I let my hamster out every night for at least 30 minutes (with water available to him), and every few nights he seems to have taught himself a new "trick." (Like how he somehow hauls himself up the stairs even though each step is as tall as he is standing on 2 legs and they're not carpeted). Last night I caught him running on the outside of his wheel! He had climbed up the bars of his cage and was up in the corner on top of his wheel. (If anyone knows how to insert a video, let me know). He is a huge climber and will climb up anything in front of him.
Sorry this is long, but my question is whether I'm letting him out too much and that's why he keeps finding new crazy things to do. Could that be possible?
Sounds like you just have a very adventurous hamster!
Letting him out isn't going to encourage him to do daft things, he'd be even more likely to do that if he was bored in his cage so if you can safely keep him occupied out of the cage maybe even let him out for longer.
I had a ham who would make mountains of substrate so she could climb up & run on the outside of her wheel too! It is a bit dangerous though so if it's possible I'd move the wheel away from the bars in case of falls or use cardboard or something on the bars to block access there.
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I don't think you are letting him out too much. Once a night is great. Play time outside of the cage will provide him with the mental and physical stimulation that he needs. Exploring and finding new things to do is in a hamster's nature. My hamster loves to climb the stairs too! It shows he is having fun and getting the most out of his time out of the cage, if anything.
So long as you are getting him out at a time when he is naturally active and that he seems willing to come out, I wouldn't worry about upsetting him. Hamsters enjoy the experience of being out.
The climbing around in his cage, if anything, indicates that he is bored inside his cage and wants more time outside! So, I would be more concerned about making sure that you have a big enough cage (at least 80cm X 100cm but ideally bigger) filled with plenty of toys.
How do you mean running on the outside of his wheel? This sounds as though his wheel may not be big enough, which is causing him to become bored. Is it a 12 inch wheel? If not, I really would recommend getting a 12 inch silent runner for him.
As for videos, you can upload them on to you tube and then post the URL to them here or alternatively embed them in your post.
Here's the video of him doing this last night, after I had already let him out.
This is actually the second time I found him like this. The first time, I took him down, and this second time he climbed down himself. And I assume he kept doing it throughout the night (even though the third time I went to check on him he was running safely on the inside of his wheel). He looks pretty uncomfortable, so I don't understand why he keeps doing this.
After I took him down the first time, he tried to use the holes on the front of the wheel to climb up (but that obviously didn't work because the wheel kept turning).
It's an 11-inch wheel so I don't think it's too small for him. He usually uses it all the time. He'll even groom in it and sleep in it sometimes.
You can see in the video that there's a ramp and a tile in front of the wheel, and I'm worried about him falling on them if he decides to jump instead of climb back down off the wheel using the bars of his cage. I moved the water bottle.
Oh I see how he is doing it. Little scamp! Might I add he is very adorable?
If you are worried, you could move the wheel to the middle of the back wall of the cage so that there is more space between the wheel and each end cage wall and he can no longer climb up like that.
How big is his cage? Does he have many toys besides his wheel? This could be a boredom thing - or else, he just enjoys doing it!
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This is the cage he has. I had to get him a rat cage because the hamster cages were too small, and the bar spacing on the guinea pig cages was too wide. Is this too small? Any suggestions for a better cage? He has a bin cage, but I moved him to this cage for better ventilation in the summer.
He has a medium-sized terra cotta hideout to use as a tunnel, a bendy bridge, and a sand bowl, in addition to his igloo hideout to sleep in, his food bowl, a few tiles for cool-down spots and nail filing, and wheel. I also put puzzle toys in there every once in a while.
Bin cages would be a great idea if sized very well(with adequate ventilation of course!)and can be gradually expanded(eventually leading towards a square meter total floor space,but not connected in a modular way with tubes etc).A double Detolf would be a good idea as well if gradually transitioned towards,but that would take at least two days for aquarium sealant to cure.
Something to keep in mind is that even a square meter bin cage can be relatively inexpensive,especially when tools etc aren't considered in the total cost(they shouldn't be considered as individual setup costs,since they do last several setups,same with certain materials like mesh and in many cases zip ties).Without factoring in tool costs and things that will last several setups,a square meter bin in the US would cost around 35 dollars or less($12 x 2 for a pair of roughly 80 cm x 50 cm each bins,then $7 for a 60 cm x 30ish cm bin at Walmart).
What is the current bin size?You could certainly use it in a bin setup no matter what(direct connections only though,removing sections similar to ventilation panels but keeping them hamster accessible and zip tying bins together where these sections meet).If you really wanted I'm sure you could do something similar incorporating the wire cage as well(it would take the place of the 60 cm x 30 cm bin),but it would be even harder as a whole panel of the wire cage would need removing which is not as easy as with bins
That cage is only 62cm by 32cm, which could be a part of the problem. If you can, I’d look for a cage of at least 82cm by 50cm. You can find lots of good cages on zooplus: the Barney, Alexander, Alaska.
Sounds as though he does have quite a few toys. You could try adding deeper substrate for him to dig in. You could also make toys yourself out of cardboard boxes or tubes to keep him entertained.
I think the main thing which would stop him climbing up onto the wheel like that would be to move it to the middle of the back wall so that he cannot shimmy up in the narrow gap between the cage end wall and wheel as he is doing currently.
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I checked out zooplus, and I really like the Alaska cage! But they don't ship to America, so does anyone know where else I can find it, or a similar cage?
You won't be able to get it in the US.Similar sized cages in the US happen to be quite expensive as well,potentially hitting $200 and slightly above,making a DIY option far more cost effective not to mention potentially more appropriate anyways(one example being the potential for more appropriate substrate levels).
Letting my hamster out too much?
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