CNET ranked it number one in its top ten web fads in 2005.

Hamster Vacuum, 2007

Some of the internet's favourite hamster stars simply eat. The Daily Dot lists "Hamster Vacuum", a March 2007 YouTube video of a hamster hoovering up a line of seeds at speed, which had reached 6.4 million views by 2023. Anyone who has watched a hamster fill its cheek pouches will recognise the technique.

Nom Nom Nom, 2009

In 2009 the songwriter Parry Gripp set a montage of hamsters and bunnies eating to a very catchy song, "Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom". The Daily Dot says it was nearing 39 million views by the end of 2023.

Who are the most famous hamsters in books and cartoons?

Hamtaro

Hamtaro, the cheerful little hamster with a big heart, was created by the Japanese author and artist Ritsuko Kawai. Anime News Network dates the first Hamtaro picture book, published by Shogakukan, to October 1997. It went on to become a television cartoon, along with films and more stories, and English versions of the books arrived from Viz Media in 2003. For a generation of children around 2000, Hamtaro and his friends, the Ham-Hams, were the reason they wanted a hamster.

Humphrey, the classroom hamster

The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney was published by Putnam in February 2004. Humphrey is a classroom hamster who goes home with a different pupil each weekend and decides it is his job to help each one with their problems. Publishers Weekly called the episodes warm and humorous, and found a gentle lesson in them about listening to others.

Who are the most famous guinea pigs?

Olga da Polga

Olga da Polga is the adventurous, story-loving guinea pig created by Michael Bond, the author of Paddington Bear. Her publisher Allison and Busby says her adventures were not entirely made up: they were inspired by Bond's own pet guinea pig, and he went on to keep another called Vladimir. Olga loves an audience, which will sound familiar to anyone whose guinea pigs wheek the house down at teatime.

The G-Force agents

In Disney's G-Force, released in the US on 24 July 2009 and directed by Hoyt Yeatman Jr., a team of guinea pigs work as secret agents. D23 lists Darwin, the squad leader, voiced by Sam Rockwell; Blaster, the weapons expert, voiced by Tracy Morgan; Juarez, the martial arts specialist, voiced by Penelope Cruz; and Mooch, the scout. Their computer expert, Speckles, voiced by Nicolas Cage, is not a guinea pig but a star-nosed mole.

The White House guinea pigs

Theodore Roosevelt's children kept guinea pigs in the White House, and gave them very grand names. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library lists Dr. Johnson, named for the family's pastor; Bishop Doane, named for a real bishop; Fighting Bob Evans, after an admiral; Father G. Grady, after a local priest; and Admiral Dewey, after a naval hero of the Spanish-American War. The library wonders whether the names show the children's grasp of history or their sense of humour. We tell the whole story in the White House guinea pigs.

The Tudor guinea pig

The oldest famous guinea pig may be the one held by a little girl in a painting called Three Unknown Elizabethan Children, from about 1580. When the National Portrait Gallery showed it in 2013, it described the painting as "possibly the earliest-known depiction of this animal in a portrait". The guinea pig is beige, brown and white and sits snugly in the girl's arm. Read more in the history of guinea pigs as pets.

Snowball, the oldest guinea pig

Guinness World Records lists Snowball, owned by M. A. Wall of Nottinghamshire, UK, as the oldest guinea pig ever. Snowball died on 14 February 1979, aged 14 years and 10.5 months. Our page of record-breaking small pets has more champions, and how long guinea pigs live explains what is normal.

Famous hamsters and guinea pigs at a glance

What do famous hamsters and guinea pigs tell us about real ones?

The stories pick up something true about each animal. The famous hamsters are busy, determined and food-focused, and real hamsters really do stuff their cheeks and run for miles at night. We share our home with a dwarf hamster, and the Hamster Vacuum video looks very familiar. Our guide to hamster behaviour and body language explains what all that busyness means, and our hamster facts page has more surprises. If you are thinking of getting one, start with hamsters as pets and our full hamster care guide.

The famous guinea pigs, meanwhile, are sociable and full of chatter, like Olga holding court. Real guinea pigs are herd animals that do best with company, as our page on whether guinea pigs need a friend explains. For everything else, see our guinea pig care guide and guinea pig facts.