Hamster Disturbances

[AdrianPops]

Greetings.


In the near future I'm going to become a hamster owner and I've thought that my bedroom would be the best place to keep it as it's the room with least traffic. However, it's still prone to annoyances and I wouldn't want my hamster to feel stressed. I've made a list of what would personally worry me:

-Dogs barking. I have two dogs and they often bark, whether it's outside the house or inside. If it's inside, I'll make sure that no such thing will occur in my bedroom, but I'm worried that it'll still stress my hamster if my dogs bark from other rooms. Should I be worried? Would my hammy eventually get used to this?

-Lighting. Would my hammy mind if I turn on the light in the evening or make my room dark during the day?

-Inadequate free-ranging. I've always thought that my experience with hamsters would be interactive. Would it be too interactive if I took my hammy out for free-ranging too much? Would he get bored when put back in his cage, dreaming of the outside world?

-Music. I have a set of speakers one floor above me and I always tune up music to the max, and it can be faintly heard from my room. Would it be a problem?

[AprilPearl]

Congratulations on your impending new addition I hope you will let us know when you bring him/her home.

One quick note before I answer your questions: Keeping a hamster in your bedroom should be fine. But, bear in mind that they need a large cage. Don't compensate on cage size just so you can keep it in your room. Also, hamsters make a lot of noise at night: running on their wheel and just pottering around. That's fine so long as you don't mind and are prepared for it.

1) Dogs: So long as your hamster has never encountered a dog before, it won't know to fear them. That's not to say you should ever let your dogs into the same room as your hamster, but the barking will just be another household noise that he/she gets used to. I should stress, again, that you must ensure the door to the room you keep your hamster in is shut at all times.

2) Lighting: I think this should be fine. I have never worried too much about lighting with my hams, but I do keep them in a separate room which I don't use for much else so, by coincidence, it is light during the day and dark at night seeing as I barely ever switch on the lights in there except during the evening when I see my hamster. It's a good idea to provide a hideout so that even if you switch on the lights, your hamster has a dark place to go.

3) Free ranging: I have always allowed my hamsters to roam free once a day in the evening, rather than using an exercise ball. They do love the stimulation, but it certainly doesn't make them unhappy to return to their cage. So long as your cage is large enough and you provide enough toys, they will enjoy being at home too. However, make sure that the area you use for free roaming is entirely hamster proofed: no wires, gaps or furniture to diappear under/behind etc. And don't use chemical cleaners in that area. If you don't have a suitable space, your hamster will be happy with a spacious playpen.

4) Music: Without being in your room to hear how loud the music is from there, I can't answer this and we don't play music often in my house so I can't answer from personal experience. But, I think if it's on a separate floor and since you say it is faint, it should fall into the catahiry of general household noise which will gradually become background to your hamster. Having said this, you might want to keep things quiet for a few days while your new pal settles in to avoid stress.

[Hamsterita]

- It would depend on the individual hamster. They usually get used to regular noises. On another thread most users agreed that their hamsters are ok with sounds as the one that the vacuumm cleaner does, or the hair drier, or the fridge, microwave and that kind of things. However my ham it's been living with me for 9 months and he's not used to the vacuumm and other noises. Nevertheless he is ok with my dad's snores, so I suppose that it depends on the hammy and the noise.

- They use the light to know it it's day time or night time and if you change the lighting patrons often they could be disoriented.

- They need to rest to stay healthy, you souldn't wake up your ham as a regular basis. They usually enjoy to free range, so as long they are normal and you don't wake them up, all the free range that you give them would be appreciated by them.

- This question could be answered in the same way that the barking question