Top 10 Strange Behaviors of Hamsters and How to Interpret Them

Like all living beings, even our beloved hamsters try to communicate, maybe we could have a drink together with them and talk about the point of view of the little rodent!

But mothers in the first months of life of their children know how important it is to understand their needs from behavior because there is no possibility of having dialogues.

Here with the hamsters it happens more or less the same thing, many times we see that they behave in a particular way, so we just have to try to understand what they want to tell us, if they have problems or if it is just one of their ways to show us that we are comfortable with us.

Now we’ll do a roundup together of the main behaviors that many owner-operators consider to be particular and we try to teach you how to interpret them, but also to understand if there are problems that must be solved if those movements hide the discomforts of our little and beloved friends.

Surely you start from the assumption that a hamster never does things without meaning so if you are impressed by their particular behavior it is because he is obsessively trying to send you a message.

1) The Bite

Let’s start with one of his flagships, or the bite.

There are different types of bites from the hamster and each of them is a way to make you understand something. One of the classics is when you go to try and remove it from the cage and maybe he was resting.

Always remember that for our little friend, it is hard work to stay awake during the day, so while he is resting deeply, he hates being woken up, so a nice tattoo with his little teeth will not take anyone away from you, and even bites you with reason! try to imagine if someone would come to disturb you in the middle of the night, you wouldn’t be happy.

If instead fashions without apparent reason it may be that the size of the cage is reduced and is stressed, its space adapted to its needs and you will see that it will be much happier.

Instead there are affectionate clamps that will make you understand that your little friend really wants you well, when you hold him in your arms you will hear his teeth that will not tighten, they will seem to you sweet pinches, here he is telling you in his own way that he loves you !

We have addressed this topic in detail in the following article, you can click this link to read it.

2) The Hamster sleeps in its Wheel

Another very common behavior, especially when you have a hamster in your home, is to see it sleeping inside its wheel.

He surely knows that this is not the ideal place, but surely he has found nothing else that satisfies him in order to be able to worthily rest.

To help him he needs to see his cage again. One of the main reasons why it is often not found is light and air currents.

Being a nocturnal animal, he does not like the light, so if there are sun leaks, he will never be able to feel comfortable in his area.

Same thing goes for the air, she doesn’t like it and so for him the safest place is in her wheel.

I can recommend two solutions: either take a wooden house of the bottomless ones where you can stay indoors and away from the light for your siesta moments or take a terrarium where you can make a hole and a natural space to rest, in both cases you will see that it will leave the wheel safe for game moments and will be even more serene.

If you are curious about the reasons why they are crazy about the wheel, here is an article that will answer all your questions.

3) Bite or gnaw the Cage Bars

It can happen to see him nibbling the bars of the cage, in this case there is nothing positive, this is a clear sign of discomfort, and the possibilities are many to evaluate: first check that your little friend has something to munch and play , if his teeth are not properly filed, he suffers.

A problem related to his biting bars could also be that of a small cage that makes him feel suffocated, there are standards that must be followed for their magnitudes and each species has particular needs.

If you are certain that it is not for what has been said so far then you must also evaluate how many times you take him for walks, as a rule the hamster should stretch his legs out of his cage every night, he does not become nervous by biting the bars if one day he does not do it, but if his imprisonment continues, he rightly gets nervous, and finds in biting the bars of the cage a way to make you understand that he wants more attention.

4) He gets in feet

A behavior that I do not interpret as strange but instead I find it among the most sympathetic of my Pipsy, is to stand up and stand with the paws in front of you in the air and the nose upwards.

This is a method for them to know what is around them.

They are very curious animals, they like to understand what surrounds them and consequently sharpen one of their most developed senses, namely the sense of smell.

I love it when I’m at the computer just like at the moment, and my little friend is exploring the house, putting light music, not at high volumes, and videos that have not too strong colors on the screen, he sees the whole movement approaching , he pulls himself to his feet and seems almost interested in what he sees.

But even food on your hands is a way to see the puppy standing in search of giving peace to the great curiosity.

Here there are no solutions, on the contrary, leave it in this amusing position for as long as it takes to understand what it wants, and do not worry, it is a strange behavior but completely natural and positive for your curious little rodents.

5) Your Hamster Yawns?

Another behavior that for many is difficult to understand, but that when I will explain why it will fill you with pride, is when the little yawns.

If you happen to split your hamster yawn and sleep in places that are not covered by the cage then run to the mirror and tell yourself, well, great job, I am among the top for what concerns the hamster owners.

Yes we bow too! In a few words you have created the Eden of the hamsters.

We have often said that our little animals are fearful and have special needs, YOU were able to create the right environment that fully meets the needs of the small rodent who is lucky to live with you.

There are no fears that grip him and he has no discomforts that ruin his sleep.

So his yawn is really a sign of total relaxation.

You can say you have a happy hamster.

