Hamsters are our little warm blooded friends and that means they need to stay warm to stay happy and healthy. As a result, it’s important to create an environment that is comfortable for them. Unfortunately, because they are so small, even small changes in temperature can have huge shifts in the ambient temperature of your furry friend.
That’s why in this article we’re going to cover everything related to keeping your hamster warm and comfortable. Everything from how to keep your hamster warm in different places, as well as making their cage a warm and comforting spot for your hamster to enjoy.
And as always, you can click any link in the table of contents below to be taken directly to that section. But for now, keep reading right into the next section of how to keep a hamster warm.
How to Keep a Hamster Warm
Whether you live in the desert, tundra, or in the Arctic, keeping a hamster warm is an important part of their health. As warm blooded animals, they need to stay warm to live a happy and healthy life. Lucky for you is that we have a ton of information below on how to do just that. Let’s dive in!
Keep a Hamster Warm in a Cold House
If your house is keep constantly cold by a family member who you might think is cold blooded or maybe you live in a naturally cold place, your hamster still needs their warmth. And just because your house is cold doesn’t mean your hamster has to live in that cold.
The best way to keep a hamster warm in a cold house is to create warmth in and around their cage via lights, blankets, and creative placement to keep out the cold. Most of what you need to do is insulate their cage from the cold, just like your home is insulated from the outside.
And you can keep their home insulated in a number of different ways, such as:
- Laying a blanket over the top of their cage
- Move their cage away from any AC vents
- Block any blowing air from hitting their cage
- Getting a hamster cage warmer
Those are the easiest and cheapest ways to keep your hamster warm in a cold house.
Keep a Hamster Warm in the Winter
You can keep your hamster warm in the Winter the same way you would keep them warm in a cold house, through insulation and a warming light. You want to essentially turn their cage into a home that insulates them from the cold outside.
The best way to do that is to start insulating their cage by laying a blanket over the top and sides. That will help keep the warmth inside their cage. After all, a cage with large holes throughout the side is not so good at keeping the warmth inside. So laying a blanket over the top and sides can help tremendously keep the warmth from escaping.
If that doesn’t do enough, then you can get a hamster warmer, which creates heat to keep your furry friend warm. And if you don’t have or want to shell out the money for a hamster warmer, we’ll let you in on a little secret. A hamster warmer is just a fancy light bulb.
Hamsters don’t need a ton of heat like humans do, so an entire AC unit is probably overkill. They just need enough to heat to keep them warm and insulate their cage and maybe surprisingly that heat can come from just a single lightbulb.
Keep a Hamster Warm at Night
If your home gets colder throughout the night, then you’ll want to make sure your hamster has the warmth they need to comfortably stay up through the night. And this is especially important remembering that hamsters are nocturnal and they are asleep during the day and awake at night.
So to keep a hamster warm at night, there are a few things you can do:
- Insulate their cage by laying a blanket over the top
- Move their cage away from any AC vents or fans
- Get a hamster warmer (fancy light) to create heat
On the bright side, hamsters are nocturnal, which means they’re doing most of their activity at night. That often includes running miles on their wheel, exploring their cage, and eating. All of that activity helps them stay warm. And if you’re looking for other activities for your hamster to stay warm, you can always let your hamster run around your room.
If you’re worried about a cold house at night, then taking the steps above can help keep your hamster warm during the cold nights. Just make sure not to keep them too warm because hamsters have a preferred temperature range.
Can Socks Warm Up a Hamster?
Yes, socks can help warm up a hamster by providing a soft and warm material for them to snuggle inside. They can also use a warm sock as a sort of blanket for their nest or makeshift bed.
Hamsters absolutely love things in their cages to build nests and structures from. And socks make a great choice because your hamster can take the sock and rip it apart to make a bed from it. The warm material of the sock can make a great insulator and keep your hamster’s bed nice and warm.
As a result, socks are great at keeping hamsters warm throughout the winter or a cold night. Just make sure to cut the sock up so the hamster doesn’t get stuck in it. Sometimes hamster can get excited and try to crawl through, ultimately resulting in them getting stuck.
So if you’re going to put a sock in the cage, make sure to cut it length wise so it’s no longer a tube for them to crawl through. It should look more like a flat blanket. Then they’ll take that material and use it to create a warm nest.
Keeping a Hamster Cage Warm
Now, up to this point we’ve only talked about the importance of keeping a hamster warm and how to do that. But temperature is a spectrum and it’s possible to make a hamster’s environment too warm. That’s why in this section we’re going to cover more specific information about a hamster’s cage.
So without further ado, let’s jump right into the first section of just how warm a hamster’s cage should be.
