Hamsters have made great pets for a long time now, but many people still don’t know how to treat hamsters properly. Most people think they’re nocturnal animals, so it’s confusing for them to see their hamsters active during the day. So, they might wonder how it’s possible.
Hamsters may wake up during the day to satisfy some of their needs, such as drinking water, nibbling on some food, and playing with other fellow hamsters or you. However, they may also wake up due to external interruptions such as noisy children and pets or other noise sources like a vacuum cleaner.
Keep reading the remainder of this article to learn more about hamsters’ sleeping habits and how to treat them properly. We’ll go through their natural behavior and then see what you can do to keep them in their natural pattern or break it.
Hamster Sleeping Habits
Generally, most people think hamsters are nocturnal animals, meaning they’re active during the night and sleep during the day. However, that’s not precisely true.
According to the experts, they’re actually crepuscular animals which means they’re mostly asleep during the day and also a few hours at night. In their natural habitat, they leave their burrow before the sun goes down and come back just before the sun rises.
Interestingly, studies have shown that hamsters also enter the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep as we do. However, there’s no proof that they can dream like us in this phase or not.
Let’s see what they do throughout the day and night:
Day
Hamsters sleep during the day, and that’s how they’re developed to behave. They’re small creatures and can be good prey for bigger predators in nature.
So, they’ve learned to sleep during the day and stay clear of dangerous predators during their evolution. So, if you see your hamster sleeping during the day, don’t worry. That’s in its nature.
You shouldn’t worry much if you see them up during the day. Most hamsters tend to get up a few times during the day to eat something, for example or drink water. They may also wake up for peeing or pooping because hamsters are clean animals and don’t like to have dirty bedding.
Aside from this, loud noises can disturb hamsters and wake them up during the day. Hamsters have pretty strong hearing, so they can easily wake up by sounds such as a vacuum cleaner, a TV, noisy children, or of other pets such as dogs or cats.
Meanwhile, if you have a good relationship with your hamster, it may change its natural sleeping cycle and adjust it with yo