Exercise and Toys
Exercise Balls
Exercise balls can be bought readily from pet shops for around £3-£5. These give the hamster a chance to get a form of exercise outside of its cage. I find that most hamsters enjoy having time out in an exercise ball and never want to go back into their cage. They shouldnt be allowed more than 20-30 minutes at any one time as they can exhaust themselves and need chance to have something to eat and drink.
Some hamsters are great escape artists and manage to get out of their exercise balls either by unscrewing the lid or banging it againest a wall until the lid becomes undone. In these cases it is a good idea to celotape the lid down to prevent any escapees. Make sure the ball is not in an rea where it can fall down any stairs or in any direct sunlight. Toys Toys should be provided for your hamsters as a form of enrichment to entertain him and prevent boredom. Just by waking into a pet shop you will see the many different types of hamsters toys available such as plastic tv's, see-saws and ropes etc.
Some of the toys I use are: - Cardboard loo/kitchen rolls. These are great for hamsters to chew and tunnel in. - Egg boxes. - Either by giving them the 'egg cups' to play with or you can fill the cups with sawdust and bits of food, close the lid and cut holes in the top of the egg box. This will encourage them to forage. - Bird rope toys - I have found a great toy is the bird rope toys sold in Wilkinsons for 99p. They are made of rope with wooden chews on for gnawing and they attach to the top of a cage and dangle down. Mine especially love these. - Willow log bridges - These can be bought from Wilkinsons in the small animal section for £1.49. They are a great natural chew and and can be bent into bridges, fences and hideaways. - Play cubes - These cost £1.99 from Wilkinsons. They are a great toy to climb around and play inside. - Empty cereal boxes - My hamsters are given empty cereal boxes from kids mini selection boxes which they love to play with, especially babies as they can hide inside of them. - Empty plastic coffee jars - These make great hideaways especially for young hamsters. - Home made hammocks - I buy the dog blankets for £1 from the pound shop and cut it into around 8 pieces. I then use a machine that punches a hole into the fabric and places a metal ring into the hole. I then use metal clips to hook the rings onto the bars of the cage. In the shops hammocks cost around 7 or 8 pounds and some hamsters may destroy them straight away so I find this way of doing it much more cost effective. | Exercise Wheels
The majority of wheels that come with hamster cages are much too small for a fully grown Syrian Hamster, despite them being too small the hamster will try to continue to run on it. As it arches his back it can cause him quite a bit of discomfort.
They need to have an 8 inch /20 cm wheel in order to exercise free from discomfort. One of the best wheels you can buy (in my opinion) is called a Wodent Wheel. It is a wheel that sits on a stand inside your hamsters cage. You will need to get the junior size for a syrian hamster (9 inches). The one disadvantage is that this wheel can be quite hard to get hold of as it is not yet readily available in the shops. It can be bought from online stores and at some shows. Some other good brands of exercise wheels are: The savic JUMBO rolly - This is bigger than the standard savic rolly wheel and attaches onto the bars of the cage. It can be found in most pet shops such as Pets at Home. A stand can also be bought separately for around £2 to attach the wheel onto instead of attaching it to the cage. The Trixie Wheel - This wheel can also be either stood on a stand or attached to the bars of the cage. It is a good size and not too noisy. The Karlie Willy Wheel - I like this wheel as it is a great size, even for chunky girls. Not noisy, although the spindle is quite big so I wouldn't use it for a lh boy. |