Honey doesn't play with anything

[itswendy]

Is it normal for hamsters to not play with anything? Honey only chews on her chews and runs on her wheel. She never goes through her tubes, never goes on her bridge, or anything else. Whenever she's in her playpen, she only looks for a way out. Coco, at least runs around for at least 10 minutes until she starts looking for a way out. The only way I can get honey to not look for a way out immediately is if she's scavenging for the treats I hide. She's ALWAYS looking for ways to escape. Even when I have her on my bed, which she has a huge amount of space to run around, she only looks for ways down.

[_Steph_]

Nothing unusual here, many hamsters are like this.

[itswendy]

hmm okay. It's just that my other hamster is not like this at all and I can actually give her play time where as Honey barely gets any time out of her cage because she's never happy with the amount of space she's given

[Shannonmcn]

My ham is kinda the same so her "toys" are usually just ways to make her work harder for her treats and her dinner. Either burying food, hiding it in a toilet roll tube and wrapping it in paper like a little Christmas cracker or using a cut up toilet roll to make a little ball, there are loads of ideas on YouTube or in the DIY section here. I even just put treats or some veggies in a regular egg box and let her spend 20 minutes demolishing that. Some hams just need to be INTO something all the time rather than just hanging out with you or amusing themselves :)

[itswendy]

My ham is kinda the same so her "toys" are usually just ways to make her work harder for her treats and her dinner. Either burying food, hiding it in a toilet roll tube and wrapping it in paper like a little Christmas cracker or using a cut up toilet roll to make a little ball, there are loads of ideas on YouTube or in the DIY section here. I even just put treats or some veggies in a regular egg box and let her spend 20 minutes demolishing that. Some hams just need to be INTO something all the time rather than just hanging out with you or amusing themselves :)

yeah, Honey loves the treat parcels i make her. That's about the only thing I see her 'play' with! I'll pay a visit to the DIY section later! Do you still give your hamster play time outside of her cage in a playpen sort of thing? I feel like I should, but she just keeps trying to escape and I can't exactly hide a million treats around her playpen to keep her occupied.
Thanks for the advice! :D

[Shannonmcn]

I use an exercise ball, I know it's a bit controversial but a playpen isn't really an option for me. She can choose whether or not to get into the ball though. Sometimes the bathtub is a playpen substitute but yeah she's just trying to escape the tub the entire time too *sigh*

[itswendy]

I use an exercise ball, I know it's a bit controversial but a playpen isn't really an option for me. She can choose whether or not to get into the ball though. Sometimes the bathtub is a playpen substitute but yeah she's just trying to escape the tub the entire time too *sigh*

I'd probably resort to a exercise ball too... if Honey actually liked it. She doesn't like her ball either. Im in a pickle :-#

[herbi7]

Willow doesn't particularly like tubes either. Or the bath. Luckily she does like her ball but the only other thing that will keep her occupied for long is chewing up the carpet... From inside or outside her ball! Is any part of ur house hamster proof? I found that willow behaves quite well when she is roaming free altho I prefer her in her ball as she never wants playtime to stop so its a bit hard catching her again. If ur ham isn't into toys she may not be overly impressed with a playpen altho some people were telling me on the forum that their active hams settled in a playpen in the end and liked it after a shaky start

[itswendy]

Willow doesn't particularly like tubes either. Or the bath. Luckily she does like her ball but the only other thing that will keep her occupied for long is chewing up the carpet... From inside or outside her ball! Is any part of ur house hamster proof? I found that willow behaves quite well when she is roaming free altho I prefer her in her ball as she never wants playtime to stop so its a bit hard catching her again. If ur ham isn't into toys she may not be overly impressed with a playpen altho some people were telling me on the forum that their active hams settled in a playpen in the end and liked it after a shaky start

Nope, no part of my house is hamster proof sadly. I would hamster proof my room but I share a room with my sister and it's quite small so it is cluttered (a ton of crevices and things to get under) and it'd be extremely difficult to hamster proof it without buying a whole new set of furniture. I've tried the playpen with her about 3-4 times now and every time she just tries to escape. Should I keep trying?

Edit: One more question
Whenever I put Honey on my bed, she runs around really fast and I can't tell if she's excited or scared. She zooms around really fast with her ears laid back. I've read that hamsters do this if they're scared, but only when they creep, not run. So... is she scared or excited? The bed method was the only method I had for her to play outside the cage and if she's scared of being on my bed, I'm really out of ideas. D:

[RubyDG]

What about hamster proofing the bathroom? This is usually the go to option for hamster proofing a room as usually it's fairly straight forward to do.

[Thin Lizzy]

Sometimes hamsters are more than happy with the wheel and don't need anything else, doesn't mean they're unhappy.

[itswendy]

What about hamster proofing the bathroom? This is usually the go to option for hamster proofing a room as usually it's fairly straight forward to do.

My bathroom is tiny. The amount of space she has in her playpen would basically be the same amount of space she would have in my bathroom. I've thought of that, it would be a good idea! My parents bathroom would be another story, but that's off-limits! ):

Sometimes hamsters are more than happy with the wheel and don't need anything else, doesn't mean they're unhappy.

You're right.. I just feel bad when I hear people giving their hams at least 30 minutes of play time everyday and I can't provide that for Honey. She does appreciate cuddles on my lap, so she does get out of the cage time - only when she's with me though. I am hopefully getting a 40B tank Monday so she'll be happy about that :-P

[Thin Lizzy]

Honey is a very happy hammie, some hamsters are more high maintenance than others. lol!
My Archie loves his wheel and his crinkle tunnel, I have put other toys in his cage but he doesn't bother with them whereas Twinkle likes her several toys!