Is it possible to make my hamster sleep at night?

Question

I have just got a new hamster (monty) and I was wondering if it is possible to make him sleep at night and be awake during the day? I know they are nocturnal but is it possible?

Answer 1

Keep him in  a dark room during the day, and put him in a room with a light at night.  Do it gradually over a couple of weeks.

Answer 2

nah they are nocturnal animals, hmm not sure how to force them to sleep tho.

Answer 3

i wouldnt recomend it but my friend did it and its no different, okay.

keep them in a dark room untill they get used to it and think its opposites.

or, you try and keep them awake all day and dont let them sleep xoxokitty

Answer 4

It is very difficult to alter a hamster's sleeping schedule once the hamster has decided on a particular schedule.

It is not necesscary that all hamsters sleep all through the day and are active all through the night. I currently have 7 hamsters and each of them have their own sleeping schedule. Only one among them has the normal schedule of sleep day and wake night. Some sleep erratically and wake for 10 minutes for every 2 hours of sleep.

So the first thing for you to do is to judge your hamster's sleeping hours. It is not advisable to force wake them throughout the day but what you can do is to set aside an hour of playtime every evening as per your convenience and start playing with Monty at the same time every evening. A playpen is ideal. At the end of the playtime, reward him with his favourite treats. Within a week, he would get used to this time and would actually wake up and wait for you at the same time.

Answer 5

Not really, unless you bribe it with a treat or try and wake it up!

It`s best if you just leave the little guy alone (unless of course, he is awake) in the day, because it`s most likely he will still be awake at night too anyway.

Answer 6

No and waking them during the day is bad for them.  You could wake him gently in the early evening every day to try to move his waking time forward a little but not any earlier than evening.

Answer 7

Forcing them sleep during the night and be awake during the day would disrupt their personal circadian rhythms and lead to illness. Being nocturnal, hamsters are supposed to be up at night. Any method of forcing them to sleep would involve drugging them which would be unethical. I suggest you move their cage out of your room at night if they are preventing you from sleeping. Play with them in the evening or some time close to their normal waking schedule if you find them too sleepy to be bothered during the day and to prevent depriving them of sleep. You need to adapt in some part to your pet's needs, not the other way around.