Enrichment for an animal is a husbandry standard that attempts to enhance the
quality of captive animals care by providing environmental stimulation for mental and physical
well-being there are many different types of enrichment but the four main categories include
foods and feeding
this is encouraging the animal to have to think
and work for their food like they would do so in the wild
sensory
this is stimulating all of the animals senses such as visual, smell, taste, hearing, and touch
physical habitat
this is providing other objects and supplies
to encourage the animal to perform natural behaviors like they would in the wild
and social
this is interaction with the same species or with the owner as you may already know
hamsters are solitary animals so they do not get the same type of enrichment from
same species interaction like social animals do
some hamsters may not even want to interact with humans so for many hamsters the social category
may not be something we can do so it's important we focus on the other enrichments
many of these enrichments have to do with the enclosure and how we set them up,
while we focus so much on providing our hamsters with large enclosures we often
forget to provide enrichment hamster cages are often left quite boring even i myself
in the past thought i was doing well setting up enclosures when in reality
they involved pretty much no enrichment or stimulation for the hamster
so the easiest way you can provide your hamster with enrichment and
probably something you can even start doing today is providing them with forage and enrichment foods
forage involves the hamster foraging so in the wild a hamster wouldn't just go to
a dish eat and take food from it and then wait for it to be replenished because
it's the wild so they would actually have to put in some work and look for
food they would take food off of plants or if trees have dropped things they would gather
that or look for insects that is how a hamster would forage so the first thing all you really
have to do is just get rid of your hamster's food dish and start sprinkling their main diet all over
the enclosure you can put it in different spots and this allows the hamster to actually have to
look for it and you don't have to worry because hamsters have an extremely good sense of smell
making other foods like fruits and vegetables
more challenging to get to or have to reach for is also another good enrichment
sprinkling hamster safe herbs, leaves and flowers not only gives your hamster
a healthy fiber-filled snack but also a range of new smells to stimulate their senses
dried plants and seeds which in the hamster community we tend to call these sprays is another
way to get your hamster to forage because this allows the hamster to actually have to pick the
seeds directly off of the plant and there are plenty of different types of sprays to choose
from there are a variety of millets, flax sprays, wheat sprays, oat sprays, quinoa sprays, sorghum
sprays there are so many that i could list off unfortunately these are less common to find in
North America so you are probably going to have to order overseas but i will make sure to leave
some links in the description bar to where i personally find my own sprays for my hamsters
herbs and leaves can be replenished or added to the enclosure about once a week
they're not necessarily too unhealthy so i wouldn't say there's
really a limit on how much leaves and herbs you can give your hamster
as for the amount of sprays you provide this may depend on a couple of factors such as the type
of spray and whether your hamster has interest in it or not for example flax sprays are a big
hit with hamsters but something i recently found out is that one flax spray pod contains on average
about seven flax seeds therefore if your hamster really enjoys flax seed sprays and they eat them
all at once and you're leaving big bunches of flax sprays in the enclosure it may be a
bit too excessive so you should be mindful of how much you're giving and how often you're giving it
deep bedding
this is one of the most important enrichments to provide a hamster.
For years it was super common to just give your hamster just enough bedding for them to walk on
you could probably even look up some care guides that say "just put enough
for it to cover the flooring" when this really is not enough
hamsters in the wild are naturally ground dwellers they typically would create
burrow systems up to 31 inches deep consisting of multiple different chambers
there was even a study done that looked into the influence of bedding depth on golden hamsters
so in this study they took 45 male golden hamsters and they put them into three groups one with 31
inches of bedding one with 16 inches of bedding and one with 4 inches of bedding
they discovered the hamsters that were kept on 4 inches of bedding
showed significantly more bar chewing and wheel activity than the other hamsters
in the group with 31 inches of bedding zero bar chewing was observed and all
of the hamsters in the groups with 16 inches of bedding and 31 inches of bedding
all made burrows and used them this brought them to the conclusion that cages with at least
16 inches of bedding enhanced the welfare of the golden hamster
now often there are a lot of people who say their hamster just doesn't like burrowing
but if you're not providing your hamster with enough bedding to burrow they're not
going to want to burrow what is the point in trying to burrow in
this much bedding when you're not going to be able to actually properly burrow
keep in mind burrowing and digging are not the same thing in order to make a burrow you need
to be able to have a deep substrate because you are making tunnels down into the ground
and this cannot be done if you are providing less than 6 inches of bedding for your hamster
most hamsters won't even start trying to burrow
until they've been given at least 10 inches of bedding
now there are people who suggest that they've given their hamster really
deep bedding over 10 inches and their hamster still doesn't want to burrow
why?
