Hamsters are busy little critters, and their owners often see them scurrying about, hoarding food, or running on their exercise wheels. In the wild, these nocturnal rodents live in a variety of habitats and spend their days foraging for food, hunting, and evading predators. Because they’re prey animals, these creatures have agile bodies developed for running.
A hamster runs up to 5 miles (8 kilometers) in a single night on average, according to the San Diego Humane Society. They may reach speeds of up to 6 miles per hour (9.65 km/hr). A hamster’s agility is evident in how they abruptly change direction, leap, and climb.
This article discusses hamsters’ running and traveling habits, including why and how fast they run. It also covers how to ensure that your pet hamsters receive enough exercise. Read on to learn more.
How Far Hamsters Travel at Night
As a hamster owner, you’ve probably noticed that hamsters spend the majority of their daytime hours sleeping. As night falls, they wake up, scurry around and become more active.
This behavior isn’t exclusive to hamsters in captivity. Even wild hamsters spend most of their day sleeping in burrows. At dusk, they emerge and begin their quest for food.
As noted, the average hamster travels around 5 miles (8 km) every night, but they’re capable of covering more ground if necessary. That distance isn’t covered in a single run, however. Because hamsters are prey, they frequently stop to watch out for predators, as well as to gather food and drink.
Contrary to popular belief, a hamster in captivity does not have reduced exercise requirements. In fact, they need the same amount of exercise and energy as their wild counterparts. Despite their small size, hamsters need quite a bit of space for running.
With that said, most hamster owners don’t have a lot of space, so they must provide their furry friends with alternative ways to exercise and explore. I’ll go more in-depth into exercising a hamster later in this article.
Read Why Is My Hamster Sleeping So Much?
How Fast Can Hamsters Run?
In the wild, hamsters live in deserts, gardens, foothills, river valleys, and farm fields. Scientists have seen some of them living at elevations up to 11,811 feet (3,600 meters). Interestingly, regardless of the terrain, most hamsters have similarly built bodies — small, compact, and built for dodging, hiding, and evading.
Specifically, they have four front toes and five rear toes. Because of their body development and bone structure, hamsters are fast, agile creatures and excellent climbers.
Hamsters run between 3 and 6 miles per hour (4.82 and 9.65 km/hr). Syrian hamsters have large feet, so they cover more ground, but they take more frequent breaks while running. The Campbell’s Dwarf Hamster, known for its abrupt movements and speed, runs up to 3.73 miles per hour (6.5 km/hr).
In comparison, the average human woman runs around 6.5 miles per hour (10.46 km/hr) — and maximum hamster speeds aren’t far behind. While speed varies from hamster to hamster, they’re all capable of covering a considerable distance in a short period of time relative to their size.
Read Why Is My Hamster Not Coming Out at Night?
Why Do Hamsters Run?
According to the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association, hamsters are nocturnal creatures that showcase territorial behavior. As such, most hamster species are solitary, rarely tolerating others except during mating season. They spend most of their lives alone.
Hamsters run for many reasons, including predator evasion, territory monitoring, food gathering, mate hunting, and energy expenditure. These creatures tend to run everywhere the