We all want to do the best by our pets, and provide them with a happy life as part of the family. Hamsters are popular pets for people of all ages and the good news is that it's really easy to keep your hamster happy. Here's our top 10 tips for a happy hamster.....
1) SPACE
Hamsters are incredibly active animals! OK they spend their days asleep but at night they become Olympic athletes, bursting with energy and ready to run a marathon or four! Yep, in the wild, one Roborovski hamster can cover the equivalent distance of four marathons in a single night. It's amazing to consider how one little animal can manage such an amazing nightly journey. I'm exhausted by just thinking about running 100 yards, let alone over 100 miles. They really are incredible little critters. To help cater for their nightly activity, a large cage must to be provided, giving our hamsters sufficient space to burn off all that energy.
What The Research Says....
Research has shown a clear relationship between the amount of space provided and the amount of time they spend engaged in stress-related stereotypical behaviours such as: bar biting, bar swinging, scratching in corners, and chewing at the sides and bases of cages. As cage space increases, stress-related behaviours decrease!
To help keep our hamsters stress-free and happy a minimum floor space of 100cm x 50cm should be provided. It is very important to remember that this is the bare minimum and for female hamsters, who are much harder to please, a minimum of 120cm x 60cm is recommended.
It is a shock to many to learn just how much space a hamster needs, and even more so when the vast majority of cages marketed towards hamsters do not even come close to these recommendations. We would love to see a day where animal welfare legislation applied to small animals, but until then we can only help to educate the public.
Suitable Cages....
There are now a few companies producing welfare driven hamster housing. We recommend:
Many owners have come up with ingenious hacks to convert items from Ikea into suitable hamster homes. One such example is using Limmon (100x60), Lagkapten (120x60), Lagkepten (140x60) or Trotten (160x80) table tops to make three sides and the base and making an opening roof and perspex front. There are some great 'How To' videos on YouTube. I have made my own hamster enclosures from melamine furniture board and creating my own frame and doors from interior pine batons. Building your own usually works out less expensive and allows for larger floor spaces.
Homemade hamster enclosure measuring approx. 117cm x 57cm x 57cm internally, made from melamine furniture board and internal pine batons for the frame and doors. Mesh is 1cmx1cm weld mesh (for ventilation), with the bottom dropdown door (for easy cleaning) covered with perspex.
2) BEDDING & NESTING
In the wild hamsters will live in burrows, some species will dig their own, while others will take over vacant burrows made by other small animals. It is important to provide our hamsters with the ability to dig and create their own burrow systems. Some individuals love to burrow and others need a little bit of help to start them off. To allow for borrows a deep layer of substrate needs to be provided with a minimum depth of at least 20cm, preferably 28cm.
It is important to choose a substrate which holds burrows nicely and not to use the readily available wood shavings commonly found in pet shops. Shavings have been shown to pose a number of health problems from excess dust to naturally occurring phenol oils.
We recommend:
You can even mix the above substrates together and, to help further support burrows and add different textures, a small amount of hay can be added.
A great way to encourage burrowing behaviour is to partially burry tunnels (tunnels need a minimum 7cm diameter for syrian hamsters and a 5cm diameter for dwarf species) and burry low planforms which can be covered with bedding. You could even burry a hide with a missing side at the front of enclosures enabling you to see your hamster under the substrate.
For added enrichment you can add some different substrates in small pots or plastic containers such as coconut chips, or Aspen or Beech chips.
It is essential to provide a deep layer of substrate to allow for natural burrowing behaviour, we use Greenmile Cardboard at the rescue which hold burrows very well, but we order this by the pallet in large bales.
3) WHEELS
Wheels really are an essential item for all pet hamsters, allowing them to burn off further energy overnight. Like with housing, many wheels are far too small for hamsters and lead to spinal problems and even potential injury.
Syrian hamsters need a wheel with a minimum diameter of 28cm, however we recommend a 30cm diameter (For other species: chinese hamsters 28cm, and for winter white, campbells and roborovski a minimum of 21cm). Larger wheels allow a hamster to run in a more natural position with a straight spine. They should also be of a solid construction to prevent feet and legs from becoming caught or trapped leading to serious injury.
Suitable Wheels
There are a number of suitable wheels available, we recommend:
Bucatstate 32cm wheel with adjustable stand, perfect for syrian hamsters!
4) ACCESSORIES & ENRICHMENT
Hides
It is important to provide hamsters with a suitable hide in which to sleep and store food. Research has shown that hamsters prefer a hide with multiple chambers and generally choose to sleep in the chamber furthest away from the entrance. Once again, many hides aren't suitable for syrain hamsters due to the small openings. Syrian hamsters need a minimum 7cm diameter entrance to their hides to prevent injury when cheek pouches are full of food, (5cm for dwarf species). Once again these can be found pretty easily when you know where to look:
Happy Henry's Homes (also 100% formaldehyde free!)