well there could be several reasons for this.
One your bedding doesn't hold proper tunnels there are quite a few beddings that may not hold
a tunnel and so when trying to do so it may just collapse right away
hemp shavings, aspen flakes or carefresh often isn't the best for holding tunnels
these beddings can sometimes be improved and fixed by adding a layer of soft hay in between
so it's kind of like making a lasagna and it will look really cool but it will
sometimes help the tunnel stability don't forget to compact your bedding down when
you're adding it in don't just add the bedding in fluff it all up and assume that is 10 inches
because as soon as your hamster is going to be walking back and forth on it it is going
to slowly compact down and you're going to be left with a very small amount of bedding and if
you're not providing compacted bedding then it's also not going to be great at holding tunnels
number two you're not providing them with a big enough section or you're just providing
the hamster with a mountain of bedding i highly suggest making the entire enclosure the same
depth of bedding or at least a very very large portion of it this way it allows the hamster to
be able to create burrows all throughout the cage instead of just one dedicated section
number three you haven't tried adding a burrow starter many hamsters in the wild
such as dwarf hamsters actually tend to take over pre-existing
burrows that another animal made so this can be done by adding a cork log or any
other sort of tunnel halfway into the bedding so it kind of gives them a little
starting point you could also get those hay cardboard tunnels that connect together and
kind of pre make a little burrow system for them so then they can continue on if they'd like
if you've still done all of these things and your hamster still doesn't want to burrow just give
them some time some hamsters can take up to months to decide that they want to start a burrow system
and they need to be able to have that opportunity to do so if they want to so if you're taking away
the bedding and only giving them 2 inches because you think they don't like burrowing
they're never going to have that opportunity to actually create a proper burrow system
the next enrichment you can provide your hamster is different substrates
these are substrates that allow your hamster another texture to touch as well as dig in
rather than burrow in because these substrates do not make good for burrowing
so safe substrates to include in a dig box would include corn cob bedding i do need to
make a little bit of a note because this is made from corn it may entice your hamster to want
to nibble it now there are some hamsters who have no issues with it my hamster Lenny tends to want
to eat it so i did remove it from the enclosure but some hamsters are completely fine with it
coconut fiber, cork granules, beech chips and pillow moss or sphagnum moss
sand baths. This goes along with other substrates but a sand bath is a
must for the average healthy hamster
while hamsters groom themselves quite well a sand bath helps remove any excess oils from the coat
and it also gives them a enrichment for digging as well as it can help keep claws worn down
some hamsters such as dwarfs and roborovski's tend to roll in the sand more so whereas syrian
hamsters may prefer to just dig in it or use it as a litter box but i find that is very
helpful for when trying to actually spot clean a enclosure because then it's just all right there
when providing a sand bath you'd have to make sure you're providing a safe sand for your hamster
dusts and powders need to be avoided because these can cause
upper respiratory infections and that is not something you want to deal with
a safe soft sand must be used depending on where you live chinchilla sand may be a good option
for you but unfortunately in places like Canada and America our chinchilla sand really is not
good it actually is quite dusty and could cause a respiratory infection
so some safe alternatives include a soft children's play sand just as long as you've
sanitized it and sifted before use or a soft reptile sand that has no added dyes or calcium
it would also be best to avoid any sand from the dollar store or a craft store
because we don't know what was used
make sure the container isn't too small it should be a decent size for your hamster to be able to
walk in and dig or do whatever it shouldn't be too small for them i tend to prefer acrylic trays or
a glass baking dish these are very popular and good options for a cheap sand bath
also including either some type of lip or a hideout inside of the sand bath is really
good because this gives the hamster privacy and they're going to feel more comfortable
to be able to actually dig or roll when there's something there protecting them
tubes and branches
