Hamster exercise

Vojera

I have a syrian hamster who is super tame and who loves being out and about and snuffling people's faces and hands. She has a wheel in her cage, which she uses a fair bit (not as much as some dwarfies I've had in the past), but as a change of scenery, sometimes I pop her into the bath (fully dried, of course) with some food stashes, hidey houses, kitchen roll, bits of cardboard.

The thing is, she constantly just jumps up the side trying to get out. Is this just her nature as a hamster? Or am I stressing her out by putting her in a new environment? I've heard that exercise wheels are cruel to hammies, so I thought this might be an alternative for her. Her cage is an alright size (80cmx50cm, with only one layer). Do you think I should keep bringing her out to play or leave her where she is? I don't want her getting bored but I don't want to stress her either.

Sigma Force

It's very hard to keep a hamster fully occupied I guess some believe now that the wheels become something of a habit with them rather than them enjoying it but hard to tell. Her cage sounds ok but if it's only one level with no tubes then it will get boring for her.

Hamsters like to tunnel so if you can re-create a natural set up by adding on tubes, there's lots of youtube clips for various ideas but do check out the ikea hackers site as well for ideas that might work out cheaper.

Using various safe litter as well can help keep a hammy happy, if you have the main area for sleeping and eating with carefresh (woodchips aren't great imo). Then add on another section via a tube and have non toxic childrens play sand (you might have to double check the particular brand but the one I used Toymaster was safe). Peat moss can be used as well but it's best to have Carefresh in the toilet are and the area most used because sand and peat moss tend to stink up quicker.

Many people don't like the awkward Habitrail set up but the old Habitrail was way better and bigger than what's around now and have had hamsters in the past using the old one and they loved it.

Plain kitchen roll is great as well, every day add another sheet for your hammy to add to her bed. The bath is usually a good place but maybe your hammy prefers her own place with her familiar smell etc. so adding on tubes to an excisting home might be more fun for her.

Vojera

Cool, thanks for the advice She does get kitchen roll every day and the odd cardboard tube, but I often feel she's bored.

I'll definitely have a look into making her home more exciting. Thanks a million for the tips

Saaron

Once I put a small ball into my hamster's cage and he loved it! I don't know where I found it but it was about the size of his head and he used to love pushing it around his cage! He spent a lot of time playing with it

Zapperzy

I used to put mine in the bath with toilet rolls, shoeboxes, a sandbath with food buried in it and I kept separate toys for the bath. She never seemed to like the ball very much the few times i put her in it, always thought they were a bit cruel and it's hard to tell if they actually enjoy them or not. Also despite trying various brands and styles of wheels I'v never had a hamster that properly used it regularly.

One thing I'l say about tubes is check them regularly that they are all connected properly and none have come loose or they've not started to nibble at them. I had a bit of a scare once when I found a tube slightly come loose.