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Pebbles82 · 01-24-2016, 04:19 AM

Sorry - I know there are different opinions on balls, and I'm not saying the Germans are necessarily correct on saying balls aren't good or that hamsters are running away from the ball. It's a tricky one really. Some people say they know their hamsters like running in the ball because they jump into it. Charlie sometimes jumps in and if the ball is on the sofa he does his little feet to make it roll and doesn't understand why it won't move! I still don't know if that's because he wants to run in it or because it's a habit. All I know is, most hamster balls are too small for Syrians and the larger rat ones are risky with the bigger slits to get toenails caught in. The smaller balls aren't much use for dwarf hamsters either as apparently balls aren't recommended at all for dwarf hamsters.

I'm a bit on the fence myself as to whether they enjoy running in a ball or just do it because they can't get out of it. Maybe a bit of both, depending on how the hamster is at that time. They do give them some exercise, but then a playpen and wheel can do that too. The other issue is (mainly among irresponsible people) balls can get kicked by accident or people not keep an eye on them and the ball roll down the stairs or something. That's not an issue for most of us as we take good care of our hamsters! Charlie stopped running in the smaller one, he'd just sit in it, but happily ran in the bigger one when I got it - I just don't think it's that safe when I saw his toenails sticking through the slits!

01-24-2016, 04:19 AM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: Ball recommendations? Sorry - I know there are different opinions on balls, and I'm not saying the Germans are necessarily correct on saying balls aren't good or that hamsters are running away from the ball. It's a tricky one really. Some people say they know their hamsters like running in the ball because they jump into it. Charlie sometimes jumps in and if the ball is on the sofa he does his little feet to make it roll and doesn't understand why it won't move! I still don't know if that's because he wants to run in it or because it's a habit. All I know is, most hamster balls are too small for Syrians and the larger rat ones are risky with the bigger slits to get toenails caught in. The smaller balls aren't much use for dwarf hamsters either as apparently balls aren't recommended at all for dwarf hamsters. I'm a bit on the fence myself as to whether they enjoy running in a ball or just do it because they can't get out of it. Maybe a bit of both, depending on how the hamster is at that time. They do give them some exercise, but then a playpen and wheel can do that too. The other issue is (mainly among irresponsible people) balls can get kicked by accident or people not keep an eye on them and the ball roll down the stairs or something. That's not an issue for most of us as we take good care of our hamsters! Charlie stopped running in the smaller one, he'd just sit in it, but happily ran in the bigger one when I got it - I just don't think it's that safe when I saw his toenails sticking through the slits!