tubes and branches allow natural coverage,
clutter and another natural texture for the hamster to touch
hamsters are prey animals so a space or
enclosure that is too empty can often make them feel vulnerable
giving them things to hide in or take cover under can make them feel protected
i personally love using cork logs and a great fine wood because
one they're natural materials so you're really never going to get
another one that is going to look like they're all going to come in different shapes and sizes
they're a natural material so your hamster can safely chew on them and they can wear down their
teeth they're also very textured so it can also help keep hamster nails trim these are typically
found in the reptile section of your pet store or you can find them on specific reptile websites
other natural materials that can be used include bamboo roots, birch tubes or some terracotta tubes
platforms this is another good way to provide enrichment for your hamster because you're able to
put this in they still have room to burrow underneath and you can put things on top sometimes
you can even put a few things underneath and it also just gives a place to put any
heavy items that you're worried about crushing your hamster if they decide to
burrow underneath it but keep in mind a platform should not be taller than 3 inches for a dwarf or
6 inches for a syrian because hamsters do have really bad depth perception and vision they're
very easily can walk off a platform and if it's too high they can hurt themselves very easily
this platform here was made myself so you don't have to spend a lot of money to make one
you just need some wood and a couple of dowels and some safe hamster glue
and you put it together and then you have a little platform
and lastly we have hideouts and this is a similar category to tubes and branches because hideouts do
provide protection and clutter to the enclosure as well as a lot of hamsters often will start their
burrows there it's really good to include multiple hideouts and not just one of course your hamster
may just choose one to sleep in but you should still have multiples for them to choose from
as well as then when they're in their enclosure they can quickly go to another hideout maybe they
just want to sit in it groom in there to feel safe because hamsters don't like to be in the
open space too much this is why we tend to semi-crowd the enclosure because it makes
them feel more safe and less vulnerable there's many different types of materials that a hideout
could come in such as wood, terracotta clay, ceramic as well as cardboard you could make your
own cardboard hideouts the only things we have to take into consideration when choosing hideouts is
how they're made if you're choosing a wooden hideout you are going to want to avoid anything
that seems to be made with nails in case the hamster does chew through it you don't
want them to get stabbed as well as if it is a soft wood hide it could potentially leak resin
so these types of hides aren't recommended as well as you need to ensure that the entrance
way is big enough for the species that you own for syrians and chinese hamsters the diameter
should be 3 inches and for dwarf hamsters the diameter should be 2 inches this is important
to keep in mind because if an entrance is too small a hamster can potentially injure
themselves especially if their cheek pouches are full of seeds as you may know seeds can tend to
be a little bit sharp so if they try to press themselves into something while their cheeks
are full they can potentially cut themselves inside their cheek and then cause an infection
and that's not good one specific hideout that i do recommend but i do realize that not everybody has
access to is a multi-chamber hideout essentially these are just wooden hideouts that have three or
more different chambers for the hamster to use for different things and it kind of mimics the
way they would in the wild because that gives them an opportunity to choose okay i'm going to put my
food here i'm going to use this one as a bathroom and this one is going to be where i create my
burrow into my nest if you are unable to buy a multi-chamber hideout ErinsAnimals actually has
a really good tutorial so you can actually make your own so that is it for this video and i really
really hope it helped you guys to figure out how to give your hamsters more enrichment or how to
set their enclosure up so they get the most out of it and the most enrichment because enrichment is
so important a lot of people just think you got to give your hamster to the necessities and that's it
that is not going to be a happy hamster that is a hamster who is just
eating, sleeping, running on its wheel that's not a happy hamster so i really
hope this video has been able to help you guys and i will see you guys in my next video bye