wakes up at 10pm so daughter doesn't get to see her play!!

[Digga]

If I wanted to see my ham before he wanted to wake up I would cut up an apple or carrot and put a small chunk in front of his house and make a little trail with the rest so that he would have to come out to get them all. Hams love their treats and their nose will let them know something yummy is out there.

[marmaladesmum]

I had a hamster as a child n he woke up way before my bedtime each nite so U didn't hav to b so rude!! Me as an adult wanted a pet too so unfair for U to say that thank U very much!! She has been waking at 7ish past 2 days n has been happy to eat n play. Thank U for all ur help tho she's lovely

yea I gave her sum peanut butter yest lol prob y she woke up early

Thank U I find this forum fantastic!!

[Tutu]

Originally Posted by SprinkleHamster

We will sometimes play with our hamster in the morning if he is awake; otherwise Chewie normally falls back asleep in my hand while we read bedtime stories and my little guy can pet him as we read. It may not be as fun as seeing him about but our little guy (He is loves him anyway and will constantly check on Chewie even when he is sleeping.

I always check even my hammy is sleep and constantly thinking of how to improve the cage set up etc. I think owning hamster is not only playing with them but whole experience and looking at them and watching them I guess. Every morning I guaranteed to find something is moved around and rummaged in her habitat and is just funny to see if she pop her head to see who is there

[_nod]

Just a thought and probably not practical, but hamsters must set their body clock from the sun, right? If you open the curtains/blinds early in the morning and then draw them in the early evening. Maybe even keep him in a room with an east facing window, so it gets lighter sooner with the morning sun and a little darker cooler earlier in the early evening, could this slowly adjust his sleep pattern so he may wake earlier?

[souffle]

Several posts have been moderated from this thread due to them being totally off topic and also lacking respect for other member's opinions.
Please ensure you answer the question posed and also remember that any opinions expressed are your own and back them up with personal experience or from a reliable source. Every hamster and situation is different and there are different guidelines for different hamsters.
Original poster - marmaladesmum
I personally have always found hamsters to be wonderful pets for children. They are easily trained to get up when called and there is no harm in waking them up for playtime in my experience, at a time to suit you then letting them go back to bed! They do get up anyway throughout the day to feed and toilet as all small mammals must as they need to feed frequently to maintain body temperature.
I have raised many, many hamsters and my daughter has had them since she was a year old. We have always trained the hamsters to wake up when you call and then bringing them out for playtime at a suitable time for you and your family routine. This is essential with youngsters for them to enjoy their pets. What we do is we stroke the bars and call the hamster or rustle the bedding through our fingers. They nearly always pop out as they are curious little creatures. Once out give a little treat or bit of veg, let them have a drink if they want and go to the toilet and then get hammy out for handling time, supervised closely for youngsters. It can always go back to bed after a 15 minute playtime. It won't stress your hamster at all I can assure you if ours are anything to go by!
As long as the child realises that the hamster must only be woken at certain times and at others needs left peacefully it will learn to respect the hamster's privacy and also that kindness and gentle encouragement will soon make the hammy want to come out to them. Letting them do the calling and offering the treats, changing the water and measuring a scoop of food out also encourage responsibility. Give them the job of making sure the cage door is firmly locked and explain how hammy could be hurt or eat something not good for them if they did escape. (You check it afterwards of course and even lock it with a padlock if necessary.)
I'm sure you can soon train your hamster to get up and come out. There will sometimes be nights when they just want a lie in and may not come out and of course you should respect this however this is not common (except as they get older).
Let us know how you get on

[Queen Of The High Teas]

I train my hamsters to come out at a time I want (around 6.45pm onwards), by offering a small tasty treat as an incentive. Their naturally curious, if you tap the cage or call them quietly, they usually come wandering out to see what's happening. When they do, I give a few morsels of something tasty, then get them out for a few minutes. By the time I've done this for a few days (some take less, some slightly longer), their usually at the cage front like little dogs waiting for me. I keep this up religiously for a week or two when I first get them, and if they come out at all when I'm around, they get a treat and a cuddle. Its really rather ridiculous and extremely unfair to expect to only see your pet at 10pm, if mine didn't wake up til then I'd never see them either! You can train them to wake up earlier, it can't be a coincidence that my 8, of different types and ages, are awake and ready to come out by 7pm every night after I taught them that waking up means nommy treats.

[Tutu]

Lucky you Wobbles. My Syrian hamster will wake up after 8.30 pm and usually never wants to come out of her cage. Just grabs treats from my hand and runs off to her nest or behind wheel or to her jar and sits there very pleased with her self munching away the treats / and looking at me like " I tricked you again"
After that she will go to her "bathroom" and sits there grooming away hours and hours. I bet I have very vain hamster. I'd be sitting front of her habitat waiting for her come to the door but she sure takes her time. Eventually after 10.00 o'clock lady is ready to come out to play then after about 20 min she had enough wants to go home. When I put her back in her cage she goes straight to her food and acts like she never seen food or drink in her life. Considering she was stuffing her mouth just 20 min ago sure she eats lot.
So overall I see her 20 min per day but she has big presence in my life among with my other pets and brings us lots of joy. I'm sure all these people who has hamster have normal life and sleeping pattern like wake up in the morning and goes to sleep in the night. So I don't see all the point of saying why one shouldn't have hamster if you are not wake after 10.00 o'clock evening every day.

[Seedless]

My original two (James and Fluffy) were each getting up at 7pm every night until the days starting getting longer and now James isn't appearing until 8pm, just as I'm trying to put my daughter to bed. This tends to delay bedtime for her as we end up getting him out for floor time (he shares a room with her). Coco is very curious and loves attention so he gets up as soon as anyone enters the room, no matter what time of day, and always wants to come out. It's good as it means I can get his handling time out of the way nice and early leaving time for the other two between 7pm and my daughter going to bed. I'm hoping James will revert to getting up earlier again in the darker months.

[Truffle]

Both of my hamsters use to get up around 9pm- 10pm but they have been getting up earlier and earlier over time. So now they wake up at about 7pm which is great, I also get up about 5am every morning so they are often still awake then as well. I don't know weather or not they have both grown use to my lifestyle... but its nice that I usally get to see them about a day!

[Silver]

My little dwarf girl is a late riser. She has been the latest one to get up at night. She gets up around 10.30pm.

I don't mind this as she comes out in the morning for treats & cuddles & most nights when she gets up around 10.30pm

It's only me here so I don't get her up earlier than she does herself.

But if I had children I would also get the ham into a routeen of getting up at a certain time incentive of treats & hugs, it does not harm them at all

Just do it gently & the ham will soon learn

xxx