Does more bedding reduce the amount of time spent on a wheel?

[TheyCallMeChips]

So, I’ve heard that providing a hamster with a _tonne_ of deep bedding for them to burrow in can reduce the amount of time they spend on their wheel. Is this true?

I can only provide my hamster about 5 or 6 inches of bedding at the moment, and his wheel is his best friend lol. But, he loves to dig, I just physically can’t give him enough bedding to do so in his current cage, which is why I’m thinking of upgrading to a tank or something.

[Tommyshelby]

Hi my hamster used to spend all his time on the wheel, now he has more bedding and he uses it a bit less.

[Ria P]

That depends on the individual hamster's preferences. Like humans they are all very different.

[cypher]

I don’t think there’s a yes or no answer to that one, some hams love to dig & burrow & given the opportunity to do that with very deep bedding may spend more time underground, being under the substrate doesn't mean they’re not busy or active though, they can be very active under there! Some hams are less interested in digging/burrowing & may prefer to spend time on the wheel, out & about in the cage or having out of cage time, depends entirely on the ham.

[Dodo]

If you feel like your hamster could benefit from more bedding, have you thought about using grass mats on a portion of your cage? If you manage to securely place them inside the bars they could then allow you to fill it up with bedding. 6 inches, especially if well compacted and layered with hay to better hold burrows, is already quite a decent amount of bedding I believe.

[LunaTheHamster1]

when I had a bar cage I added grass mats or cardboard to get more bedding in.
I made a video on it

More bedding in a barred Hamster Cage | Cosmic Hamsters - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doZJJHCW1fs&t=14s)

you could try it and see if your hamster spends less time on their wheel, i just think every hamster is different. My syrian Twinkle can be free roaming but will hop on his wheel for ages and ignore everything else.

[Tommyshelby]

Litttle Update
Hi my hamster has mastered the art of making burrows and he loves making rooms everywhere lol

He spends much less time on the wheel now