Hamsters are small rodents that are well adapted to home conditions. There are several types. The most common ones include dzhungarik. These are small animals with a body length of 10-12 cm. Another species is the Syrian rodents with a pleasant golden skin. They are classified as large representatives of the species.
Hamsters are surprisingly nimble animals. At home, they either sleep in their cozy cage or quickly move around the room. In the wild, they are known to cover up to ten kilometers a day. Knowing about this feature, kind owners let the little animals out to walk around the house. However, this activity is unsafe, because hamsters are capable of chewing through furniture, hiding in a corner, etc. You may not notice a rodent on the floor and accidentally step on it, so it will be better if the owner purchases a special ball for the hamster.
What is a hamster ball?
Why do you need a hamster ball?
In modern pet stores you can find a huge range of toys and accessories for hamsters. Well-equipped cages contain a rotating wheel, a special labyrinth or pipes for climbing, ladders, a rest house, etc., but this is not enough. The energy of a small pet is bursting, so a comfortable and safe ball for a hamster will bring him a lot of pleasure.
To move in such simulators, hamsters must expend much more energy than in a regular wheel. Having run around, tired but happy, they collapse and fall asleep soundly in their cage. The owners truly appreciate this device, because they no longer need to transfer the animal into a jar to clean the cage.
Note! Thanks to these accessories, hamsters can be taken outside for a walk. On clean, mown grass, kids happily move around in a ball and breathe fresh air. This increases the life expectancy of the animals, makes them strong and happy.
With this design you can take your hamster for a walk
The walk brings mutual pleasure to both furry pets and young owners.
Advantages and disadvantages of walking balls for hamsters
Pros and cons of co-sleeping with a cat
Nowadays, buying an accessory for pets is not difficult. However, these devices have both a number of advantages and a number of disadvantages. If the pet is small, then it is better to purchase a ball with a diameter of no more than 12 cm. The ideal trainer for the Syrian hamster has a diameter of 29 and 33 cm.
Note! It is extremely important to inspect the material from which it is made. It is better if the ball for the jungarik is made of polystyrene, a non-toxic material.
The advantages of walking balls include the fact that they:
- ensure the safety of rodents, that is, no one will step on them, the pet will not be eaten by a cat, or get lost;
- do not allow the animal to chew furniture and things;
- allow pets to travel around the house for a long time;
- have holes for air exchange;
- can serve as a temporary house during a trip to the veterinarian or when cleaning the cage (aquarium);
- easy to clean;
- allow you to keep your home clean.
Despite the many conveniences, balls also have disadvantages:
- the service life of walking balls is short, about a year, since they are made of plastic;
- the animal should stay inside for no more than 20 minutes, otherwise its condition may worsen from lack of air and overheating;
- homemade structures often have a lid that falls out while the pet is jogging;
- Over long periods of use, the door latches wear out.
Note! Balls for hamsters contribute to maximum stress on the body, which helps the animals keep themselves in good shape.
Rat carrier
Sometimes there is a need to transport a pet, for example, you need to take the animal to the veterinarian, visit an exhibition with it, or simply take it with you to the dacha. For such cases, it is advisable to purchase a special carrier to make the animal’s trip as comfortable and convenient as possible.
Rat carriers are a container made of opaque plastic with a hinged lid. There are longitudinal ventilation holes on the sides of the container or on the lid to supply oxygen. Some carriers are equipped with a feeder so that the rodent can have a snack on the go.
When choosing a rat carrier, you should remember:
- this accessory should be roomy and spacious, especially if it is planned to transport several pets at once;
- It is advisable to give preference to a carrier with side slots for ventilation, since air circulates better in them and you won’t have to worry about the rat suffocating;
- the container must be made of durable and hard plastic so that the animal cannot gnaw a hole in it and escape;
- transportation for a rat is always stressful and the animal begins to defecate frequently out of fear, so the bottom of the carrier should not be covered with cloth or paper so that the pet does not sit on a damp bedding;
- when transporting a rodent in the cold season, the carrier must be placed in a fabric bag, since rats can easily catch a cold;
Important: you cannot use a cardboard box to transport the animal. In such a homemade carrier, the animal can not only gnaw a hole, but also suffocate from lack of oxygen.
How to choose the right walking ball
Domestic ferret - pros and cons of the animal
Like any device, walking balls satisfy many of the needs of rodents. There are three types of walking balls with sizes:
- 12-13 cm;
- 18-20 cm;
- 28-33 cm.
Ball for Syrian hamster
The first ones are perfect for Djungarian hamsters, Sungur hamsters, Campbell's hamsters, Roborovsky hamsters and other small animals. The second and third row walking balls are designed for Syrian and common hamsters.
For your information! The diameter of the walking ball should be several centimeters larger than the length of the animal’s body.
The pet's back in the ball should be absolutely flat. If the simulator is small, the hamster's back will be concave all the time. Prolonged stress can damage the spine. It is also undesirable to buy a large sphere if the animal itself is small. Constant walking will cause his body to throw from side to side, and this will deteriorate the quality of the walk. As a result, the baby's paws will be damaged.
It is known that hamsters' vision is poorly developed. They distinguish only two colors: green and yellow, which help them find food in the darkness of the night. Therefore, when choosing a ball for your pet, you need to pay attention to transparent, pale colors, which open up more space for hamsters. As a last resort, you can buy a yellow or green sphere.
Note! Among the toys intended for rodents, you can notice a special mount for walking balls. Pets run in place in them. Exercise machines are used when there is no time to look after the hamsters, there are guests in the house, and he does not want to sleep. In normal times, fastening does not make sense.
