Hamsters love being able to indulge in wheel spinning fun whenever they please, but it can be noisy at night when the hamster is taking advantage of its wheel to spin again and again. It’s important to consider whether or not you should take your wheel out at night when you don’t want to hear the noise for yourself.
Hamsters like to be active when it’s nighttime. If you take their wheel out during the dark, it will feel like the wheel provides a sense of play for them. Taking it away is cruel and depriving.
If you feel as though hamster wheels are too noisy and disruptive to other people, there should be alternatives on your part.
What happens if you take your hamster’s wheel out at night?
Hamsters are nocturnal animals who are dormant most of the day when they are awake. That means the body parts typically used for exercise, sleeping and their daytime fun, like running on a hamster wheel, happen at night when the sun is out.
Hamster wheel is extremely essential for hamsters because it is the source of their fun and activity whenever they are kept in a habitat. Hamsters mostly run on their wheel at night and may even be able to go up to five miles at night. At one point, a hamster was able to reach 26 miles of running on the wheel in just five days while many people can’t go more than 5 miles of running in five days. Just goes to show how important the hamster wheel is for your hamster.
When you remove the hamster wheel because it is making noise at night, you are essentially leaving your pet without anything to do during its most active time. The minute wheel provides the animal with a stimulation through its own running and spinning motions. On top of that, your pet may actually end up with health problems because it is inactive.
You shouldn’t remove the wheel at night because it is the only way for the hamster to stay active and happy. Instead, search for alternatives that you can do so that you can sleep better.
How long can a hamster go without a wheel?
If your hamster has outgrown its old wheel or if the wheel is broken, don’t worry. It’ll take a bit of time before you have a new one. If you ordered online or if there are no nearby stores selling hamster wheels, it will be extra difficult.
Hamsters can live without a wheel but they may get bored. If your hamster has been without a wheel for less time, it will be fine for multiple days if you eventually replace the old wheel.
If you leave your hamster without a wheel for a long period of time, that might be concerning because it could end up gaining too much weight or even develop bad habits.
Don’t ever let your hamster run on a wheel without one for days. A couple of days without a wheel will be fine though, especially if the new wheel is just coming in to stock.
How to keep your hamster quiet at night
Change the hamster’s cage to a location far away from your bed
If you live in a small studio and have your hamster’s cage near your bed, try to avoid the wheel bothering you by getting rid of it. For those who live in apartments with small living areas, place the wheel out of reach to sleep better at night without the noise.
Soundproof the hamster’s cage
If you can’t relocate the hamster’s cage due to certain reasons, then a good alternative is to insulate the cage by covering some of the open space with a blanket. This will allow sound to be trapped in the space so that all of the noise made by the hamster when it’s using its wheel won’t bother you. Make sure you only do this at night time when bedtime has come and the hamster is active and awake.
Lubricate the wheel
Some of the parts on the hamster wheel cause squeaking noises when they move, so one way you can make it run smoother is by lubricating it. Just be careful to not remove everything from the wheel.
Give your hamster a larger and enclosed place to live in
In order to not let the sound of the hamster wheel escape, you want to keep its home made specifically for it and only have a few openings in it. A good aquarium might be nice, as it would then trap the noise inside instead of outside of its habitat.
