Flying saucer time

[summerdaze]

Is there any time limit to how long a hamster should be on a flying saucer, in terms of hours per day or will they general limit themselves? Thanks :)

[kyrilliondaemon]

As long as they take breaks and don't run completely obsessively then you can rely on them to self-limit it.

[DrKMcK]

Running, whether it's on a wheel or a flying saucer is something hammies need to do. In the wild they travel really long distances, as much as 5 miles a night for Syrians. They look for mates and for food. So, imagine what it must be like for this little critter, who was born to run around, being made to live in a limited area for its entire life. No matter how much you play with them, or let them "free range" or use the run-about balls, they still need to burn off energy that would have been expended if they were in a true natural environment. Having different toys for them to play with helps them to explore other things than their wheel, but the wheel is a necessity. If a hammy only uses the wheel and doesn't play with, or explore anything else in his cage, take the wheel out for short periods (1/2 hour each play period) to encourage him/her to use the other things in his/her cage.

[summerdaze]

OK, that's great, thanks for the information. She does take breaks, it just seemed like a lot! If they run that much in the wild I can understand why she loves the flying saucer though. I was just worried because she seemed a little smaller since I put it in (I may be imagining that though).

[kyrilliondaemon]

How old is she? In hams under about 10 weeks it can be best to limit the time, but otherwise you should be ok...

[summerdaze]

She was born on 30 Oct so she's well over that :)

[kyrilliondaemon]

Then you can almost definetly trust her to do as she likes :)