Hamster care for beginners

Hamsters make great pets — not just for kids, but for anyone looking for an easygoing companion. Get ready to learn all about hamster care for beginners. Everything from choosing their habitat, what to feed them, and how to interact with them, you’ll soon have the confidence to care for your new small pet. 

The basic needs of a hamster 

Hamsters make fun pets that are relatively easy to care for. These small members of the rodent family are nocturnal, so they’ll sleep while you’re at school or work, and will be active after the sun sets. Hamsters need a few things to keep them healthy and happy. These are: 

• A secure hamster habitat with an exercise wheel
• Hamster food pellets and clean water  
• Enriching accessories for exercise 

With these essentials, you’ll be ready to host a hamster in your home, and enjoy the company they offer. 

A hamster habitat 

Many people envision small, wire hamster cages when they think of an enclosure for these small pets. Traditionally, hamster habitats have been smaller, wire enclosures with various accessories attached. But hamsters actually have diverse needs when it comes to their habitat. They should have plenty of room to exercise, burrow, roam, and an area to relieve themselves. 

Omlet’s Hamster Habitat is spacious, designed with you and your hamster in mind. It’s spacious, easy to clean, and offers a deep bedding tray for your hamster to create their own network of burrows. The integrated hamster wheel spins smoothly and silently — letting your furry friend burn off energy during their waking hours. Optional tubes, ramps, and platforms can also be added to utilize vertical space, and to give your hamster even more room to explore. 

Hamster diet  

Hamsters love to eat. But what they put into their mouths (and pouches) matters to their overall health and wellbeing. To stay fit and healthy, hamsters need access to quality feed pellets free-choice, with nutritious treats interspersed throughout the week. Pellets should make up the majority of your hamster’s diet. Avoid choosing a hamster diet that resembles trail mix, with various elements added in. Hamsters will pick out the tastiest bits and leave the most nutritious pieces behind. 

Forage like timothy hay is also beneficial to offer to your hamster routinely to help aid in their digestion and trim their ever-growing incisor teeth. Other hamster-friendly treats that should be offered no more than 2 or 3 times a week include: 

• Fresh fruit like apples, bananas, or berries 
• Fresh veggies like broccoli, carrots, cucumbers or lettuce 
• Boiled or unseasoned scrambled egg

Accessories 

Hamsters may sleep all day, but they are bundles of energy during the evening, overnight, and early in the morning. Some hamsters have even been recorded to run upwards of 5 miles on their wheels in a single night. With so much energy being stored throughout the day, you’ll want to make sure that your hamster has plenty to do when they’re awake. 

Hamster tubes are one of the most popular hamster accessories, and for good reason. Hamsters love to tunnel and burrow, and tubes do a great job of simulating this excavating behavior while giving you a front row seat to the action. Creating loops, switchbacks, and intersections with hamster tubes gives owners a chance to exercise their ingenuity, and gives your hamster a great opportunity to exercise their minds and bodies. 

Other popular hamster accessories include: 

• Exercise balls 
• Climbers 
• Gnaws and chews 
• DIY hamster mazes 

When you bring your hamster out to play, make sure to keep them in an escape-proof playpen. From there, you can build mazes, obstacle courses, or let them take their hamster ball for a spin in a safe and contained environment. 

Routine hamster care 

Caring for your hamster can be broken down into daily, weekly and monthly routines. These should only take a few minutes, leaving you plenty of time to play and interact with your hamster. 

Daily 

Make sure that your hamster has plenty of pellets in their food bowl and water in their bottle. Wipe clean any noticeably dirty surfaces, and tidy up their habitat if things were displaced overnight. The aim of daily checks and tasks is to prepare your hamster for their busy night ahead. 

Weekly 

Clean your hamster’s habitat at least once a week by removing any obviously soiled bedding. Hamsters usually pick a particular corner or place in their home to use as a toilet, making this task easy on you. Wipe their water bottle nozzle clean if needed, along with their wheel, food bowl, or other surfaces. 

Monthly

You should perform a complete bedding change once a month for your hamster. Pick a time when your hamster is awake, and remove them from their habitat while you clean. Remove all of the components of your hamster’s home, and clean them with water or a hamster-safe cleaning solution. Dump or scoop out all of the bedding, and wash the bedding tray. Make sure everything is nice and dry before reassembling their habitat, complete with fresh bedding. 

Hamster health checks 

You’ll also want to do a health check on your hamster at least once a week. This quick check is to make note of any potential changes in your pet, and is best performed while you’re holding your hamster. Gently look at their face, feet, belly, and backside, and feel around for any lumps or bumps. If you notice anything amiss, contact your veterinarian to discuss your findings. 

Omlet and your hamster

We’ve designed hamster products that make caring for your small pet fun and easy. With easy to clean, spacious hamster habitats, customizable hamster tubes, and fun ramps and platforms, your hamster will live their biggest lives with you able to observe them in their natural element. With a setup that makes it easy to care for your hamster, and elements that bring out the best in them, you’ll both be able to enjoy the bond between hamster and human. 

This entry was posted in Hamsters