What is your opinion on hamster balls?

[Chezzu]

I know this is a little bit of a controversial topic, but from the looks of it most people tend to now settle on "Hamster balls are bad".

Most of the reasons for this that I've seen are;

- Your hamster has no access to food or water
- Your hamster can't decide when they want to stop
- Your hamster may be sacred rather than having fun

...if I'm missing anything out please inform me! I'm always looking to be more educated and I'm open to changing my mind.

However; I've always thought that as long as they're used properly, there's no real problem with them?

I've always introduced my hamsters to the concept of their ball, let them investigate it first and if they go in I give them a treat.
I then put the lid on and putting them on the ground and gauging their reaction. If they seem like they're panicking or totally uninterested I remove them from their ball.

If they're curious and alert, I let them run around and play for 5 minutes - supervised - before lifting the ball back off the ground gently and taking the lid off and putting the ball in their cage for a few moments, giving them the opportunity for climbing out. If they climb out - I put the ball away.

If they stay in the ball or try to push the ball to run, I take the ball back out, replace the lid and let them run for another supervised 5 minutes. I repeat the process one more time - putting the ball back if they climb out, except when they have had 15 minutes ball time in total I coax them out of the ball with rustling their bedding or offering food and putting their ball away.

Now, you may say "Chezzu why take the risk? Free roaming or getting a playpen are far better options!"

Well, thank you for asking! I really don't have any single room in my house that is "hamster proof" or that COULD be "hamster proofed" - as for a playpen option - I've just never really found one that WORKS for me, the bar spacing tends to be too big or my hamsters can climb it or the pen itself is smaller than their cage - I used to DIY my own with cardboard when I was younger but I'm just not confident enough with their stability - there's places my hamsters could get lost forever if they managed to knock it over! Of course, I would always be supervising but we all know how fast they can be! I used to use our bath as a playpen but we no longer have that option.

Again, i'm always open to hearing suggestions if anyone has any recommendations for play pens also!

But what are your thoughts? Is there anything you'd like to educate me on? Please comment below!

[SeymourHammie]

I was going to post the exact same topic. I have used the balls in the past and most of my hamsters seemed to enjoy them. I don't use them for long periods of time and I make sure they aren't in an area where they could possible be harmed (near stairs, etc.) One other thing I always do is to put a little piece of tape over the door while the hammie is in it--I have never quite trusted them to stay closed and I would hate to have my little friend to escape!

I don't worry about no access to food/water--I'm not leaving him in there for the day, just a few minutes. If I notice he isn't moving around anymore I take him out right away but I think he enjoys the change in scenery. Also, I only use a clear ball--who would want to look at the world through a purple or green ball? And although he can't tell me how he is feeling, after a while you can tell if your hammie is scared from their behavior if you interact with them a lot.

Just my opinion... Would love to hear what others think.

[Chicleteer]

I have only had experience with one hamster so far, but she does seem to enjoy the ball. But like SeymourHammie, I keep a close eye on her and don't keep her in there for more than 10-15 minutes -- and less if I see she's not running around or looks bored or tired or unhappy in any way. I use tape on the door, too; early on she did bounce into something and the door accidentally opened, so since then I tape it.... I also never put her directly in the ball; I leave it on the floor of her playpen and let her decide whether she wants to go into it, which 99% of the time she does. Also, it's a clear ball (same reasoning as SeymourHammie), and a fairly large one, 11 1/2 inches (she's a Syrian). It does feel like it enables me to expand the area of the house that she can explore.

That being said, I realize there are pros and cons, which is why I always leave it up to her if she wants to climb into it, and I certainly want to keep an open mind about it. I'd be interested in other opinions, too.

[cookietiger]

First off, when I read the title I totally misinterpreted the meaning.

My robo doesn't like her ball so I use it rarely. When I use her ball is when I'm giving her a full cage cleanout but I can't put her in her travel cage for some reason.
I find in her ball she usually ends up sat in a corner for the majority of the 20 minutes she's in there. She will also run at her high speeds which is terrifying because she ends up hitting the walls and ricocheting off. So yeah I don't use her ball much at all.

[alpacassei]

I find it depends on the hamster, some hammies love them and others find being a ball to be stressful. I don’t personally use hamster balls because I prefer to let my hammies run around my bed supervised and use carriers for full cage cleanouts.

It’s not generally recommended to put dwarfs hamsters in balls either since their paws are so small, they can get caught in the gaps while running.

[Pebbles82]

I think it depends on the owner as well. Some owners definitely shouldn't be allowed to have hamster balls! Which is partly why there is sometimes a bit of an anti feeling about them being sold because of people who stick the hamster in and leave them in too long or don't keep an eye on things and the hamster rolls down the stairs and gets injured.