It is a great idea to add a couple of hide options, which will help to break up the environment and add further areas for your hamster to investigate.
Multi chamber hide on stilts from Happy Henry's Homes. The perfect size for a syrian hamster, even when his pouches are full, with a 7cm diameter opening.
Platforms
Hamsters like a deep layer of substrate which will allow for natural burrowing behaviours, but digging burrows can cause other items to become buried, or worse collapse down on our little friends. Adding platforms to enclosures is the perfect solution to provide a stable surface for wheels, water bowls and other enrichment items. You can pick up ready made platforms in a variety of heights or you can build your own from kiln dried pine and doweling. Happy Henry's Homes offers a wide variety of platforms and it's always worth having a look on Etsy for quality made hamster accessories.
Platforms provide a stable surface for other items such as wheels and water bowls, while still allowing hamsters to burrow.
Sand Bath
Hamsters need to bathe just like us, but they don't use soap and water. Instead hamsters dust bath in sand to help remove excess oils from their coats to keep them in tip top condition. For this reason it is essential that we add a suitable sand bath to their enclosure. You can buy custom made sand baths, again Etsy is a great place to look, (remember syrians need a 7cm diameter opening, 5cm for dwarfs) or you can make your own from a plastic fridge tray or similar container. You won't be surprised to hear at this stage that not all sands marketed towards hamsters are safe. We recommend Unipac Reptile Sand or Komodo Natural Sand
Homemade sand bath, using a thick plastic tub and pine half lid.
Water
Hamsters need access to fresh water at all times and this can be provided via a bowl or a bottle. Personally, I prefer to use bowls when and where possible as this is a far more natural drinking behaviour and position. However, some hamsters may thrive on filling bowls with bedding or knocking them over, making a bottle a better option. You can now easily purchase bottle holders making them easy to position in all enclosure types.
A small ceramic bowl is a great way to provide your hamster with constant access to fresh water.
Other Enrichment
Many pet owners become confused when it comes to enrichment and aren't quite sure what counts as enrichment and what doesn't. So, if you feel that way, don't worry you aren't alone. Enrichment refers to pretty much everything we place into an animals environment which, in turn, effects the way in which they use the space provided. For example adding a piece of grapevine wood would allow a hamster to climb over, dig under and even chew the wood itself. We have three different behaviours which can be encouraged just by adding one item.
One thing we do know about hamsters is that they love clutter, adding lots of different items to their enclosures helps to encourage different behaviours and keeps their minds and bodies engaged and active. It also helps to add a feeling of safety and security as they can hide behind or between items. We have already mentioned grapevine which is commonly found in reptile section of pet shops and online stores. Other items commonly enjoyed by hamsters include:
Other tunnels (cardboard, cork, ceramic) (minimum diameter 7cm for syrians & 5cm for other species)
Ceramic hides
Java Wood, Sand Blasted Grape Vine and Bamboo Root
Hamsters love clutter! Providing lots of suitable items helps to provide a feeling of safety and shelter, along with encouraging a range of natural behaviours.
Forage Sprays
In the wild hamsters spend their nights foraging for food and as we have already discussed they travel a great distance to do so. They would naturally come across a wide variety of different plants baring seeds and grains and reach up to pull stems down enabling them to collect the seeds. The addition of forage sprays in the enclosure helps to mimic this natural behaviour for our pet hamsters and they also make enclosures look really attractive to us humans too! In addition they also help to add a natural feeling of safety and protection while moving around their enclosures.
We recommend:
Sprays encourage natural foraging behaviours, as well as providing a feeling of safety and cover. They also look great and brighten up enclosures.
Other Forage
In the wild hamsters will come across a variety of different plants and flowers on their nightly foraging expeditions and some of this will be on the ground. Sprinkling different dried forage across the top of substate or over platforms helps to add different textures and scents into the environment and gives something else for hamsters to nibbles on if they choose to. Some hamsters really love forage and others seem to completely ignore it altogether, but its a great item to add none the less. A great place for many different varieties of forage items from dried plants, herbs, flowers and even items like apple sticks and dandelion root can be found at Bunny Bistro
A dried flower and dried herbal mix offers our hamsters something different to nibble and provides different textures and scents to help increase environmental enrichment.
