Quote:
Originally Posted by JLPrairie
I'm probably being stupid, but do baby hamsters need wheels? Just wondering.  |
It really is up to the owners but we would never give wheels to a group of pups. They do get a go in the playpen when they are a little older. Remember these pups are only 4 weeks old! A group with a wheel will all try and get on at once and could easily injure someone or knock over a wheel.
My youngsters don't have wheels till they are a bit older and in single cages usually somewhere between 10 and 14 weeks.
Baby hamsters do tend to become wheel obsessed and will run themselves ragged and not gain weight.
Once they are a bit more robust we introduce the wheel for limited time in the evening maybe a couple of hours then gradually build up till they have it full time.
The baby hamsters have each other just now plus lots of out time with us an other handlers plus toys in there (which they have buried) and the playpen. They have novel food items like peanuts and walnuts as well as tubes and boxes to investigate and various bedding types. They sleep a lot like all babies. If you have them out more than 30minutes they fall asleep!
Halloumi now has had a full cage clean and has her sand dish, toys and wheel back again. These are all removed when she has the pups as she is too busy with the babies to need them
It's entirely your choice and you should do what you instinctively feel is right for your hammy to keep it happy and healthy