Rule of thumb is no more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time - so another 10 to 15 minutes is ok after they've been out of the ball - and so on. And always observed - never left alone in it (the lid can pop off when they bash into things as well as accidents).

I prefer a playpen or other out of cage time - I do very occasionally use a ball for our Syrian - but not regularly. I like having a hamster ball around as it's a handy way of carrying them from one room to another on occasion - eg they hop in the ball, you pop the lid on and can carefully carry the ball up to the bathroom for bathtub taming eg - and let them out in the bathtub. I used to leave the ball in the bath because our last syrian would hop back in it as a signal to say he'd had enough and wanted to go back to his cage.

Dwarf hamsters shouldn't have balls - it's too scary for them and too risky. They can get toes or nails trapped in the vent slots and get injuries that way too.

The main problem with balls for syrians is there isn't one 100% suitable. Most hamster balls are too small for syrians. Rat balls are a better size but they have large slits in and feet,toes or nails can get trapped when running. So injuries is one reason balls aren't that popular with some people.

I have the savic rat ball - the slits in it are much smaller than the other rat balls. It's still not perfect - and why I rarely use it. When I do it's for variety - they can get bored with the playpen and bored with the sofa - so just for a change.

Using it to put them in when cage cleaning I don't think is safe because they could be in it too long and you can't really keep an eye on them all the time. Better to put them in a play cage. I used to put our last syrian in his pet carrier in another room (he always got very stressed if he could hear me messing with his cage! But in another room where he couldn't hear he was fine). And put a blanket over it so it was dark and he'd just go to sleep in it until I was ready to put him back.

That doesn't work with our current syrian who is more active and doesn't like being in the pet carrier (and chews the blanket through the holes!) so he goes in a play cage - and sits at the door anxiously waiting to come out!

A small spare cage is good as a play cage for cleaning time - or a big plastic bin.

I think it's on the German forums that hamster balls are a big no-no. They have a theory that the hamster isn't enjoying running in the ball and trying to run away from it or something so it's stressful. But also due to injuries sustained in hamster balls.

I'm not sure that is always the case - as you say, some hamsters seem to enjoy their balls and climb in willingly - but they can't tell us when they want to come out so it can be stressful - although rolling the ball at you and bashing into your feet is one sign - 10 to 15 mins max at a time or even less I reckon.

[Chezzu]

Thank you all for your insightful replies! It's been good to hear everyone's opinions on them!

It seems most people agree with "safely, supervised, short bursts and only from time to time"

which is more or less what my philosophy on them is too! It's good to know that there isn't any huge glaring issues I seemed to have missed at least!!

[Rads]

All our Hamsters have had Hamster balls, none have had any problems with them at all, oddly enough they have all liked running them to the front door where they always have sat quite often sniffing what must be out side and having a good general cleaning session, they all have liked to poo in the hamster ball too, some more than others.

Forest Ham#1, being Mr Clever actually worked out how to get out of his hamster ball, firstly he would run at the wall and split his ball open to escape, once the ball was taped up he would actively wedge his ball some where with the lid uppermost and actually try turning the lid to get out when he succeeded we had to tape it up. He would wait till I presented the ball to him then get in to it as happy as Larry.

Pippin aka Pip Ham#2, would take it or leave it, if she felt like it would happily use the ball, though I do think she became bored with it after about 15 mins, she much preferred the sofa or the coffee table top to run about on, but then she was such a diva.

Ghost Ham#3, Like Pip he also get in the ball if he feels like it, gets about the house and then after a while goes and sits at the front door while he has a wash and brush up.

I never force a Ham into the ball, they go in and use it as they want to, I let it be their choice, always supervised as well.

[Pebbles82]

Only other point I would make is a ball shouldn't be their only out of cage time - not really out of a cage exactly. They do need to run around as well and get exercise and stimulation - eg a playpen or safe area blocked off. Sometimes wish we had a modern house with solid floors and no holes in the skirting to allow more free ranging - but impossible to find a safe area in this house without a playpen.

I did put Newt on the stairs recently (after hearing Maestro enjoyed the stairs!). He didn't really like it though. He climbed up a couple with encouragement but didn't like climbing down them - understandably! And was a bit too scared to climb up more than two.

The standard sized balls aren't really big enough either.

[mangoandmimi]

I can't say I agree with the idea that hamsters climbing in balls means they enjoy time inside it to be honest. My roborovski generally doesn't like time outside her cage and can get quite stressed out by it, but I nearly always use the same item (a little ceramic bath house) to get her out each time. And it baffles me when she chooses to go inside it every single time because she often just wants to go back to the cage within minutes. So I think it's just curiosity a lot of the time, it doesn't necessarily mean hamsters enjoy time in there.

Edit: I don't agree with the use of hamster balls either, stress factors aside it's just not safe especially for dwarf hamster feet. I would never use them for robos, they're too fast and nervous.