Do you think my hamster has beat the worlds oldest hamster record?

I'm not sure if they keep track to even know how old the oldest hamster was. I tried doing a search but came up with nothing... Even on the Guinness Book of World Records [GBWR] site and the Ripley's Believe It Or Not site... The GBWR site says that it "features only a small selection of the 40,000 records listed in the Guinness World Records database." So you should try going to your public library or school library and looking in official book, which would list all of the records. Go to the index in the back and search by "Hamster".

You never know though; someone might have had a hamster that lived 10 years, but if it was never reported to anyone, then no one would know what the record is to try and break it...

If you cannot find it in the book, then you should start the record! Contact the Guinness World Records and ask to submit your hamster as the current record holder. [See below]

One of the major stipulations is that all records have to be "provable, quantifiable and breakable." Therefore, you will definitely need proof of your hamster's age. So do you still at least have the receipt from when he was purchased? Was he purchased on a credit card by any chance? You might be able to use an old credit card bill as proof. Maybe if you have pictures with the date in the corner from when he was still a baby, that could be accepted. Not digital pictures though, because they could be altered. Take some current pictures of your hamster to send along with copies of the receipt/bill. Make sure you write your name, address, and phone number on the back of everything just in case they get separated from one another. And don't forget your hamster's name too!

If you create an account at http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/ then you can submit an application online by logging in and going to "Make a Record Attempt".

I'm not sure if you can do everything online, but here are the Contact Details for their Corporate Office in the UK in case you need it.

Guinness World Records Limited

184-192 Drummond Street

3rd Floor

London NW1 3HP

United Kingdom

[Note: You may need additional postage to ship outside of the U.S. Take it to the post office and have them give you the correct postage.]

The site states:

When contacting Guinness World Records please specify which department your inquiry concerns so that we can respond as quickly as possible:

* Editorial/Publishing

* Licensing

* Press Office

* Records Management Team

* Sales and Marketing

* TV Production

* Website

[You would probably want to contact the "Records Management Team", so you should probably put that within the address to make sure it is taken to the right people and not sent all over the office building] Like this:

Guinness World Records Limited

ATTN: Records Management Team

184-192 Drummond Street

3rd Floor

London NW1 3HP

United Kingdom

Try online first though.

Good luck!

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In a continued search, I found this article about how this hamster may make the GBWR for being the SMALLEST hamster... The article briefly states that there are records for the oldest hamster and biggest hamster, but not the smallest, though I cannot find any records at all relating to hamsters on the website... I don't have the book to check in that though.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/...

PS: Make sure you re-read and proofread your letter!! You want to make sure it sounds as professional as possible. If it's difficult to read because of poor grammar, spelling, or punctuation, they might just throw it out. Luckily, you seem like you write pretty well, but just double-check it anyway, just in case.

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If they don't go for the idea or you never hear back from them (I'm sure they get TONS of record ideas every day), then you can upload pictures and videos of your hamster to Unofficial World Records.

http://www.unofficialworldrecords.com/

You can even win prizes and stuff. It's kind of a weird site with all kinds of straaaange records, but basically if you are the first one to claim the record, then you are automatically the record holder until someone comes along and breaks your record. You can then send the link to your friends and family and stuff claiming that he is the oldest hamster in the world. Like I said, I'm not entirely sure there even is an "official" record, so no one would even know if he was or not, but he sounds like he just might be!! Congrats!

Side Note: Being that old, he may not be as "happy" as he looks. You may want to take him to PetCo or PetSmart and have someone look at him to make sure he is still healthy and not in pain. Being as old as he is, he may need additional vitamins or nutrients. It might be a good idea to make sure eveything is ok with him and learn what else you can do to make him comfortable. :-)

Possibly, i've heard the lifespan of a teddy bear hamster is 2 -3 years.

LOL...dunno about hamsters, but I may have the world record going for hedgehogs!! Ms. Sticky Buns is about 10 1/2 and their life expectancy is 5-8 year at best. YIKES! She's outlived many youngsters!

wow, look in the book of world record, genesis or something like that, call ur local news station, i'm forreal, u might win a prize for taking such good care of him, n we can split it 50/50

well search the web type oldest hamster record and youll find somthing

Wow, I'm impressed ! My hammie was only 2 (she had mammary cancer). You must be taking very good care of your hamster.

check guiness book of records

wow! im thinking you might have made the record! haha im not shure tho... he sounds pretty old tho! so i think you might have! :]