To let my hamster be a house hamster?

[DifficultSituation19]

I rescued a hamster about 4 months ago who had had a pretty shit life up until then (she was about 8 months old when I got her).

She had never really been handled, but is now super tame and friendly. Her (very large) cage is on the floor of the living room, and since she’s become tamer I’ve been just opening the door of the cage and letting her free roam around the living room every evening, usually for 3-4 hours, sometimes longer. When she’s tired she gets back in her cage and puts herself back to bed.

Last night I was —three sheets to the wind— tired, and fell asleep while she was having her run around. This morning, when I went downstairs, she wasn’t in her house. No sign of her all day, but this evening she woke up and has been running around as normal, popping back into her cage every now and again for food and drinks or a quick run on her wheel.

I closed her cage door at about 10.30, and her little face broke my heart! She just sat at the door of her cage looking very sad indeed. She’s now out running around again. So I’m thinking, people have house rabbits, how about a house hamster? I’d keep her confined to the living room and she’d have the option of being in her cage if she wanted to be there (and I’d obviously put all her food in there).

Is this a bonkers idea? She has a sand bath, soil, deep substrate, and more toys and treats than you can shake a stick at in her cage, but she’d far rather not be in there. We don’t have any other pets that could munch her, and the dc are well trained at keeping the doors closed.

You'd be absolutely CRAZY to let such a rodent like that roam around your house like it owns the place. I'm sure many other mums would agree that they would make a mess and cause havoc and that this would be a bad idea.

Guess I’m crazy then 🤷‍♀️

There was an amusing incident a few weeks back when I fell asleep on the sofa, and woke up at 3am because Peanut had climbed up on to the sofa and was tap dancing on my chest and staring at me as if to say ‘come on mum, wake up, it’s play time’. So of course I woke up and gave her some fuss and then couldn’t get back to sleep. She’s so cute, it’s mad how comfortable they become around people when they’re naturally prey animals.

I used to let my gerbils run up and down stairs and hallway as a child with all the doors closed. Great fun. Until one ran under my foot. Awful. The sight of it flipping up and down with blood squirting was was traumatic. Don't do it.

I’m all for free range but think of the wee 😬

i love you OP. thank you for being so kind to a hamster. They get such a raw deal. I hate animals like this dumped in cages. I think you are wonderful for caring :0)

@sohypnotic I’ve always let my hams run around for at least an hour a day and have a 100% record of not standing on them. That must have been horrible for you though :(

@noproblem123 she wees in her cage, thankfully.

btw, they like to knaw/chew so make sure any wiring is out of its reach.

@sohypnotic

Sounds like a terrible accident but gerbils are meant to have time outside of their cage every day.

Aww 🥰 thanks bee. It makes me really sad that most hamsters out there have a pretty miserable life, even ones owned by people who are caring but misinformed. There’s a hamster rescue network on Facebook and some of the ads that people put on there they’ve found on gumtree etc of unwanted hamsters in tiny cages for sale are heartbreaking.

One day one if your DC will run into the room to fetch something in a hurry without thinking and throw the door open, smearing the hamster on the floor behind it into a mangled mess with a unforgettable squeal. You will have to remove the hamster remnants from the underside of the door whilst your child has a breakdown and you are wracked with guilt.

@BestZebbie I doubt it as Peanut doesn’t wake up until gone 10pm.

I know time out of cafe is good for them, and they obviously enjoy it, but even when roaming is limited, and your careful and take precautions, accidents happen. Free-roaming just seems like a time-bomb, how can you take precautions if you don't know where they are

best nice post, god there's always one to piss on the fireworks, diff peanut and the gang are gorgeous, must admit i've screen shot several photos of the hammies including peanut as they are so cute.
great to hear all the fur are well

No idea what to suggest, but just had to say what a cute face your hamster has! 🐹

This is the cutest hamster I have ever seen. She's adorable

If they are house trained then go for it ! I have my rabbits loose, animals aren’t meant to be in cages 👍🏻

Oh wow just found this thread and it's the cutest ever! Peanut needs and instagram account ❤❤❤

We had a house hamster. It was when we were students and didn't give a crap about the squalid flat we were living in. Mr. Podge was a wonderful friendly chappie and over a year we had bought 5 separate large multi level cages for him, linked together by doorways stretching the length of one room. But he still seemed sad to go back home, he would beg at the door and climb straight out on to our hands. So kne day we just stopped shutting his cage.

He moved out of the cages and tried to make a new home for himself behind the wardrobe. He chewed up the carpet and books for bedding. He would take all food we gave him back behind the wardrobe.

It wasn't a good idea. We ended up moving him back into the cages during the day. I think the breaking point was when he tried dragging a mr. Kipling blackberry and apple pie behind the wardrobe. We realised it had gone too far.

He was the best pet ever. 20 years since we had hom, but he brought so much joy to our lives. My husband was so sad when he finally died as an elderly bald, ball-sack looking creature. That he made a miniature cofin out of card.
Cherish your lovely hamster. But don't let her free range all the time or she will probably move out.

Hamsters are master escape artists. My sister lived in a (concrete floored) basement flat once. A hamster turned up inside once - there never appeared to be any way in. There was a pet shop several doors down (at street level) so she assumed it had escaped from there but absolutely baffled how it had managed it through old solid stone walls She kept it (in a cage).
Another far sadder story was DD's best friend who had accidentally left the cage door open and the family had gone out. When they returned hamster was nowhere to be seen - searches high and low, now gaps anywhere but eventually found it after hearing a tiny scraping sound. Hamster had somehow got underneath the solid wood kitchen units and on removal of the panel was discovered stuck to those sticky mouse traps that must have been put there by previous tenants, It was extremely sad and traumatic for all and hamster did not survive. You can not compare a hamster to a rabbit which can be trained fairly easily and is more akin to a small dog (although most people do still put them in a run or house when they go out), it's more like having a loose mouse which is why most people use hamster balls instead of putting them down at all. Apart from any other risks like escape which is more likely than you think and chewing electrical wires, it won't matter how conscientious you are, one day you will pop in to grab something and leave the door for a split second and it will make a break or you will stumble in in the dark for something you have forgotten and forget momentarily and poor hamster could get stood on... or any number of similar scenarios. Loose hamsters definitely need close supervision.

That is a really cute hamster. And I normally hate those creepy little fuckers. Ours used to get out all the time, one time we only found her when our kitchen flooded because the little shit had made her home in the back of the dishwasher and eaten through the pipes. I was glad when my kids got older and no longer wanted those kind of pets.

Oh that makes me sound horrible. I was fond of her and I am pretty scared of scritchy little things. She had a good life.

So glad to see peanut is still well! 😍 We're down to one rat now as our two others died in the past couple of months, I may start a hamster campaign given that we have a massive cage. Though I suspect that the footprint of the cage isn't big enough for a hamster as the hugeness in ours is in the height.

I think it's a great idea. Hamsters shouldn't be confined to a small cage regardless how nice it is or how many toys it has. They run miles every evening in the wild so hate being cooped up. Just make sure you pin up any cables and she'll be fine. I had hamsters for years and would always let them out to run around and put themselves to bed when they got bored. Never had an issue with them. Just please make sure the living room door is always closed and Peanut won't injure herself on anything. You're a great hammy mum! Thanks for giving her a lovely new life :)