# I never see my hamster



## ESAB

I got my hamster in December last year, but recently I noticed he hardly comes out, when he is out he's alert, eating and drinking but he just comes out gets food and goes back to bed straight away!

We get him out as much as possible but not sure why hes like this.

I had hamsters as a child and I am sure they came out more than this little guy!

Any idea what could cause this.


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## Phoenix24

Are you taking him out a lot during the day? You know hamsters are nocturnal, don't you? If you keep waking your hammy up in the day, he is going to need more time sleeping to catch up. Hamsters do sleep quite a bit anyway, but being nocturnal are most active during the night. Hammy may well be up for several hours whilst you are sleeping, and returns to bed before you get up.

Try to only get hammy out in the evenings if you can. And if you are awake in the night for any reason, likelihood is you will see hammy up and about too. But they do return to bed for little naps, and also to eat - they keep food stores in their bedding, and often return there to have a snack because it is 'safer' than roaming about (thinking wild hamster behaviour here).

What do you feed your hamster, and how much?


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## Guest

You should not wake a sleeping hamster as this can result in a nasty bite!

Hamsters sleep a lot but they are diurnal comming out during the day as well but most active at night time. 

Try to establish a routine for handling. Evening is best time to handle your hammy as they are most active then during the day they pop out to eat, drink and toilet. 

I was told that you should all ways wait for the hamsters ears to rise and to be fully awake before handling because this stage they are dosey and not too aware of what is going on. 

Do you hve a wheel for your hamster and have provided plenty of things to explore and do in its cage? Boredom can result in a sleepy, cage destructive hamster. 

I all ways provide nesting material at night time and toilet tubes for my hammy she loves them I did have a wheel for her but she found chewing was more fun. I have also asked my local co op to give me boxes and they put them aside for me ^^


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## ESAB

hi, no I never wake him up day or in the evening, on the occasional time he is out in the evening I will get him out, he has a lovely size cage with tunnels and a wheel, loves the tunnels but not fussed about the wheel, he has standard hammy muesli plus occasionally apples but will be changing that since reading some threads on here to a more varied diet


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## Guest

ESAB said:


> hi, no I never wake him up day or in the evening, on the occasional time he is out in the evening I will get him out, he has a lovely size cage with tunnels and a wheel, loves the tunnels but not fussed about the wheel, he has standard hammy muesli plus occasionally apples but will be changing that since reading some threads on here to a more varied diet


Sounds like your doing everything the right way not sure what else to sugest for you :>


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## Lil Miss

what wheel does he have? most of the wheels supplied with cages as standard are too small for syrians.
what cage does he have?


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## ESAB

the wheel is the silent spinner one but I have seen a larger one ill be getting. what wheels do you recommend, he used to be obsessed with going on it but then I changed it to the silent spinner and he doesn't go on it?!

This is his cage, I have removed the tunnels and the plastic corner piece.

Rat Cages : Mamble Rat / Hamster Narrow Bar 100cm Cage : www.LittlePetWarehouse.co.uk - The UK's Small Pet Specialists - The place to buy amazing products for your pet online

Just been out and bought him dried mealworms and Aubiouse to replace the wood shavings.


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## Lil Miss

unless you have the giant 12" rat silent spinner wheel then its not big enough im afraid the next size down from the 12" is the 6" which is too small for a syrian, they need a minimum of an 8" some even need 11"+ wheels

i use the karlie wonderland boogie wheels, they are brilliant and so quiet
either the 20cm or the 29cm one
Wonderland Exercise Wheel: Great Small Pet Accessories at zooplus

or the wodent wheel
any size
Wodent Exercise Wheel Junior on Sale | Free UK Delivery | PetPlanet.co.uk

the cage is a good size


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## ESAB

I'll have a look and get one of them, yes the cage is good lucky I found one at a good price, think it was on offer , just cleaned it out and taken the advise of scattering food so he's currently food hunting and hasn't bothered with the food in his bowl yet


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## Phoenix24

Prowl said:


> Hamsters sleep a lot but they are diurnal comming out during the day as well but most active at night time.


Actually, the (captive*) Syrian hamster is classed as nocturnal, not diurnal. Waking up occasionally during the day for a quick bite to eat does not mean the hamster is diurnal.

*A study done on circadian rhythms (ie the natural cycle of sleeping and waking) in the species showed that whilst hamsters in captivity are strictly nocturnal (more than 80% of activity occurring at night - no matter what the conditions), in the wild the females are diurnal, but only for short periods before and after the hottest part of the day, and the males are active throughout the day and night. Wild males observed in captivity were strictly nocturnal. The change in circadium rhythm is thought to be largely environmental (anti-predator) and not genetic. Ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2610053/#bib16

Unless your hamster is showing signs of sickness, then I doubt there is little to worry about. Hammy is probably up and about more at night than you realise, but it is not abnormal for a hamster to spend much of its time in its 'burrow' or nest, even when awake.

If your hamster has an overly large store, or is showing signs of being overweight, then both of these will make hammy less inclined to be up and about. Try hiding the food so hammy has to find it, and getting a bigger wheel may help encourage hammy to exercise. Do you have a ball? 20 mins (supervised) running around in the ball will give hammy a good bout of exercise.


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## ESAB

Phoenix24 said:


> Actually, the (captive*) Syrian hamster is classed as nocturnal, not diurnal. Waking up occasionally during the day for a quick bite to eat does not mean the hamster is diurnal.
> 
> *A study done on circadian rhythms (ie the natural cycle of sleeping and waking) in the species showed that whilst hamsters in captivity are strictly nocturnal (more than 80% of activity occurring at night - no matter what the conditions), in the wild the females are diurnal, but only for short periods before and after the hottest part of the day, and the males are active throughout the day and night. Wild males observed in captivity were strictly nocturnal. The change in circadium rhythm is thought to be largely environmental (anti-predator) and not genetic. Ref: Golden hamsters are nocturnal in captivity but diurnal in nature
> 
> Unless your hamster is showing signs of sickness, then I doubt there is little to worry about. Hammy is probably up and about more at night than you realise, but it is not abnormal for a hamster to spend much of its time in its 'burrow' or nest, even when awake.
> 
> If your hamster has an overly large store, or is showing signs of being overweight, then both of these will make hammy less inclined to be up and about. Try hiding the food so hammy has to find it, and getting a bigger wheel may help encourage hammy to exercise. Do you have a ball? 20 mins (supervised) running around in the ball will give hammy a good bout of exercise.


Hi, yes we have a ball for him, which he loves!


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