And it really is not easy for this to happen given the anxious nature of these little animals so they are few to be able to boast of having seen a yawn to their hamster, not even to me it has happened in spite of all the love that can put us to make my well live Pipsy then Chapeau!

6) He is frightened by the Noises

If every time the hamster hears a noise he escapes and hides in his dens, which means that he has not completely settled in and still does not trust everything that surrounds him, including the young master.

If it is not so long that you live together we could say that it is a very normal behavior, it takes some time to establish trust with the child.

If instead it is a long time and he continues to behave so you must try to change approach. A fundamental thing to avoid that you get scared and you always run away is trying to take it by the throat. No wait, stop! No no you don’t have to throttle it!

You have to move from the gourmet side of trust.

That is, put a reward on your hand and with a lot of patience wait for it to come closer to eat it.

Repeating this operation for a few days you will see that in a short time the real relationship of trust will begin and with the passing of the days it will also be less suspicious and will come to escape no more, indeed to wait for you near the bars of the cage happy to see you.

7) Squeak

The squeak for many is a normal behavior, instead we have to deny, attention is not positive at all because for them it is a lament not a way to communicate as one might think.

If it starts to squeak insistently an evaluation must be made immediately.

Think about whether you changed something in his habits that might have made him uncomfortable.

An example is if you have switched on a light that is too strong or if there are deafening noises in the house.

If you want to turn on the radio at high volumes don’t do it in his presence, he has small and delicate ears, you could seriously hurt him.

If you have not done any of this check that he has not vomited or made dysentery, the little one if he has pain in the tummy could complain just with the squeak.

All these evaluations must be done with speed, otherwise you risk not understanding and helping our little friend, do not panic and if you do not want to lose precious moments immediately call your trusted veterinarian and explain the situation, surely he will be able to give you more information.

8) Does your Hamster sleep in the belly?

Even sleeping on your back is a symptom of discomfort, even if it seems nice, unfortunately, the little one wants you to understand that at that moment he is suffering.

There are usually two cases: the first is that of an overweight hamster who is too hot due to his size.

You don’t have to sleep on your laurels and you have to intervene or you risk seeing him die.

Power must certainly be changed and more must be played to increase movement.

If we do not feel able to take action, then the trusted veterinarian will be able to suggest the behaviors to be taken.

Even if he is not overweight but we are in mid-August and outside there are 40 degrees in the shade the little one can suffer from heat.

At this point, if you have an air-conditioned place, you should use our hamster to enjoy the warmth in the warmer hours or put a fan in the room, which does not point directly on the cage, however, because our little friend does not like currents.

Also put cloths soaked in cold water in one side of the cage to decrease the temperature inside it and help the baby.

9) Climbs on the cage

If, on the other hand, the baby climbs the cage and always seems nervous it is because he is surely bored.

Try to stay in a sterile room, too, with nothing to do, and after a few hours you would start freaking out for sure.

For this it is necessary that our little friend has some distractions, a game, that the wheel is always working and does not make noise or not will go to use it.

Another indication of nervousness could be thirst, if you are sure that the hamster has enough space and play then check the drink, put your finger near the mouth and see if a drop of water comes out.

These are the reasons that make him more nervous, but even if he hears too much noise he could make you understand his discomfort with what everyone would do, try to escape.

If your hamster is happy in his cage you will certainly not see him for no reason in the world trying to escape by sticking to bars.

10) Pull back your ears and stay crouched

Last, but not least, I want to talk about the behavior that requires a good dose of cuddling, or when the hamster pulls back his ears and crouches.

In that precise moment something happened that scared him, he felt threatened or afraid and to defend himself he put a pseudo attack position, if you approach with your hand at this moment you run the risk of a well-settled bite.

Try to calm him down with the voice, speak softly and gently, call him and make him feel your presence in a reassuring way, if the situation is not solved in this way then we move on to the gourmet card, take a prize and approach it, without forcing it, just to tease the appetite and make sure that everything that went through his head became a bad memory.

To resolve the situation, however, one often has to understand the source of the fright, if it is a loud noise or an aggressive attitude of someone towards him, because even if he feels threatened he often tends to assume this position, but surely your love will have easily solved the problem.

In conclusion

Here are all the main behaviors that people often misinterpret, small ways of communicating with our little friends, who know how to make themselves understood, especially when it comes to their reasons.

In fact, they tend to emphasize their uncomfortable situations, to allow you to be alarmed immediately, and then they say you have the brain of a hamster, maybe!

These little rodents know how to communicate what they need and if they are sick they can really do their best to make you understand, so you never take a particular way of behaving of your little friend, he is not ignorant, he is surely trying to say something.

If you also learn to understand it you will make it live even better, for them it is frustrating not being able to communicate what they want, with time and safe coexistence you will find your way to understand yourself and this will make your bond better and stronger.