Is my hamster sleeping too much?

Sams Mum · 05-10-2009, 04:16 PM

Hi there,

Not quite sure which topic to post this in

I keep reading that dwarf hamsters, like my Sam, are busy little creatures, always making nests and foraging for food. Not my Sam! He gets up every few hours or so during daylight hours for a quick drink and snack, then goes straight back to bed. Not surprising for a nocturnal animal. But in the night-time hours, he's not up much more than that either! I've been up all hours of the day and night recently marking students' coursework (I'm a university lecturer) and although he stays up for longer during the night, he still only gets up every few hours for 10 minutes or so at a time! Is this normal? It's hard to give him play-time or to keep a regular routine as regards cleaning him out as I like to wait until he's up and awake, and that's not very often! Could he be old? Maybe that's the problem? He was an RSPCA rescue and was estimated at 6-12 months old, so I realise he's probably middle-aged.

Thanks,

Sam's Mum

Katty_Sheldon · 05-11-2009, 02:23 AM

Hello,
maybe some info about my hamster could help you: i have a winter white russian, also a dwarf hamster. He almost doesnt get up during the day, then he is up about an hour between 8-11pm, then between 2-6am also a few times (but sure not all night, not even close to it...). But if i listen carefully i can hear him in his little house very often during the night! He is in the house not only for sleeping, but also for grooming and eating...
I heard that robos are very active, but the winter whites seem to like to sleep a lot too. I guess it also depends if he has toys in the cage so that he has something to do out of the house (except going all crazy and trying to wheel out

).
Thats the positive info, i just think some of them are more lazy like my Sheldon.
More experienced members could write if this laziness could be caused by some illness...

souffle · 05-11-2009, 02:56 AM

We find that as our dwarfs get older they are definitly less active around the cage. Very old ones will seem to sleep all night but are always happy to rush out as soon as they hear the food bowl being filled. They do come out for a 10 minute wheel run then off they go back in the nest but I suspect they are not actually sleeping in there but feeding, nibbling grooming etc so just because he is not out does not necessarily mean he is not doing hamstery stuff! I would make a rountine of feeding him and scratching the bedding till he comes out then take him out for cuddles and checkover. As long as he seems heathy with a nice coat and shiney eyes he is likely fine. At about a year all dwarfs we have had seem to lose weight and condition. It just seems to be how they age. They also tend to lose fur from the rear end too but it never bothers them really.