Hamster question.?

Question

my hamster is about a year old and he is a male winter white. at night he doesnt run on his wheel. he never does unless i pick him up and put him in it. he is active and everything, he runs in his ball, and he looks fine(except for i think he might be getting a bald spot so i am watching that) should i be worried?? and what are some ways i might be able to get him using it again?

Answer 1

Watch the bald spot and if it gets worse contact a vet.

What kind of wheel do you have? Maybe you should try putting a different kind of wheel in there. I had a mesh wheel in my 3 gerbils' cage and they never knew how to use it, then i got one of those silent spinner wheels and now they actually run on it.

Answer 2

maybe he's getting bored.

Answer 3

Hamsters get bored of doing the same thing everyday just like us humans. Creativity is the key to making them play actively everyday.Some hamsters get bored of their wheels and might stop doing them. In such cases, they require alternative types of activities to keep them active.

Some simple tricks to make him active (to compensate for his not using his wheel) are -

Spread his food and hide treats in his bedding instead of putting food in a food dish. This would make him burrow and search for food instead of eating mechanically from his food dish.

Give him a variety of toys to play with. By toys, I do not mean the expensive ones you get in pet shops. Your hammy would be equally or more happy with inane things like empty toilet toll tubes, toothpaste cartons with flaps cut off or even hollowed out plastic balls (non toxic plastic should be used). I even remove the base of Starbucks coffee cups to make simple tunnels for my hamsters.

Make a hamster proof room area where he can roam around freely with no danger of escaping. I use the bath tub in my house - dry it out completely, plug the drain hole and make her roam in the tub. To make it even more interesting, put some toys and maybe a stand alone exercise wheel there and leave him there for 20 minutes and watch him have fun.It is also a good way to interact and play with him too.

Remember variety is the key to a healthy and active hamster.

I am concerned about the bald spot on your hamster fur. Is he older than 1 year? Then it could be due to age. However if you suspect anything wrong, have it checked by the vet so that you can rule out any sickness that might be the cause of the hamster's lethargy.

Answer 4

I used to have that cage, it was pretty cool, except hamsters don't like it, it's not ventilated enough, I didn't like hearing this when I had it, but you have to listen, It's too small for any hamsters, believe me, I just traded in the habitrail for a wire cage, and now my hamster is MUCH more active, please don't ignore my message, I did that to somebody else's answer, and I ended up regreting it. There are weak spts all over the cage that your hamster could get out of, my hamster used to escape at least 2 times a week once he figured out how to break the weak spots, and my catalmost killed him one time! It gets way too stuffy in there, and my hamster alost died from disease in the habitrail, if I were rating it, I would give it NO stars, my hamster hurt himself in there once, please get a wire cage for the sake of your hamster, the same thing happened to my hamster where he stopped running on his wheel all of the sudden, and then almost died because he didn't get enough excersize! I'll give you a recommendation to hopefully send you in the right direction to what kind of cage to put your hamster in,

http://www.petsmart.com/product/zoom/ind...

Really, get a wire cage! That is the hamster cage I currently have that my hamster LOVES! PLEASE GET A WIRE CAGE FOR YOUR HAMSTER! Hope I helped and good luck!

-Pumpkin  8D

Answer 5

make sure that the weel is not too small for him, if he is larger than usual u may ahve to get a larger weel than for hamsters, also if u hav a wire cage, his paws could getstuck in there, and he may kno that, and if u cannot get a larger weel in your cage i suggest u get a larger cage also.

also my friend had a hamster and he got a bald spot b4 and he soon got a bump, and then was rotting away, i know this sound horrible, and thats bcuz it is, i would contact a vet about it, and also if the weel has a wall on the front, and little wholes to go into it it may not like it and not go in it anymore bcuz it is too large 4 it, u may want to try just putting him in a ball several times a day 4 about 20-30 min. Also if he is chuby, and it has little entries 2 get in it, then  hee may not be able 2 fit in the wholes, in this case, u will also need to get a new wheel, also my hamster liked 2 hear himself run in the wheel.

Answer 6

If he never ran his wheel before i wouldn't worry about it,. it's not as if he was and now isn't .. i would possibly try a different kind of wheel

Answer 7

No, he will go on his ball when he wants to, just let hm do his "thing".  he also could be too big for it, try a bigger wheel. :)

Answer 8

don't be worried as long as he is running in his ball.  my hamster didn't like to run in his wheel either.  so i put him in the ball for exercise.

Answer 9

might not feel like it. they normally run at night.  but he  might be getting old. they only live like 2-3 years

Answer 10

LOL my hamster did that too! All I had to do was clean the wheel [he peed on it] and then he ran on it.

Answer 11

Maybe the older he is the less he runs in his wheel it's good that he runs in his ball but it's bad that you always have to take him out of the cage.He maybe old and have a bald spot.Just wait and see.