A question about lighting

taterloch · 05-30-2016, 01:11 AM

My bedroom has very little natural light (I'm in a basement), how big of a problem would this be for hamsters? (I don't own any hamsters yet, I'm just trying to make sure that everything will be okay for them when I do)

My plan was to get a timer for the lights in my room, so that they'd automatically turn on and off when they need to. Would that be good for a hamster? I know that the light tells them that its time to sleep, so i figured i could have the lights turn on everyday at 6 AM, and turn off every night at 6 PM.
Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, I heard it's fine to put red lights near your hamsters cage as a nightlight so that you can see them in the dark, is this true?

Thanks

cypher · 05-30-2016, 02:44 AM

Do you have any natural light at all? They really need very little in the way of light & even a small amount would be enough for them to sense things like changes in day length & their body clocks usually sort themselves out regardless of what lighting we may have on so I wouldn't worry too much.

taterloch · 05-30-2016, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

Do you have any natural light at all? They really need very little in the way of light & even a small amount would be enough for them to sense things like changes in day length & their body clocks usually sort themselves out regardless of what lighting we may have on so I wouldn't worry too much.

I have some, but definitely no where near to how much I would have if I was on a higher floor

cypher · 05-30-2016, 04:15 AM

They're mostly sleeping when it's light anyway so even a little is probably enough.

taterloch · 05-30-2016, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

They're mostly sleeping when it's light anyway so even a little is probably enough.

Thank you, but I was mainly wondering if artificial lighting is just as good as natural lighting. Since I'm in a basement there are bright ceiling lights. If the artificial lighting was kept on a 12 hour cycle, would the hamster still realize that when the lights are on it should sleep, and when the lights are off it should be awake? Sorry if this was worded weirdly.

cypher · 05-30-2016, 04:37 AM

They just seem to adjust to their own natural cycle (all of which are just a bit different!), it's no different really to hams being kept in most living rooms where the lights will be on in hours of darkness when the owners are up & about, some people stay up really late into the night playing with hams with normal artificial lighting but it doesn't seem to confuse them, I really wouldn't worry & just let your ham sort itself out.

taterloch · 05-30-2016, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

They just seem to adjust to their own natural cycle (all of which are just a bit different!), it's no different really to hams being kept in most living rooms where the lights will be on in hours of darkness when the owners are up & about, some people stay up really late into the night playing with hams with normal artificial lighting but it doesn't seem to confuse them, I really wouldn't worry & just let your ham sort itself out.

Okay, thank you