Everything you should know about Hamsters. Happy Hamster Toys is full of information for keeping your pet hamster healthy and happy. There are tons of useful tips and advice on Hamsters and Hamster Toys. Join in and share your tips, advice, ideas and pictures of your hamster. For hamster lovers everywhere.
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warf hamsters like exercise, and they love running. Here’s some ideas for hamster toys for your pet.
There is plenty of choice available to increase your hamster’s fun while giving him or her needed exercise. Pet stores will have a wide variety of cages, toys, and wheels.
And your hamster will definitely need a wheel. It is known that they can run up to eight miles in a single night on these things, can you imagine that and with those small legs! But please make sure, if you have a dwarf hamster, that your wheel doesn’t have rungs. These not only hurt your hamster’s feet but can also, possibly, cause a broken leg if their foot slips between the rungs and gets caught.
Plastic toys are of course very popular. They are easy to clean, come in bright colors and very inexpensive plus they come in almost any shape or form. They can be bought online or at your local pet store.
Have you though about buying a hamster ball? I’ve always found them very useful and fun for your pet. And you can pop your pet inside while cleaning the cage, and they can get some exercise while you get the job done. They are invaluable!
And what do you do if you haven’t got much money? Try making homemade hamster toys! There are tons of things around the house which can be used, just make sure it isn’t toxic, you don’t want to give you pet stomach ache or even worse poison him or her. Try the cardboard center from a simple toilet paper roll. Hamsters love these and they’re free! You can also cut the ends off small soft drinks bottles and use them as tubes, perhaps even build a labyrinth for you beloved hamster. Cut the bottles with scissors very evenly and carefully sand the edges so there are no sharp areas. Put one bottle slightly inside the other and tape or super glue them together. It’s easy to make both long and short tunnels for your hamster to craw and climb in.
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After deciding you want a hamster we need to look at hamsters cages. Which ones are good and which ones are not so well designed and then,what sort of equipment is needed.
Hamsters cages are the most important area in your hamster’s life. They form the framework and environment for our pet. There is a huge range of cages available but not all models make suitable hamsters cages. Read through this article and think about what you need before buying your hamster’s habitat.
How hamsters cages look is probably the least important feature nevertheless most people tend to choose a cage which looks nice instead of thinking of their hamster’s needs.
Hamsters Cages – standard.
Hamsters Cages - simple2
The simplest hamsters cages are the type with a large plastic tray and a wire cage attached. The plastic tray is about 4 inches high at the sides forming a protective “wall”. This will help guard your pet from drafts and offer protection allowing him to build a little hideaway in the sawdust and hay. It will also help prevent the sawdust from falling out of the cage as your pet burrows through it!. These types of hamsters cages are very cheap and easy to clean.
The bars of the cage are also useful for attaching a hamster wheel and water bottle. Check that the spacing between bars is narrow enough to prevent your pet from escaping, especially if your getting baby dwarf hamsters. They’re tiny and very active!
I remember well when our two Dwarf hamsters Chip and Chap were small, they’d rush up and down the bars of their cage and even managed to cross the top by going “hand over hand” along the rungs using there small front legs! Very impressive and fun to to watch.
Hamsters Cages – multi level.
Hamsters Cages multi-level
Check carefully that the shelves are securely attached and should be preferably offset from each other and overlap. This will increase safety for your hamster, if it should slip and fall it’ll only fall a short distance to the underlying level and not to the bottom of the cage. Hamsters love climbing but they’re not particularly agile and often fall so we want to make sure they don’t fall far!
Hamsters Cages – space station.
Hamsters Cages space-station
This is especially good for dwarf hamsters as you add more areas to their cage as the family grows.
On a practical note these type of cages are more expensive than something less flamboyant and can be difficult, or at least time consuming to take apart and clean. But you can start up small and expand Hammy’s habit as you like.
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A great hamster toys as well as exerciser for your pet is the run-about or hamster ball. These are clear or transparent plastic ball with a secure, removable lid. The idea is to carefully place your hamster inside lock the the lid and put the hamster ball on the floor. As your pet moves around on the inside the ball will begin to move, and as he or she moves faster and starts running the ball will also move faster across the floor.
Hamster Toys - The Hamster Run-About or Hamster Ball
These are great for a number of reasons, they’re fun for your hamster, they’re safe and your pet gets a great work out! I can’t think of a better hamster toy for your pet. Your hamster gets the freedom of the lounge floor so won’t get bored while at the same time getting tons of exercise which is good for their health.
Finding the right size run-about or hamster ball is something to think about when buying. Your hamster will need enough room inside to be comfortable and move about easily but at the same time the ball shouldn’t be too large and heavy so your pet finds it difficult and tiring getting the ball rolling.
We once put our pair of dwarf hamsters in together in their run-about, when we first bought one. Thought it would be more fun for our pets to together. But they couldn’t decide to run in the same direction! which meant the ball moved a little one way and then a little the other way without really getting anywhere. We quickly saw our mistake and bought an extra run-about so they had one each.
