19 Proven Tips to Keep Your Hamster Happy and Healthy

No matter what sort of pet you own, we all want our pets to be happy. Luckily, most pets are pretty easy to make happy with the right care and enrichment, including hamsters. While hamsters are often considered one of the easier pets to own, there is a lot that goes into their proper care.

Ensuring your hamster is well taken care of is the first step to ensuring they’re happy. Once you have the basics down, there are quite a few other things you can do as well. We’ll discuss these “extras” in this article.

If you’re looking to make your hamster a bit happier, here is a list of things you can try.

1. Provide a Bigger Cage

Hamsters spend most of their time in their cage, so it is important to ensure that their cage is big enough to meet their needs. Hamsters need mental enrichment and physical enrichment to stay happy and healthy. Often, a larger cage often makes it easier to accomplish these things.

In the wild, a single hamster has a lot of territory. While we won’t be giving our hamster huge amounts of space, it does do them some good to go above the usual space requirements and give them something a little bigger. Just because a hamster is small doesn’t mean they will be pleased with a small space.

Hamsters should have plenty of space for burrowing, toys, and things to meet their physical needs. A larger space also ensures that the hamster will get enough physical exercise, which is important for them to remain a healthy weight and stay fit.

2. Provide a Complete Diet

Often, when it comes to your hamster’s diet, you can get away with “just good enough”. There are a lot of commercial foods that your hamster can stay alive on, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the hamster will thrive. One of the first steps to making your hamster happier is to optimize their diet. Your hamster will feel much better if he is on a suitable diet.

You shouldn’t just rely on a commercial hamster diet. Instead, add appropriate fresh foods too. This will help make your hamster happier and healthier.

With that said, more food is not always better. Hamsters often have a food stash in their burrows. They won’t just leave food in their bowl. Therefore, you can’t judge the amount of food you’re giving your hamster off of how much food they leave behind. Hamsters are very bad at self-regulating their food consumption. So, you’ll need to ensure that you only give them the proper amount.

• See also: What Human Foods Can Hamsters Eat?

3. Fresh Water is Always Better

You’ll be surprised by the amount of water a hamster will consume in a day. This is especially true if the cage is a bit larger, as your hamster will probably be moving around a bit more. Fresh water is absolutely essential for your hamster’s wellbeing. Without the right amount of water, your hamster won’t be happy or healthy.

It’s a common myth that hamsters come from deserts and therefore don’t need much water. While hamsters can survive for a decently long time without water, this does not leave them in a healthy place. In captivity, hamsters should always have access to fresh water.

Choose a high-quality water bottle to ensure that your hamster remains hydrated at all times. Your pet should always be able to drink water when they need to.