How to Make a Real Bed for a Hamster

The hamster is a small rodent kept as a common pet. The caged hamster will adapt to environments without a natural bed but building a nesting type bed increases comfort and reduces stress. Fortunately, a hamster bed is inexpensive and easy to construct. Most hamster varieties like to burrow and a bed should provide space to dig through the material.

Things You'll Need

  • Cardboard box
  • Packing tape
  • Box cutter
  • Sand
  • Hamster bedding
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Instructions

    • 1

      Locate a small cardboard box that is twice the size of the hamster. Look for ring boxes, cell phone boxes and other boxes that come in a relatively small package. Remove all contents from the box.

    • 2

      Tape both ends of the box in a closed position with packing tape. Use a box cutter to cut an entrance and exit hole on one face of the box. Make the hole to roughly match the widest point on the hamster.

    • 3

      Add a thin layer of sand to the bottom of the box. The sand absorbs moisture from the animal and helps weight the bed. Place the bed in a corner of the cage with the hole facing upwards.

    • 4

      Fill the bed with a loose bunch of aspen shavings, wood pulp or other non-abrasive hamster bedding. Cover the outside of the bed with ground material used for the cage floor. Ground material ranges from soft bedding to newspaper.