Rat drinking bowl
A tailed pet should always have access to clean, fresh water, so a water bowl for a rat is one of the most important and necessary accessories when equipping a cage. Different materials are used to make drinking bowls: plastic, glass, earthenware or ceramics. These items also differ in structure, design and volume, and which one to choose depends on the personal preferences of the owner.
Ceramic or glass bowls
Beautiful to look at, but impractical. The water in such drinking bowls must be changed several times a day, since food debris, filler granules or rodent feces may get into the drink, as a result of which the liquid becomes an excellent environment for the development of bacteria. In addition, while roaming, rodents often turn over bowls of water, and the owner has to do unscheduled cleaning of the cage to replace wet bedding. Such drinking bowls can be used for milk or kefir, removing them immediately after the animal drinks.
Nipple drinker
Very convenient, it is a plastic or glass container with a spout located at the bottom into which water is supplied. This accessory is installed on the outside of the cage so that the spout fits between the sections and the animal can drink clean water whenever it wants.
Ball drinkers
No less popular among rodent owners are ball drinkers for rats, the operating principle of which is based on the same principle as nipple drinkers. The only difference between these items is that in place of the spout of a ball drinker there is a metal tube with a movable ball inside. Water trickles out of the tube as the animal moves the ball with its tongue.
Important: the water in the drinking bowl should be changed at least two to three times a week, and the containers themselves should be washed once every seven days with warm water, without using household chemicals.
To learn how to make a drinking bowl with your own hands, we recommend reading the article “How to make a drinking bowl for a hamster.”
How to make a simulator with your own hands
Pet rats - description, care, pros and cons of a pet
When buying a walking ball, you can make a number of mistakes. Often the size of the toy is not suitable for hamsters, he feels discomfort and is afraid to come closer to it. To prevent this from happening, owners are advised to first make the walking sphere with their own hands. This is not difficult to do; even teenagers will be happy to get to work.
DIY walking ball for dzhungarika
To create a simulator you will need:
- a round plastic container, the diameter of which should start from 12 cm for dzhungarikas and higher for other rodents:
- sharp stationery knife;
- awl;
- sandpaper;
- hand or dishwashing detergent.
For the ball itself, choose a milk or water container. It is important that its lid is wide enough to serve as an entrance for the pet. After preparing all the tools, you must thoroughly rinse the container, remove all stickers from the container, remove any remaining glue and allow to dry.
Note! Containers containing toxic materials should not be used as a walking ball. Even thorough washing will not remove the remaining poison; animals may die in them.
Then, using an awl, you need to make small holes for air. Use a utility knife to cut holes through which the hamsters could not only breathe oxygen, but also cling with their paws. The size of the holes is 0.3x4 cm. At the very end, all that remains is to sand all the holes with sandpaper. The ball for the walk is ready.
Another important rule: since the holes in the ball themselves are small, the pet cannot stay in it for more than 20 minutes. This limitation must be remembered all the time, otherwise the animals will experience oxygen starvation.
Rat wheel
Being agile and active animals, rats are constantly on the move, exploring the objects and things around them. And many owners, in addition to ladders and labyrinths, also place a running wheel in their cage. Do rats run in a wheel and do tailed pets need such an accessory?
Unlike chinchillas and hamsters, rats rarely use the running wheel for its intended purpose and prefer to sleep in it or ignore this item altogether. But even if the animal is not averse to running around in a wheel, you should remember that accessories designed for hamsters are not suitable for rats and can even harm the pet. There must be a running wheel for rats.
Spacious enough
The wheel must be chosen in such a size that the animal can fit in it freely, and the rodent’s back does not bend while running.
Whole
Running wheels for rats should be a solid structure without partitions or sections in which the animal’s paw or tail can get stuck, which can lead to damage and even fracture.
Safe
For tailed rodents, it is better to choose an accessory made of wood or metal rather than plastic. Plastic wheels are very light and fragile, and a rat running in it can hit the wall and get injured.
What to do if your hamster is afraid to use the ball
Each hamster has its own unique character. Some representatives are fast and active, others are lazy or touchy. Some people think easily, others need time to get used to something new. You need to teach the walking sphere carefully, especially if the hamster is for some reason afraid to use it.
How to train your pet to use a walking ball
First, the ball is placed in a cage closer to the baby so that he can get used to it, look at it, and smell it. The lid must be open. It will be better if the hamster goes into it himself, for example, to get food. As soon as it’s inside, you don’t need to immediately slam the door behind it or screw on the lid. Let the pet adapt to the new space for about two minutes, only then can the simulator be moved from the cage to the floor.
The hamster will get comfortable, run around in the ball for about five minutes, then you need to return it to the cage again, open the door, and feed the hero something tasty. Children should be warned not to make loud sounds or excitement during the experiment, in other words, not to scare the animals.
The first time in the simulator you can spend no more than 5 minutes
Important! When training, there should be no pets near the pet. The proximity of a cat, especially his head, may seem huge and intimidating to the hamster. Fear will scare the baby away for a long time and will not encourage him to use the walking accessory.
You cannot place an exercise machine with a rodent on a table from which it could roll off. You cannot teach him where there are stairs, a lot of furniture that he collides with, etc. The carelessness of the owners will cost the little animal dearly. Once you put your hamster in a ball, you need to be patient and not push him. The baby must take the first step himself, then he will quickly get used to the simulator. After a walk, the exercise machine should be washed with soap and dried thoroughly.
Hamsters are gentle, good-natured animals, but they are quite vulnerable, so the owner cannot relax. Even in a walking ball, they are defenseless against people. Once you forget about them, you can accidentally step on the exercise machine or throw it away like a soccer ball. It's scary to imagine the feelings of a sweet creature inside. A walking ball is an indispensable exercise machine for small pets, creating the most comfortable conditions for hamsters. In addition, the devices develop the muscles of the patients and prolong their life.
