Daytime

blpriestley · 03-28-2017, 01:11 PM

Hey 😄

I'm curious how much everyone else's hamsters are awake during the day.

Generally my Syrian is asleep during the day, though he occasionally wakes up when I'm doing something in his cage and pokes his head out. He doesn't usually go out and about during the day without a noise making him curious.. I often see him moving about in his house during the day nibbling on a bit of his hoard with his eyes closed. I have a glass cage so I can see him without disturbing him as he burrows underneath his house and you can occasionally see him when he moves the substrate around though it's not all the time.

I'm assuming this behaviour is normal as hamsters don't sleep so deeply that they don't respond to outside stimulus and they get hungry.

Does anyone's hamsters frequently get up at weird times? Or are they pretty much similar to my experience?

barley · 03-28-2017, 01:37 PM

I'm only home during the daytime at weekends, but I often see my Robo out and about during the day, he'll wake up for something to eat or even a little run on his wheel. My Syrian on the other hand, I've never seen him up before it's dark! (had him just coming up to four weeks)

dreamtree1234 · 03-28-2017, 02:03 PM

My Syrian wakes up periodically throughout the day and stays out for a little while usually to eat, go potty, and drink. He also sometimes come out just to play during the daytime. At this time, I try my best in interact with him as much as possible. He definitely always comes out the majority of the night to play and take care of all of his needs. The time that he is out and about each day varies. Lately, he has been out in the evenings around 6:00 P.M. and loves any and all the attention he can get from me. He stays awake sometimes until early, EARLY in the morning. He is typically quite active, but usually less so during the daytime hours. I hope that this helps, but each individual hamster has his/her own time clock (and it sometimes varies from day to day or depending on what is happening in the vicinity of his home). I would just try to encourage him to maintain somewhat of a schedule (or slowly ease and encourage him in that direction) that you can both find time to bond together.

Drago · 03-28-2017, 02:27 PM

Most hamsters tend to wake up periodically throughout the day.

My hamsters will get up to relieve themselves, get a snack, or see me (though I'm only home on weekends). The behavior is completely normal as it's even been observed that hamsters in the wild will go out to forage occasionally throughout the day so it wouldn't be such a shock to spot that in captivity. I always love to see my hamsters stumble over sleepily to greet me when I walk into their room!

blpriestley · 03-28-2017, 02:33 PM

He wakes up with plenty of time to do stuff together in the evening. As the seasons have changed his sleep pattern has altered slightly but it's pretty similar. I've noticed that mine comes out to pee in his sandbath sometimes as well but I don't usually see him do it. Personally I'm not trying to encourage too much daytime playing with me (though if he wants to get up and do stuff it's fine). I like to see him during the day but it makes him sleep in later on the evening so it means less time then. I'm encouraging him to get up earlier, 7 or 8 rather than 10 or 11 as he did in the dead of winter. By encouraging I mean giving him a treat/playtime soonish after he wakes up to create a routine.

Its interesting how much variation there is. I wonder if it varies a lot among the different species.

LilMagician · 03-28-2017, 09:22 PM

My little dwarf gets up several times throughout the day and evening to eat, sniff around, or dig in his sand. I usually take him out for a couple minutes or give him a treat, depending on how early in the day it is. It's hard to resist taking him out when I see him scurrying around! His really active time is between 12:00 am and 7:00 am.

CherryBerry · 03-29-2017, 09:11 AM

My hamster also get up periodically throughout the day, though she's usually asleep in the morning to early afternoon no matter how bright or loud it is in the room (not that I drill a hole to my wall or anything).

She gets up a few times to use bathroom, get some food and water, sometimes run around her cage for awhile, but usually doesn't get up and starts being active until the late evening to very early morning. Even then she would fall asleep during that night hours, but she seems more active at night.