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Keeping Hamster Warm

I want to know what the giant sand dune is in the front of his cage :) . Is it a piece of wood? It's huge! It looks like a real paradise for hamster exploration.
 
What a gorgeous hamster! The photo of him sleeping is super cute.

Personally, i don't think that hamster need a consistent 20C. That's in an ideal world. I'd love that too. Reality is different though.

Your hamster is lucky and has a lovely and cozy set up to keep him warm.

Sadly, the majority of hamsters live in small cages without proper shelter and a thin layer of wood chips. I feel sorry for them and wonder how they get through the winter but they do. Maybe hamsters are hardier than we think and warm in their nests like we are warm in our beds.

A hamster wouldn't sit in the cold and shiver, they'd go to their nest to keep warm.
 
I put the whole thing in the microwave with the cover on. I think ideally they do need a temperature of 20 degrees most of the time but it depends on peoples houses maybe. They really don't like cold (and they really don't like a lot of heat either). But they can get used to it not being 20 degrees all the time, as long is it doesn't drop too low at night. I'm just very conscious of torpor. I know many people don't have any additional heat overnight - just something like a snugglesafe. As long as the house is heated generally - in the evening eg. I only have the overnight heater on a timer when it's freezing nights. Which are usually predicted in forecasts.

Our first hamster was really spoiled - I had a heater on low every night - I'd come down and see him basking in his hammock ha ha! Looking very pleased.
 
Snuggle safes provide a warm spot rather than radiate heat. I think everyone should have one in their hamster kit as it can come in useful during the colder months or to help an elderly, I'll or post surgery hamster maintain their heat but can also be put in the fridge and then against the cage to provide a cool spot during hot weather too.

Is there any way you can help keep heat in the room? Draft excluder, thick curtains or use insulation foil in window frames or behind radiators?
 
Maz said:
Ooh he's gorgeous! He's a sable. Snugglesafe's are fine with the cover on. They are very hard plastic too. They survive being in the microwave!

It's a bit like that here too - we were doing without heating as long as possible (due to the energy bills going up) and wearing extra clothes but our Syrian did show signs of it affecting him so that prompted me to start having a heater on. All electric heating is expensive. The oil filled radiators are supposed to be cheaper than a space heater though. Some come with a built in thermostat and timer as well (so it only comes on when the temperature gets below a certain level). If he's in the warmest room in the house then maybe no need to move him to the living room. Ours are there because there's nowhere else! A change of environment can throw them quite a bit but he should settle in a couple of weeks if you do move him. I guess the bonus to that is you only need the heater in the one room.
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Thank you. I swear he poses for these. Or I got really lucky.

Yes its tough. Family works from home on the phone so its noisy. Thus my living room debate.

I have ordered the Snugglesafe and it looks Perfect! Thank you
 
RainbowBrite said:
Oh my gosh, what a beautiful hamster! You should start a thread for him under the Syrian section. You can tell us all about him and include pictures.

Snugglesafes have a special cover you can buy so you could get one if you wanted to just to make you feel better about using one.
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Thank you. I will.
 
Coco61 said:
Welcome here Teal and Little Bear. He is just gorgeous
I have a snuggle safe and cover came with it. As already said, it retains the heat for hours after heating in the microwave.
I popped ours into the microwave a couple of hours ago for my H who was complaining of the cold. When he pulled it out saying he was warm and how good it was - I pinched it and it is under my top now as I type!
I did use it in the coldest weather to help overnight by placing it against the cage where it could not be reached.
But plenty of sheets toilet tissue torn into strips and Little Bear will do a lot of the work himself.
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Thank you :) One is on the way and it looks perfect. I'm so glad I asked.
 
Beryl said:
What a gorgeous hamster! The photo of him sleeping is super cute.

Personally, i don't think that hamster need a consistent 20C. That's in an ideal world. I'd love that too. Reality is different though.

Your hamster is lucky and has a lovely and cozy set up to keep him warm.

Sadly, the majority of hamsters live in small cages without proper shelter and a thin layer of wood chips. I feel sorry for them and wonder how they get through the winter but they do. Maybe hamsters are hardier than we think and warm in their nests like we are warm in our beds.

A hamster wouldn't sit in the cold and shiver, they'd go to their nest to keep warm.
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Thank you, I was really lucky to come across Victoria Raechel's channel and she really opened my eyes. The rescue also had a lot of good supplies to start with.
And yes, thats really sad. Hopefully, people will become more aware.
 
Riven said:
Snuggle safes provide a warm spot rather than radiate heat. I think everyone should have one in their hamster kit as it can come in useful during the colder months or to help an elderly, I'll or post surgery hamster maintain their heat but can also be put in the fridge and then against the cage to provide a cool spot during hot weather too.

Is there any way you can help keep heat in the room? Draft excluder, thick curtains or use insulation foil in window frames or behind radiators?
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Yes, I really agree :) One is on the way.
We have heavy curtains in front of the window but I like the insulation foil idea. Thank you.
 
I must get a small thermometor and put it inside Rodney's house when he is out free roaming. I'm really curious of the actual temperature inside a hamster's house. It would be warmer with the hamster inside it of course.
He lives in the coolest part which is an open plan kitchen lounge area.
 
I have a room thermometer (a digital thing) which I have found is completely useless! It doesn't matter how much the room temperature changes, it hardly moves. For years it's been stuck on 16 degrees and I only just realised!
 
Maz said:
I have a room thermometer (a digital thing) which I have found is completely useless! It doesn't matter how much the room temperature changes, it hardly moves. For years it's been stuck on 16 degrees and I only just realised!
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Luckily you know now!
 
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Teal & Little Bear said:
Yes, I think your referring to the piece of wood. Its a grapevine wood tunnel. He loves it :)
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Ah thank you! I thought at first it looked like creative sand :-) Then wondered if it was driftwood. But a vine tunnel sounds amazing! Where did you get it?
 
Maz said:
I have a room thermometer (a digital thing) which I have found is completely useless! It doesn't matter how much the room temperature changes, it hardly moves. For years it's been stuck on 16 degrees and I only just realised!
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I haven't even been able to find a reliable one. I'm contemplating whether to move Rodney upstairs or not, where its warmer.
 
Beryl said:
I haven't even been able to find a reliable one. I'm contemplating whether to move Rodney upstairs or not, where its warmer.
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I have a ThermaPro one. I am very happy with it. It has the temperature and also humidity. I got mine from Ebay.
 
Thanks for the recommendation Rainbow! Mine only cost about £3 - a kind of square thing - it also showed humidity and did all kinds of other things but didn't have many settings buttons - I was never quite sure what I was doing with it! And occasionally an alarm would go off which I didn't know was set and couldn't work out how to turn it off again so used to have to take the battery out and start again. I only wanted a thermometer! It was a lady by the name of Cypher who suggested room thermometers to me.
 
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