5) DIET
Hamsters are omnivores who will eat seeds, nuts, plants, flowers, fruits, and insects in the wild. Providing a mixed and varied diet is very important for overall health and to provide a bit of variety, after all you'd get bored of the same meal day in day out. It will be of absolutely no surprise by now, for you to learn that, the standardly available commercial hamster mixes aren't the best or even the most suitable diets for our pet hamsters. They lack the needed wide variety of seeds and grains, and many miss out a suitable animal/insect based protein source altogether. Here at Nibbles we mix our own hamster diets, but this can be a lot of trouble to go to for the average hamster parent. If you are interested in making your own mix a great guide can be found here
Ready Made Mixes Recommended:
In the wild hamsters don't have a handy bowl which is topped up everyday, as we have already discussed hamsters spend their nights foraging for food. For this reason we don't recommend using a food bowl, but rather scatter feed around the enclosure to encourage natural foraging behaviour. You should provide your hamster with around 1tsp of seed mix every day.
Hamsters require a mix containing a wide variety of seeds and grains to help keep them happy and healthy.
A small amount of fresh food should be offered to 2-3 times a week in ear sized portions. You don't want to overfeed fresh foods, only providing what your hamster will eat in one sitting i.e a single pea, ear sized (their ear not ours) portion of broccoli or kale. Fresh herbs such as parsley, basil and coriander can also be offered. Fresh fruits and carrot should be considered a treat item as these are very high in sugars and avoided altogether for dwarf species, especially winter white and campbell who are prone to dietary induced diabetes.
6) COMPANY
Syrian hamsters are without a doubt solitary animals and should never be housed with another hamster. Dwarf species are more likely to tolerate a cage mate, but are much happier when kept alone. In the wild they will live in small family groups, because their survival depends upon it. But they will leave their borrows at night and forage for food alone. In a captive environment, hamsters are prevented from heading off in separate directions for their nightly excursions and this can lead to serious fighting and even death. We are generally fast asleep when our hamsters are most active, and only discover the fall out the following morning. We do not recommend housing any species of hamsters in pairs or groups. They do not require company and we are more likely to cause stress by forcing them to cohabit.
7) HANDLING
Syrian hamsters, being larger in size are more likely to tolerate being handled and many will even come to enjoy it. However, smaller dwarf species, especially Roborovskis, are incredibly fast, making handling very difficult. When holding hamsters always ensure that your hands are low to the ground to prevent long and dangerous falls, should they leap. Never grab any hamster from above, these guys are prey animals and are naturally defensive when hands come down around them. To help them feel safer, scoop your hamster up from underneath.
Never grab your hamster from above. Use the palms of your hands to gently scoop them up from underneath.
8) PLAYTIME
Hamsters are very fast and can squeeze through very small gaps, so playtime outside of the cage needs to be safe and secure. An escape proof hamster play pen is a great way to give your hamster some free range time in a safe secure environment. It's very important that you are there to fully supervise your hamsters playtime, hamsters are amazing escape artists! Hamster balls used to be an incredibly popular way of allowing hamsters out of cages, however, we have now learnt that hamsters find these very stressful and there have been many reported cases of injury. It is for this reason that there use is no longer recommended.
9) CLEANING & MAINTENANCE
It is important to keep enclosures clean and hygienic for our hamsters to prevent them from becoming unwell with bacterial infections such as wet tail. Many hamsters choose an area of their enclosure to urinate, usually in their sand boxes which makes keeping their homes clean very convenient. This small area can easily be removed once or twice a week and a full change of sand boxes once or twice a month depending on size and usage.
Sleeping areas should be changed at least once a week to remove any stored and uneaten food and fresh nesting material provided. Uneaten food items can become rotten leading to a build up of harmful bacteria so regular maintenance of these areas is vital.
Research has shown that completely changing all the bedding in enclosures actually induces a stress response in hamsters as we have removed all of their scent from the environment. For this reason it is recommended that some of the old bedding is always returned to the enclosure. We recommend changing the deep substrate in sections over the course of 2-4 months, for example we will remove a section roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of the substrate once every 2-4 weeks depending on the hamster. Some owners remove all the bedding keeping at least 1/4 back to be replaced on the top layers or mixed in with the new fresh substrate. The method you choose will depend on your hamster and how much mess they make on a day to day basis.
10) VET CARE
Hamsters are generally happy healthy pets when correctly care for, however, like any animal they are susceptible to health problems and illness. It's very important to choose your hamster's vet carefully as despite being popular pets hamsters are considered as exotics in the veterinary industry. Always double check that your practice has a vet trained in the treatment of hamsters before booking an appointment. In Wales, we recommend Origin Vets for West Wales and Origin Vets Clinic for South Wales. If your hamster does become unwell, it's very important that they see a vet to get the treatment they need as soon as possible.
If you have found this article helpful, please consider making a donation towards our work at Nibbles. We are West Wales' only specialist rabbit and rodent rescue and totally reliant on donations and fundraising to keep the centre open and running. We can't do what we do without the support from wonderful people just like you!
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