Illness preventing me from playing with my poor hams

[Sunset_Melody]

I always get my hamsters out in the evening for usually about 2-3 hours which is a combo of exercise ball, cuddle time and exploring. But today I feel really run down and am tempted to go to bed like now and it's like 19:38. I'll handle them for a bit I guess then sleep. I feel incredibly guilty but I just need sleep. :3

[PinkPrincess]

You don't need to feel guilty, one night off from their usual routine shouldn't affect them. I was the same with Honey sometimes. She used to get between 1 and 2 hours out of cage time each night but sometimes if she was late getting up or I was exhausted and in need of an early night I'd have to leave it. As long as they have plenty to amuse themselves with in their cage and it's only the odd night they are not getting out I wouldn't worry about it.

[Sterluv]

Don't feel guilty. There are people that almost never take their hamsters out to play (and I think that's still cruel, don't get a pet if you're not going to pay attention to it) so one night won't make a difference.

[Hammymad]

I agree,please don't feel guilty,like Sterluv said,the are soooo many people who buy hammies and then never get them out,that is cruel.what you are doing isn't.Sme nights I can't get them out for very long either,but they do get plenty of attention as I am sure your ham does xx

[p_anda]

I wouldn't feel bad about it, it's only one night.

I think saying that not getting your hamster out of the cage for a few hours every day is cruel is bit of a generalisation and an over statement...Not all hamsters are the same. Roborovskis and Chinese do not seem to like out-of-cage-time a whole lot - I'm sure here are plenty of people on here who can testify to that. My Chinese hates spending time outside her cage - you can tell just by looking at her that she feels very uncomfortable, the only thing she tolerates is being in her exercise ball. When she is exposed to an open wide area in the house, she cowers and runs for cover, sometimes even starts chattering.

Syrians and Russian dwarfs tend to be a lot more receptive of new things, though obviously they're still not all the same...I don't think every single hamster has the exact same needs. Some might like spending hours on no end exploring your house, some might like to cuddle for hours and there are others who are just not so keen on these things.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Yeah... On topic, I'm sure they won't mind. Plenty of hams miss a night out once in a while and it never does them any harm.

Off topic - I actually think its quite rude/mean to generalise about those who don't get the hams out on a nightly basis. We don't. Want to know why? Because every single ham we have benefits from not being dragged out on a nightly basis. We give them loads of fuss, loads of love and loads of attention every single day, but they do get it without coming out of the cages sometimes - because it is what makes them happy.
Call me a bad owner if you like but I am not going to drag nervous hams out of their cages to spend an hour terrified every night, nor am I going to drag out other hams when they want to stay in. We interact with all of them every day, we check on them every day, we pay them attention multiple times a day, we offer to get them out at least once a day. But we will not drag them out to be miserable if they want to stay in.

[Hammymad]

If it was my post that offended you that wasn't my intention.I meant people are cruel who never get their hams out and just leave them in their cages all the time and have no interaction with them...that really winds me up (as I am sure it does most people)
I would love to get my babies out every single night for hours and hours,but sometimes other commitments get in the way,you might be ill or your hams might not be in the mood for playtime,I know my little Rambo likes his bed and sometimes seems reluctant to come out so I do leave him sleeping.
There's no doubt in my mind that the vast majority on here give their hams the best care possible

[kyrilliondaemon]

Don't worry. I think I overreacted a bit anyway, it just seemed quite a harsh generalisation to be making and bothered me a bit. We can try to get them out all we like though, they just often won't say yes when given the choice. It felt a bit bad to think that I was included in the generalisation despite spending as much time with the hams as they'll let us every day. Now I get that it was just those who literally buy it, shove it in the cage and ignore it for a week until clean out time though
Thanks for explaining, and I'm sorry if my post seemed a bit too harsh.

[Sunset_Melody]

Thanks. I felt really bad last night when I couldn't get them out for very long. When I handled them for a bit and then put them back they looked confused and stared at me as if to say "Is that it?" Luckily I feel a lot better now after sleeping for ages so they can hopefully have a nice get out later.

[kyrilliondaemon]

I'm glad you're feeling better today