Instructions
Work with certain hamster varieties' inclination for friendly daytime activity. Chinese hamsters, for instance, enjoy interaction during daylight hours. Other potentially diurnal types include Roborovskis, Campbell's and Winter Whites. The alertness in the day demonstrated by these hamsters can be shaped and encouraged over time.
Befriend your hamster. Play with it often, using plenty of stroking and affection. Feed it by hand, especially if it's a young hamster. Socialize it to enjoy seeing and interacting with you. It is important to build this camaraderie, particularly in hamsters of the Syrian, who loathe having their sleep disturbed. In general, waking a sleeping hamster can provoke its aggression. You can slowly condition a well-tempered hamster, however, to be nice during the day.
Reverse your hamster's rest schedule. Cease all play and interaction with it at night. Cloak your hamster's cage with a thick but breathable cloth or blanket. Place its cage in an extremely quiet spot that will not be disturbed by neither sounds nor sources of light. Reserve all activities for the daylight hours. Feed your hamster first thing in the morning. Position its cage in the sunniest and noisiest possible corner. Take it out of its cage. Encourage it to roam about or interact with its toys, like a hamster wheel. Play with your hamster, albeit judiciously -- at the start of this process, it might be grumpy and may bite.
Conduct this process gradually. At first, you should stop playing with your hamster at night, about 15 minutes earlier than usual, waking it 15 minutes earlier in the morning. Increase this by increments of 10 to 15 minutes every five to seven days.
Tailor this scheduling to a time in the day when you are around. There is little use in encouraging an unnatural waking pattern in your hamster if you're not there to play with it. Say you want your hamster more alert when you arrive home from work, then shape a schedule so that you can play with it for an hour or so after your arrival and then let it rest.
Exercise patience. As previously stated, most hamsters are inherently nocturnal. Humans might experience anxiety or difficulty in switching schedules of activity, and so can hamsters. Anticipate working on this form of sleep conditioning for at least a few weeks, if not longer.
How to Make a Hamster More Active in the Day
Hamsters make appealing pets. Many owners consider them adorable and enjoy interacting with them. There are some profound differences between humans and hamsters, though, besides the obvious contrast in species. Most people sleep at nightfall, when these rodents are just starting to wake up. They doze starting at dawn as their owners arise. Switching your hamster's sleep pattern to synchronize with yours is understandably tempting. But it is not natural. However, over time, you can slowly shape your hamster to be more alert doing some daytime hours.