Can You Change a Hamster’s Sleeping Schedule? How To Do It Without Frightening Them
Different pets kept at home vary in schedules in which they do their daily activities. This includes feeding, playing, and sleeping schedules, with some pets sleeping during the day and remaining active at twilight. Hamsters are one of these animals, about whom the owner might consider changing the sleeping schedule.
So, can you change a hamster’s sleeping schedule? Yes, you can, though it should be gradual. You can achieve this by playing with them through your active time, only letting them sleep when you do. However, this can take time and requires patience.
Most pets adjust their routine to match their owners, but if they don’t, you can try to change theirs. Read on to learn how you can change your pet hamster’s schedule.
Can You Change a Hamster’s Sleeping Schedule?
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Hamsters have a polyphasic sleep schedule where they can have multiple intervals of awake and asleep time. They can spend anywhere between 12 – 14 hours of sleep. This often conflicts with their owner’s times, who would prefer to pet them than watch them sleep.
Changing their sleeping schedule is feasible and has been accomplished before. The trick is to make the process as natural as possible while observing the hamster’s reactions through the process. Aggression and mood swings are possible outcomes in pets whose schedule has been interfered with abruptly.
How To Change a Hamsters Sleep Schedule
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Since most of the hamster’s rhythms are adaptations to their ecological niche in the wild, it’s easier to change them in captivity. The controlled temperatures and humidity at homes allow them to remain active through hours they would have otherwise spent burrowing. Also, the security and food provision means most of their needs are catered for, allowing them extra time for other activities.
To change your hamsters’ sleeping schedule, you must first identify their routine and how consistent it is. Since they sleep in intervals, you must aim to change one at a time. The following are some activities that can aid you in this quest:
1. Pet it
Pick your hamster and pet it when it’s nearing one of its sleeping times. This will distract it, and it will end up sleeping later than the usual time
2. Introduce new toys
Add new toys, only allowing them to play with the toys when it’s their sleeping time during the day. The excitement of the new toy will keep it awake past nap time.
3. Bond
Sometimes hamsters sleep after a time of boredom and inactivity. Bond more with your pet to encourage them to spend more time with you instead of sleeping.
4. Turn lights off
Can you train a hamster to sleep at night? Difficult, but possible. Since they’re active during the night, turning off the lights can be a good way to make them adjust their schedule. Since they don’t have a strong sense of sight, they might reduce their activity level. It may result in boredom and make them sleepy.
5. Take time
Since this means interfering with your pet’s circadian rhythms, it must be smooth and as natural as possible. These rhythms impact their eating habits, body temperature, and hormones, and when abrupt, your pet can develop health issues.
Can You Train a Hamster to Wake Up Earlier?
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Yes, you can. But you first need to appreciate that your pet hamster needs about 12 to 14 hours of sleep. Thankfully, you can break it into parts so that the pet doesn’t sleep for all those hours straight. If you want your hamster to wake up earlier, ensure it also sleeps early. We believe you want them to wake up earlier so that you can spend more time together.
The first thing you need here is to record the pet’s sleep pattern. This way, you will know where to pick it from without intruding into their space. Below are the steps to follow.
- Start feeding them at a specific time when they wake up for about a fortnight
- Move your feeding time back by the utmost 15 minutes
- Keep moving the time back after every week or fortnight until you get to your desired time
After some time of feeding your hamster at a specific time, they will start waking up by themselves. Hamsters are smart and will remember the feeding time, which makes it easy to train them to wake up earlier. While at it, remember a hamster is a nocturnal animal and naturally wakes up at around dusk.
If you want to train them otherwise, which is possible, as illustrated above, you must exercise patience. It may take you months to train them to wake up earlier than they are used to.
Also, you may never succeed in altering their schedule completely. You need to keep them engaged for the extra hours you want to have them awake, or they will fall back to their innate habit.
Should I Wake My Hamster?
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Despite the need to adjust their routine and schedule, waking your pet hamster is not always the best idea. It’s better if they sleep earlier or later so that waking time matches your desired time. However, if waking them is a must, there are several ways you can do that without scaring or agitating them:
- Approach their cage quietly and calmly so as not to startle them
- Call their names softly as you approach them
- Softly pet them if they are still asleep after calling them
- If there are any light sources, you can dim them to give them a sense that it’s their active twilight hours
- Hamsters can sleep a lot and hibernate in cold temperatures, warming their room can also make them awake
- Offer fresh treats in their feeding bowls to use their opportunistic feeding behavior as a variable
However, if your pet still doesn’t wake up or keeps falling back to sleep, you can let them sleep for more time. Avoid rushing them into adapting to your proposed changes if you want to avoid scaring or disorienting them. Any unresponsiveness can signify a health issue, and you should take it to your vet.
FAQ
To aid your research on changing the pet’s sleeping schedule, below are some frequently asked questions and their answers. You will find them useful in guiding your hamster through a new sleeping schedule.
Can You Train a Hamster to Wake Up Earlier?
With a few adjustments to their environment and schedule, you can train a hamster to wake up earlier. This is achieved by changing their lighting time and creating a notion to them that it’s a specific time of the day. You can also achieve this by letting them sleep early such that they wake early enough.
Can a Hamster Learn to Sleep at Night?
Though they’re most active at dusk and dawn, hamsters can learn to sleep at night. They are trained by adjusting their environment to match the one suitable for them to sleep at. It can take time to learn and adjust, and you should be patient and consistent.
Outro
It’s heartbreaking for pet lovers when their companions’ schedules mismatch with theirs. This mostly leads to adjustments and changes in their schedules in an attempt to align their rhythms. With consistency and patience, the dream can be realized without too many repercussions.
Hamsters are one of these pets with varying schedules, specifically sleeping time. So you’d often wonder how to adjust my hamsters sleep schedule. However, their routine can possibly be adjusted to match their owners with the teaks discussed in the article. If you follow them, you’ll possibly succeed with your hammy’s new schedule and be able to enjoy more of each other’s time.