Hamsters are among the most adorable pets you will find.
As a newbie hamster owner, one of the first things you probably wonder is where you should keep its cage.
Finding a perfect place for your furry friend is the first step in creating a nurturing environment.
So, Is It Ok to Keep Your Hamster in The Living Room?
You can keep your hamster in your living room, but you need to ensure you follow some considerations. Keeping your hamster in the living room might be a bad idea unless you don’t use the room a lot, so you keep the room blinds closed during the day and without much noise in the house. If the television, PlayStation, family members are too loud, it might make your hamster uncomfortable or even spoil their ears as they are more sensitive to sound than humans.
More so, a sudden loud sound in the living room might give your hamster a shock or even a heart attack.
It is more recommendable to put your hamster in another quieter room or move her to a quieter spot when there is much noise in the living room or during the day when she is sleeping.
It will be less stressful for you to lift the cage swiftly every morning than having her surrounded by the loud noises.
Eight Factors to Consider When Keeping Your Hamster in The Living Room
While it might seem like a simple decision to make, there are several considerations you need to make before keeping your hamster in the living room.
If you are not ready to provide the hamster will all these comforts they require, they won’t be comfortable in your room.
You should keep your hamster happy and ensure you do anything that might affect your relationship or the health of your hamster.
You will have a more rewarding experience than those who choose not to follow by following these tips.
1. The Rooms Lighting
Avoid direct sunlight when positioning your hamster’s cage.
The sun may heat up the cage and cause harm to the health of your pet.
More so, it can negatively affect the sleeping pattern of your hamster. But although direct sunlight is harmful to your hamsters, they require natural lights.
You should hence keep them in a room with natural light and minimum artificial light.
Hamsters mostly come out of their hiding around dawn or dusk when there is minimum artificial light.
Therefore, it is important to keep your pets in a place with some natural light to help regulate their sleeping pattern.
During excessive humid days, you should close all the windows and doors and shut the curtains to help keep the space cool.
2. Keep The Cage Above The Ground
It is recommendable to maintain your hamster at a height of about 3 feet.
You can conveniently use support or a table to keep the hamster’s cage high in your living room.
Keeping it at a height above the ground will be beneficial for you and your furry friend.
It makes cleaning the cage, feeding, and bonding with the hamster easier. This will also ensure your hamster is out of reach from other predators or pets.
3. Presence of Ultrasonic Sounds
Hamsters have a great hearing ability.
These creatures can easily detect sound waves not audible to human ears.
Ultrasonic refers to sounds with frequencies above audible levels of humans, but hamsters can hear them.
The electronic items in our home, such as computers, television, and microwave, emit ultrasonic waves that can irritate your hamsters.
Keeping your hamster in a living room without these items will help them get uninterrupted sleep sessions others, the sounds will be very annoying for your pet.
4. Make The Ideal Noise Adjustments
Hamsters don’t like noise, particularly during the daytime when they want to sleep. It is hence best to put your hamster’s cage in a quiet area.
So, to ensure your hamster lives a happy and stress-free life, find a quiet corner in your living room far away from the music system, television, or high traffic area.
Like humans, lack of enough sleep can have adverse effects on your hamster’s personality and mood.
On the other hand, a well-rested hamster will be more willing to socialize.
5. Ability to Maintain Stable Temperatures
It is important to maintain a stabilized temperature around your hamster’s cage.
Hamsters are very sensitive and can’t handle sudden temperature fluctuations.
The ideal temperatures for hamsters are 22°C- 24°C (68°F-74°F).
If you stay in a place with outrageous conditions, you should think about it.
It would be best to find an effective method to maintain a stable temperature in your living room in such a case.
If the temperature falls below 15°C, the situation might be worrying, and your hamster might go into hibernation.
On the other hand, if the temp rises above 24°C, the hamster might get heat strokes and other negative effects.
More so, a sudden temperature change can be uncomfortable and harmful. It is best to find a place to regulate the temperatures to a comfortable range conveniently.
6. Provide The Hamster with Ideal Chew Toys
One of the favorite activities for hamsters is chewing. This is their nature because their teeth do not stop growing.
Therefore, if they don’t keep them engaged, they will eventually have a tough time.
You will need to provide them with a chew toy that has been specially designed for them.
If you choose a metal cage, the clanging will produce a lot of noise. To keep the noise minimal, buy chew toys that are not as loud and ensure to give your hamster about two chew sticks every week.
7. Ability of Other Pets to Access the Room
Hamsters are prey animals and are commonly terrified of bigger pets.
They remain very alert about their surroundings and are frightened even with the smallest movements.
While in the wild, the buddies must exercise their hearing ability to survive.
Additionally, they have to be on the lookout for potential threats near them.
Therefore, if you have another pet in your home, it’s recommendable to keep them in different places until they become fond of each other.
More so, cats and dogs are not a perfect match to be with your hamster.
You should not mistake leaving your hamster and other pets as you never know when anything may go wrong.
Abrupt entry of bigger animals can stress your hamsters, so ensure other pets don’t have access to your hamster’s space.
8. Playtime Scheduling
Hamsters require minimal playtime compared to pets like dogs.
These pets are mostly fine with taking care of themselves.
But this does not mean that you should leave the hamster to fend for itself at all times.
If you don’t give daily attention to your hamster, she might become stressed.
To keep the hamster’s cage in your living room, you should ensure you pay at least an hour of attention to your hamster daily.
Bottom Line
With proper consideration and planning, it is okay to keep your hamster in the living room.
In this case, you should ensure your living room has no too much noise or light, has stable warm temperatures, is away from other pets, etc.
But whether your living room is the perfect place for your pet on not, you should be able to get an ideal location for your pet with all the tips reviewed.
Related
Can You Put a Hamster Cage in The Closet? (Seven Considerations)
References
Keeping a hamster in the living room- Hamster Central
Should I keep our hamster in our Living Room even though it’s very noisy in there- PetForums
Hamster Cage Location Considerations: Temperature, Noise, Safety- Choose Hamster Cages