How smart are hamsters?

In relation to what? Compared to rats, no. Compared to a carrot, yes. (There’s probably a reason that they are not used in memory and learning experiments.)

Compared to you.

Smart enough to know better but to dumb to care.

I don’t know about smart, but they seem to have nasty tempers.

@ccrow I know right? They’re nasty little boogers with no sense of loyalty. I had one a few years back and gave it away. He didn’t like me. Kept escaping. Meh… Hamsters…

Not nearly as intelligent as rats or squirrels, because they are solitary animals and do not need to learn advanced communications like body language and “speech” and other social skills.

Well…they certainly can chew their way out of a paper bag. lol

Hamsters mostly sleep, eat and are moody little rodents, nocturnal and have terrible eyesight.
Other than watching the sky for birds of prey or the ground for snakes, the vast herds of wild Hamsters really don’t philosophize much.
Now rats….rats are incredibly intelligent, and brain size doesn’t matter, but Hamsters got the short spin on the brains wheel of rodents. haha