Time spent in the ball?

[bobbysouthern31]

Hi all,

My Fiancé and I currently have 3 hamsters, 2 dwarf and 1 Syrian. We have done some research and cannot grasp how long a hamster should be in their ball daily?

Some sites say up to an hour, some say only 15 minutes? What would be your advice? Cookie (Syrian) is very comfortable out of the cage and runs around like a whippet however the dwarf hamsters run under the bed (in their ball) and don't really make much of an appearance? The Syrian is currently having 15 minutes out of the cage each day but upon going back he is at the bars tracing back and fourth as if he wants to come out again...

Any help/advice is appreciated!!

Thanks
Bobby, Leah, Cookie, Grace & Lagatha

[Hammy_pie]

Hello, I am brand new to Hamster Central, so can only repeat what I've read here in the Forum. I'm sure there are varying opinions, but from what I've read, using the free rolling balls is not recommended due to possible injury and also because of depriving the hamster of his/her sight and smell senses while contained in the ball. I'm sorry this does not answer your question, but I thought I'd share what I've learned here.

[cypher]

I wouldn't recommend using a ball for hams, the ball doesn't provide any kind of enrichment or stimulation & if a ham is running in a ball it may look like it's enjoying a good run while it's really trying to escape which is can't.
Far better for your hams to set up a play pen or some safe play area provide plenty of toys, tubes, a wheel etc for them to explore & enjoy.
As for time out of the cage each day this will really depend on the individual hamster, some may only want a short period while other more active hams will enjoy just about a much time as you can give them if you make it really fun for them, it may also depend on cage size, if a ham has a large cage with lots of enrichment they may be more content to stay in the cage & not want so much time out you really just need to observe their behaviour & will soon learn to tell when they've had enough.

[Ria P]

I never have and never will use a ball because i wouldn't be able to tell when a hamster has had enough and wants out.

In a playpen my dwarf goes back in his mug which acts as a hamster taxi when he wants back in his cage and my Syrian will sit in a corner when he's had enough of free roaming.

It must be quite scary for a hamster to be trapped in an enclosed space like a ball, with insufficient air flow, unable to get out or communicate their discomfort to us humans.

Maybe i'm overthinking this because i'm a touch claustrophobic....

[AmityvilleHams]

Ria P I don't think you're overthinking it at all! If we sit back and actually evaluate things from a proper animal welfare perspective(as many of us have done), to me at least and many others it becomes crystal clear that we just should not be using hamster balls for hamsters or any other species for that matter. I do love this forum and I don't want to make anyone feel like evil people or something, but we have to be able to recognize when things are bad and be able to become even better at this whole hamster thing for it.