In the wild, hamsters make burrows, climb and walk for miles each day, so their living space needs to be large enough to allow them to behave as naturally as possible. Most hamster cages sold in shops aren’t big enough to even meet a hamster’s most basic needs, so instead, we recommend providing them with a much larger space, such as an extra-large cage, glass tank, or home-made enclosure. Wherever you choose to house your hamster make sure it has the following: With buried tunnels and things, I like to do a bit of a mixture. Tunnels at diagonals can be good with sort of one end poking up and looking inviting. Weird-shaped boxes and bits of flat cardboard staggered into the substrate at intervals can be good too, like a sort of subterranean roof. A hamster aged 18 months or older is entering the final months of its lifespan, and behaviors will change. Digging and burrowing will be among the first activities to cease. Hamsters are generally easy keepers, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get bored sitting in the same environment day in and day out. If you have a hamster, you will want to ensure that he or she is receiving the mental and physical stimulation necessary to thrive.

ii) Burying or partially burying cardboard boxes and tubes. This helps get them started with experiencing being under the substrate, as well as being cheap (free!) and easy for humans. Honestly that's good! It feels bad because it's not what we wanted them to do in exactly the right way, but free interaction and decision-making with the materials available shows that they're enjoying things. It's also worth noting that cacheing food is another key natural hamster behaviour - the fact that he's searching for food and then pouching it and taking it off to his nest is brilliant. They've never been kept in an appropriate environment before to develop the skill. All behaviours, even natural ones, take practice and learning to develop. For example humans are persistence hunters - we've evolved hardcore endurance to keep walking/ running after prey. But your average western human isn't going to just be able to go out and run a marathon just like that, if they've not worked on maintaining the skill since childhood. By the same token, a hamster who has previously lived in an environment without opportunity to dig, they're not going to suddenly go out there and dig a tunnel city. You need to ease them in slowly, go 'hey did you know you can do this?' and help them develop their skills and grow their enjoyment.

Maintaining and Refreshing the Digging Box

While adult hamsters usually live alone, they’re still driven by an instinctive urge to bury and hoard food supplies. You’ll find a hamster stuffs its cheek pouches with food and creates hidden food caches. Hamsters are delightful pets that bring joy and entertainment to our lives. As responsible pet owners, it is essential to provide them with an enriching environment that promotes their natural behaviors. One fantastic way to satisfy their innate instincts is by creating a hamster digging box. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the process of making a hamster digging box, ensuring your furry friend has a stimulating and fulfilling experience. From selecting the right materials to incorporating safe and exciting elements, we’ll cover everything you need to know to create an enticing digging box for your beloved hamster. Fortunately, the bedding that you already have in your hamster’s enclosure is perfectly fine to use in their burrowing environment as well. What matters more is how much bedding you use – which may depend on the hamster and their eagerness toward digging and burrowing, as well as their size. Dwarf hamsters, for instance, will likely require a shallower burrowing area than larger Syrian hamsters.

So, if you see your hamster burrowing into his or her bedding, don’t be alarmed! They are only doing what nature has made them inclined to do. Their burrowing behavior does not mean that they are frightened or want to hide from you. Do All Hamsters Burrow? Another approach is to create a burrowing box for the hamster by taking a tissue box and cutting a hole in the bottom. Fill the box with substrate and place it in the hamster’s habitat. What Is The Best Hamster Bedding for Burrowing? Yes, hamsters are burrowing animals. Hamsters burrow in the wild, creating networks of tunnels and caves wherein they sleep and store their food. This is done for a number of reasons, including warmth and protection for the poor-sighted creatures from predators. Having a hamster in a domestic setting does not strip them of this natural burrowing impulse. Many hamsters will do this when and where they can, including inside their cage.

What are some of the best hamster enrichment ideas? When coming up with enrichment ideas for your hamster, you will want to consider both their natural environment and natural behavior. Some of the top ideas are: For something more enclosed, a side opening glass cookie jar is good, although some species of hamsters may need a wooden bridge in the entrance to help them get in and out. A hamster that suddenly stops burrowing may have an injury to one or more of its paws or legs. Common signs of a hamster injury include the following:

It’s important to remember where your hamster likes to toilet when you clean and layout the cage so that one area is consistently the toilet. That makes spot cleaning the area much easier and reduces the overall cage cleaning needed. If you’re looking for a way to save money on hamster bedding, hemp bedding is a cost-effective option to consider. However, this type of bedding doesn’t hold burrows on its own. To get around this, you’ll need to mix it with other bedding materials like paper bedding and hay. Provide a deeper digging box in the cage, similar to a rat digging box, but with hamster appropriate depth and substrate. Coco fiber doesn’t hold burrows well, so it’s not suitable as a main substrate, but you can use it as an additional source of enrichment in one part of the cage or a dig box. Wood shavings have a bad reputation in rodent keeping, because raw softwood shavings can be dusty and contain chemical compounds that irritate rodents’ sensitive respiratory systems. However, dust extracted aspen wood shavings are safe and can make a good substrate option. Aspen is a hardwood tree so it doesn’t contain potentially harmful aromatic oils that softwood contains.If a hamster is burrowed and isn’t responding to stimuli, uncover it and hold a mirror before its nose. If fog appears on this mirror, the hamster is breathing and thus hibernating. A deep enough solid base to accommodate 25cm (10 inches) of suitable bedding for burrowing, sleeping and storing food – read more about suitable bedding for hamsters below A third option is to place a designated “burrowing bin/box” in the hamster’s existing cage. This can easily be done with something like a tissue box. There are many tutorials online as to how to do this, so while the instructions below may not fit your style, you will likely find a step-by-step guide to constructing your own burrowing box that does. Creating a Custom Burrowing Box Hamsters are adorable and curious creatures that exhibit some of the most interesting or baffling behavior. As a hamster owner or a prospective owner of hamsters in the future, you should have an understanding of what these behaviors mean. One commonly discussed aspect of hamster behavior is burrowing. Do all hamsters burrow? Why do to hey burrow in the first place? We've done the research to bring you some solid answers! Pine and cedar shavings: Pine and cedar shavings have traditionally been popular choices for hamster bedding because of their pleasant smell and affordable price. However, these types of bedding contain natural oils known as phenols, which can irritate their sensitive respiratory systems.