The hamster as a species: a nocturnal animal often misread

The hamster is active mostly at night and in twilight hours. During the day it sleeps deeply, and waking it to play not only stresses it but goes against its natural rhythm. This makes it poorly suited to a small child who wants to interact in the afternoon, because the hours when the hamster is awake and available are the ones when the child is asleep.

It is also a solitary and territorial animal. Unlike other rodents, many hamster species do not live in groups and defend their space firmly: putting two in the same cage often leads to serious fighting. Solitude for a hamster is not a deprivation but its natural condition, and trying to give it a companion out of kindness almost always means giving it an enemy.

• Active at night and at dawn, sleeps through most of the day.
• Should be left to sleep without being woken to interact.
• Solitary and territorial, most species must be kept alone.
• Stores food in cheek pouches and hides it in the cage.
• Lives on average a few years, with differences between species.

The cage sold as suitable for a hamster is often too small. In the wild these animals cover considerable distances every night in search of food, and the wheel, often seen as an accessory, is in fact a necessity to partly make up for that need to move. A cage that is too small is one of the main causes of repetitive behaviours such as bar biting.

The hamster is omnivorous and needs a balanced diet, not just the seeds it tends to pick first while leaving the rest. Mixes in which it can select only the fatty parts lead to imbalances, so what it actually eats matters, not what it is offered. Remember too that it stores food in its cheek pouches and hides it, so hidden moist stores should be checked to stop them going mouldy.

1. 1

   Offer a balanced base

   A food designed for hamsters, ideally as uniform pellets, stops the animal choosing only the fattiest parts and leaving the rest.

2. 2

   Supplement with small fresh amounts

   Measured portions of suitable vegetables, avoiding unsafe foods. Amounts must be small because the animal is tiny.

3. 3

   Check the hidden stores

   Inspect the hides regularly to remove accumulated moist food that could go mouldy.

4. 4

   Respect its schedule for contact

   Interact in the evening, when it is awake, not by waking it during the day. A hamster disturbed in its sleep tends to bite.

5. 5

   Build up handling gradually

   Start with a still hand in the cage, let it approach and lift it gently only when calm, always near a surface to avoid falls.

Handling must be built with patience, because a hamster woken or grabbed suddenly bites in defence, and this is often the origin of its reputation as a biter. A bite in such a small animal is almost always fear, not malice, and with respected schedules and slow movements most hamsters become handleable.

Like many prey animals, the hamster hides signs of illness as long as it can, and when it shows them it is often already compromised. For its tiny size the margins for intervention are narrow and conditions worsen fast, so any change should be taken seriously and brought straight to a vet experienced with exotic animals.

• Soft stools or diarrhoea, which in such a small animal dehydrate rapidly and are an emergency.
• Loss of appetite or refusal of food even for a few hours.
• Ruffled coat, half-closed eyes and a hunched posture, generic but important signs.
• Noisy or laboured breathing, indicating a respiratory problem.
• Swellings, wounds or trouble chewing, possible dental problems or abscesses.
• Apathy and a drop in the usual night-time activity.

Keeping note of weight and habits, while the animal is well, helps notice a deviation early. In a species that hides illness, data recorded consistently is often the only way to catch a problem before it becomes visible to the naked eye, and for such a fragile animal a few hours' head start can make the difference.