How to Break a Hamster's Sleeping Habit

Hamsters are small, furry rodents commonly kept by children as pets. Hamsters are inexpensive and short-lived making them good first pets. To keep a pet is a great learning experience for children, because it teaches them responsibility. However, because a hamster's natural habitat is the desert they are naturally nocturnal, sleeping during the day to avoid the extreme heat and leaving their burrows at night in search for food. All of this nighttime activity may be keeping their owners up at night. By controlling when the hamster is exposed to light and dark you can affect the hamster's sleep cycle.

Things You'll Need

  • Compact flourescent light bulb
  • Socket with a power chord
  • Electrical outlet timer
  • 5 gallon bucket
  • Drill
  • 1-inch hole cutting bit
  • Duct tape
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Instructions

    • 1

      Drill a 1-inch hole into the center of the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket using the hole-cutting bit.

    • 2

      Insert the light bulb socket power chord through the hole and out the bottom of the bucket. Pull the chord through until the socket bumps up against the hole. Wrap duct tape around the base of the chord and to the outside of the bottom of the bucket to hold the light socket in place.

    • 3

      Screw the compact fluorescent light bulb into the light socket.

    • 4

      Plug the light socket power chord into the electrical outlet timer. Plug the electrical outlet timer into an electrical outlet within reach of the hamster's pen. The electrical outlet timer works as the on/off switch for the light bulb.

    • 5

      Place the bucket upside down on top of the hamster's cage. This will be the hamster's new artificial sun. Set the timer to turn the light on 30 minutes earlier than sunrise and to turn the light off 30 minutes before the sun sets. Timer designs vary so read the instructions provided by the manufacturer of your timer for usage instructions.

    • 6

      Each day adjust the timer to turn on 30 minutes earlier than the previous day. Adjust the light to turn off 30 minutes earlier than the previous day as well. This will gradually align the hamster's light exposure time (when they sleep) with the night over the course of about 3 weeks. Be sure to keep the hamster's cage out of direct sunlight during the day.