These hamster toys are very safe for your pet. Made from tough durable plastic and easily washed and cleaned. However a little word of warning, don’t forget your pet, while watching TV or doing something else. They can wander far in a hamster ball and if you have any low standing furniture (chairs, sofa, sideboards etc.) their run-about can get wedged underneath. Also keep your eye on where the hamster ball is so it doesn’t get inadvertently kicked by someone coming into the room.
As said these are highly recommended hamster toys. The only problem we’ve ever had is a broken plastic catch on the lid, and that was my fault by closing the lid too forcibly and cracking the plastic. I personally prefer the clear plastic run-abouts but they can be bought in many different transparent colors.
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Hamsters love to scamper and run about. Long before they became our beloved pets they lived in the wild and needed to keep away from predators. Big carnivores would try to catch them so they needed speed and agility to stay out of harms way. Therefore fitness and exercise is important for their well-being. Fortunately for our pets there is a wide range of good hamster toys available to help keep them fit and healthy.
Hamster Toys - The Hamster Wheel
By far the most popular is the well known hamster wheel. No hamster home is complete without one. Finding the right one for your hamster isn’t expensive or difficult however there are a few things you ought to bear in mind.
The first, one could say, is size. However it isn’t necessary the first thing we think about. If the hamster wheel is too small your pet will feel cramped using it and on the other hand if it’s too large he or she might not be comfortable either, therefore choose a size that’s right for the hamster size you have. A golden hamster will need a big wheel and a Syrian Dwarf Hamster will need something smaller.
I would strongly recommend the clear plastic type of wheel. We originally had a wire wheel but our dwarf hamsters but they often slipped on the rungs and their legs would go through the gaps. Fortunately they never injured themselves, but they might have. Besides the plastic type of hamster wheels are easy to wash and keep clean, so are the wire wheels you may say, but they soon become rusty when immersed in water.
Hamster Toys - Fun Hamster Wheel
A couple of other things to consider, and one is noise levels! Not an entirely obvious consideration. But for those of us who have or who have had hamsters, we know they’re primarily nocturnal and are using their hamster toys at night. While we’re trying to sleep. Therefore test the hamster wheel by spinning it and listening for squeaks and other noises. Finally get a good quality product, some of them you can take the wheel part off the spindle, which is useful for washing and keeping the wheel clean and then greasing the axle before reassembling.
Good hamster toys are worth the few penny’s extra they might cost. Your pet will get plenty of needed exercise to keep him or her healthy and fit and you’ll have a hamster toy which will withstand the wear and tear our pets can give them.
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In the wild hamsters get plenty of exercise foraging for food and fending for themselves. The also use energy tunnelling to build a shelter and store supplies. Therefore when in captivity hamsters need exercise and amusement in order to stay healthy. It is important to find hamster toys for your pet that will provide both.
The best known type of hamster toys are the hamster wheel. This will give your pet a good work out and plenty of fun. When our dwarf hamsters were small they used to love running side by side together in their hamster wheel. If one stopped he’d get very confused because the wheel kept turning while his partner continued to run! Always get a hamster wheel made from plastic without rungs as there small feet can easily slip through the gaps which could cause an injury. The wheel is an essential hamster toy.
Another great hamster toy which gives your pet plenty of exercise is the run around or hamster ball. This is a clear or transparent plastic ball with a removable lid. Put your hamster in and carefully lock the lid shut then put the ball on the floor. Your hamster will run on the inside of the ball which then moves across the floor. Be careful to keep your eye on your pet because they can move far and could be inadvertently trodden on or kicked, both of which will cause serious injury to your hamster. We once put both our dwarf hamsters into a large run around we’d bought for them, however they didn’t get far as one would run in one direction and the other in the other direction! The run around ball is a recommended hamster toy.
Your hamster will love crawling through tubes as this is part of his nature and is similar to the borrows and tunnels built in the wild. The hamster cage we bought is a combination of a traditional wire cage plus clip together plastic tubing which goes through the cage walls, over the top of the cage and in the other side. This allows our hamsters more freedom and fun. The advantage of clip together specialist plastic tubing is its easy to clean, although you have to be very careful to make sure all the joins are secure when assembling it so your hamster doesn’t escape. If you give him a chance he will! Plastics clip together hamster tubing as not an essential hamster toy but it will give him masses of fun.
Hamster toys are necessary for your pets’ well being but you don’t need to get everything at once. Many hamster toys you can make from household articles, just be sure they are non toxic and won’t cause your pet injury. Start by buying the hamster wheel and build up from there.
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Inside this step-by-step guide you will find all the information you need to make sure your hamster is always a healthy and well cared for pet.
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Comes complete with water bottle and food dish, removable petting zone and activity wheel
Hi Yaire and welcome. There are a number of good ideas in this post of mine on making your own hamster toys. Have fun!
hey my name is yaire and can you give me some tips on how to make fun activities like a ball or something for my hamster