How Warm Should a Hamster Cage Be?
A hamster’s cage should be kept between 65 and 75 degrees and never lower than 65 degrees. Hamsters are warm blooded animals, so they need a warm environment and the preferred ambient temperature range is between 65 and 75.
Luckily, a temperature between 65 and 75 is within the range of most households. However, if you live in a desert, you might get up to 80. And vice versa in a colder climate, you might dip below 65. So it’s important for you to keep your furry friend in mind during these large temperature swings.
And the temperature range only applies to the hamster cage itself. So if you like to keep your house at 60 degrees, that’s okay. Just make sure that their cage is between 65 and 75. And you can do that in a number of different ways, which we’ll talk about in the next section.
How to Warm Up a Hamster Cage
We’ve covered this in the previous sections earlier, but as a recap, these are the best ways to warm up a hamster cage to ensure an ambient temperature is between 65 and 75 degrees:
- Insulate their cage by laying a blanket over the top
- Move their cage away from any AC vents or fans
- Get a hamster warmer (fancy light) to create heat
Doing those 3 things will warm up your hamster cage, but you don’t want to go above 75 degrees. And sometimes it’s hard to know just how much heat a blanket will keep in, making their environment as a whole warmer.
So to ensure the right temperature, it’s a good idea to get a thermometer for the hamster’s cage. Just make sure that it is out of their reach, made for hamster cages, and won’t break if they start chewing on it. Loose wires and even worse, mercury, can be major health hazards. So a thermometer built specifically for hamster cages is ideal.
Should I Get a Hamster Cage Warmer?
If you live in a particularly cold area or you prefer your house to be kept below 65 degrees, then yes, a hamster cage warmer is a good idea. It will help keep your hamster’s cage at an ambient temperature between 65 and 75 degrees.
There are lots of ways to keep a hamster cage warm, as been discussed in this article. However, sometimes a blanket over the top or moving the cage away from an AC unit isn’t enough. That’s where a hamster cage warmer can come in handy.
At it’s core, a hamster cage warmer is just a bright light that lets off heat. That heat then warms up the hamster cage. It’s not quite a heater because hamsters don’t need a ton of heat, just enough to keep them between 65 and 75.
And cage warmers are perfectly safe as long as you follow the instructions provided. You want to keep it out of reach of the hamster because it does get warm and has electricity running through it. Hamsters love to chew through things and wires are no exception.
Generally, they are mounted above the cage to direct the heat downward. However, there are cage warmers that sit beneath the cage and radiate heat up. It will ultimately depend on what type of cage you have, but any pet store employee will be able to help you select the right cage warmer.
What is the Best Bedding to Keep a Hamster Warm?
You should always use a regular bedding material for your hamster, however you can line the bottom of their cage with a fleece blanket or leave strips of clothes or socks to insulate the heat inside their cage. Combining regular bedding and cloth material will do wonders to keep your hamster warm.
As we’ve discussed earlier in this article, fleece, cloth, or socks are a great way to keep the warmth in your hamster’s cage. And hamsters love to snuggle up with these types of soft materials, especially when it gets cold.
So you don’t need special bedding. All you need is to incorporate this kind of cloth or fleece material in their cage. Then your hamster will do the rest to make a soft, cozy, and warm nest.
However, it’s a good idea to incorporate both warm material, such as fleece, and cold material, such as porcelain for your hamster to cool down if necessary. This article has been mostly dedicated to keeping your hamster warm, but the ideal thought process is to keep your hamster comfortable. And sometimes that means helping them cool down.
Some materials that will help keep a hamster cool is porcelain or terra cotta. Both are great at rejecting heat and can help your hamster cool down if necessary.
Additional Reading
If you want to read more about keeping hamsters warm, then check out a few of the resources below. There is a lot to know and everyone has their own unique tips and tricks, so it’s best to get information from a number of different resources.
- Bedding to Keep Hamsters Warm – Hamster Hideout
- Hamster Cage Warmers – Amazon
- Keeping Hamsters Warm in the Winter (Video) – SomethingAnimal
- Thermometers for Hamsters – Hamster Hideout
Conclusion
Hopefully this article has been helpful in providing you with additional information about keeping your furry friend warm during cold Winters, freezing nights, and more. Keeping your hamster warm is absolutely necessary and something that some people often overlook.
If you notice changes in your hamster’s behavior, then it’s best to make sure their environment is conducive to a happy and healthy life. Remember that their cage should always be between 65 and 75 degrees. Any more or less than that and they are likely to develop health problems.
And as we’ve covered, there are lots of creative ways to keep your furry friend warm. Best of all is that you can start incorporating everything today!