As noted many times on this website, hamster are adorable animals that are unique and lovable animals. But you may be surprised to learn that hamsters can dream and even wondering what they dream about, which is a question often asked by hamster lovers.
While it’s impossible to know what hamsters dream about, their dreams are likely about items and activities that they encounter in their daily life, including other animals, exploring, playing in their cage, and food.
Unfortunately the technology to scan a brain during REM sleep and translate that data into text or images isn’t around quite yet. And we can’t ask the hamsters what they’re dreaming about, so we can only speculate on the content of their dreams.
But because hamsters can only dream about what they know, it’s safe to assume that they often dream about whatever they do in their daily lives.
But there’s a lot more to know, so let’s cover this topic in more depth in the sections below.
Do Hamsters Dream?
Yes, it is safe to say that hamsters dream because studies have shown that mammals have brain wave patterns that are very similar to humans during the different sleep phases, including REM sleep.
While dreaming is a fairly complex subject that we don’t have a ton of insight into right now, we do know that dreaming occurs in REM sleep in humans. And we can identify REM sleep by monitoring someone’s brain waves when they sleep.
But how do we know if a mammal dreams like a human?
Well, we can’t be sure because the only way to do that is to ask the animal, however we are fairly confident that mammals dream because their brain wave patterns are extremely similar to humans. However, a hamster’s brain is only about the size of a pea.
Not to mention that mammals, such as hamsters exhibit similar physical behaviors during dreaming, such as twitching, kicking, and rapid eyelid movement.
The only thing that’s impossible to know until technology catches up is the content of a mammal or hamster’s dreams. Most humans have difficultly even remembering their dreams and there’s certainly no way to ask a hamster what they dreamt about last night.
But since hamsters can only dream about what they know, it’s safe to say that they dream about other animals, exploring, playing, and eating.
Do Hamsters Have Nightmares?
While it’s conclusive that hamsters do dream, it’s reasonable to say that they can also have nightmares, which are no different than dreams on a physical level.
For all intents and purposes, dreams and nightmares are the same thing when viewed through the lens of brain waves. The major and really only difference is the content and feelings of the experience, which can lead to different physical outcomes as well.
Dreams are generally positive or neutral, while nightmares have a negative or scary tone, characterized by stress or anxiety.
So how do you tell the difference between a hamster’s dream and nightmare?
Well, nightmares are often accompanied by more intense physical movements and a sudden jump to being awake. So if your notice your hamster dreaming in a more intense way, they may be having a nightmare.
As a result, if hamsters can dream they can certainly have nightmares. But since we can’t just ask a hamster what they dreamt about, we can’t definitely say whether a dream was positive experience or a negative nightmare.
And if you think that your hamster is having a nightmare, you might think about waking them up, but that’s not always the right choice.
Should I Wake Up My Hamster?
If you notice your hamster having a nightmare or you just want to spend some quality time with your furry friend, you may think about waking them up. But that’s not a good idea.
It isn’t recommended to wake a hamster up while they are sleeping because the sudden activity and surge in adrenaline can scare your hamster, leading to immediate or prolonged stress and anxiety.
Take your own experience for example. Do you feel safer and more comfortable when you wake up naturally? Or if an alarm clock or someone else jolts you awake?
You likely feel safer waking up naturally, but you might say “Hey hold on I’ll be gentle waking up my hamster.” And while you may try, hamsters are prey animals in the wild and naturally scared and skittish.
So even the most gentle act of waking your hamster up can cause them stress and anxiety, which can actually lessen their life span.
As a result, it’s important that you don’t try to wake your hamster up when they are sleeping. Let your hamster’s natural sleeping patterns take effect and play or engage with them when they wake up on their own.
Additional Reading
If you’re interested in reading more about hamster sleeping, their habits, and more, check out the related articles below:
- Why Hamster Sleep So Much – PawTracks
- Hamster Behavior – RSPCA
- 4 Ways to Get a Hamster to Sleep – WikiHow
Conclusion
Hamsters are adorable animals and the fact that they dream only makes them even cuter. However the most common question about a hamster’s dreaming is what they dream about.
Unfortunately, we’ll never know for sure. But we can guess that hamsters dram about what they do in their daily life, which includes eating, playing, exploring, and more. They may even dream of you!
So until the technology catches up to translate brain waves to images or we can ask a hamster ourselves, we’ll just have to be comfortable with the fact that hamsters do dream, but we don’t know what about.