Keeping Hammy Warm

EthelHammy88 · 09-22-2016, 05:15 PM

So over the summer I got a Syrian. Had one ages ago as a kid. With the seasons changing I am trying to find ways of keeping my Syrian warm. So far during the day the weather is still quite warm, but I'm thinking more at night. I have read about getting a reptile heater to put under the cage, which I hope to do soon. Has anyone else used the reptile heaters? What do you think, would you recommend it?

And in the mean time I have a great space heater I could use in the room at night to keep the room from getting too cool. It turns off automatically once it gets to the desired temp, then kicks back on every so often. The possible temps range from 65 F and up to 85 F, with 5 degree increments. My only concern is that when I have used it in the past for myself it dries out the air in the room terribly (although when I use it is shut closed inside my room so there is no air flow and end up turning it off during the night for myself because the dryness gets really intense). My hamster is not kept in an enclosed room so it wouldn't trap all of that dry air in the room, but still I don't want the air to get too try for her. Anyone have any thoughts?

**Cinnamon Bear** · 09-23-2016, 08:21 AM

Hi, can you put her in your bedroom? If you want to put her in that room you are mentioning and worried about the dry air, you could get a humidifier. That is a wide range of temperatures, if done all night long. The hamster would be fine at those temperatures if they fluctuated a little.

I'm not sure about reptile heaters or lights? They say you can put things in the case under their nest to help them keep warm but I can't think of what it is, maybe a heating pad?

pinkneon · 09-23-2016, 08:24 AM

I give an enclosed bed with lots of extra bedding!
There are several videos on Youtube you could look at though - here's one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBuBSh_s1N8

cypher · 09-23-2016, 08:32 AM

I always make sure they have plenty of tissue for massive nests, put a fleece blanket under the cage & when it's really cold use a snuggle safe heat pad on a shelf under the cage but not touching the cage (you don't want your ham to get too hot!).
If you use the heater would it help to put a small bowl of water close by to keep the humidity up?

AmityvilleHams · 09-23-2016, 09:06 AM

A ceramic heat emitter could theoretically work,not sure if those are widely available in every country but they're somewhat common in the US.They're like a heat lamp for reptiles but without light,which is important for a lot of nocturnal and light sensitive reptiles.You would want to use some sort of thermometer with any heat item though,just to be sure that it remains at a safe temperature

EthelHammy88 · 09-24-2016, 07:19 AM

I didn't want to put her in my bedroom at night. I have a dog that sleeps in my room with me and she is very sensitive to any noise my hamster makes at night. My dog will bark at the hamster and it seems to put unnecessary stress on both parties.

I did try using the heater a couple nights setting it to about 70 degrees and it seemed to work out well. The air in the room didn't get too dry and I think its because there was no door shutting it all in. Nights in New England can get really chilly in the Fall and there had been a few really cool nights last week that seemed to cause my hamster to really slow down and become less active so I was a little worried.

I give here tons of bedding but she has been sleeping in the tubes to her cage. So she'll have the bedding pulled into the tubes in front of her head and behind her backside pulled in tight but nothing to surround her. I removed a lot of the tubes so she is sleeping inside her little hut again. Hopefully she'll stick with that to keep cozy.