r/hamsters • u/DandelionKy • 2d ago
Question Temperature Question
Tl;dr the closet we have our hammy in gets too cold, has anyone used a terrarium heater or any other heater to keep their ham’s enclosure the right temp? *edit to add, I posted a pic of her enclosure in the comments. I am not sure why I couldn’t attach it the first time.
Hello all! First time hamster owner and so far things have been awesome. This is our 10 year old daughter’s winter white Honey. She’s been a perfect first ham for our girl—so curious and sweet. We moved her to our daughter’s closet as we also have cats and dachshunds and having her near predator pets is a real concern. The other pets aren’t allowed in bedrooms so having her behind 2 doors felt the safest. However—our daughter’s closet (and bedroom) gets cold.
We’re in Montana and this Oct has been dropping below freezing every night. I put a temperature gauge in her closet and I see it’s been dropping down to 60 even with her bedroom door open—yikes. I don’t want to put a space heater in the room for fear of safety issues, but I did see that perhaps we could put a terrarium heater under her enclosure? She’s in a wooden enclosure now, purchased off of TikTok. Will that get too warm for her? Should I upgrade so something more like a bucatstate or even an aquarium? I like the wooden one as it’s light and easier to clean and access. Or I can move her back to the bedroom that stays at least 5 degrees warmer and just move her up higher. Any advice?
3
u/DandelionKy 2d ago
Picture of the Honey’s enclosure. I am not sure why it wouldn’t let me post it in the main post.
3
u/flavia-f 1d ago
60 at night is on the cold side, most people aim for about 65 to 75f and closets tend to be the coldest spot in a room. id skip the heat mat, theyre made for glass tanks and under a wooden enclosure it can scorch, plus she cant dig away from heat coming from below. moving her back to the warmer bedroom, up off the floor and away from the window, with deep bedding and some paper bedding to nest in is the easy fix
•
u/AutoModerator 2d ago
Your post has NOT been removed yet, this is an auto-generated message. Thank you for your question to /r/hamsters. Please be aware that medical advice questions are NOT allowed on this sub. However, our discord allows medical questions. Please keep in mind only a professional veterinarian in person can help with any medical concern, whether it is a lump, bump, change in appearance, change in behavior, strange bowel movement, lack of eating/drinking, or something else of high concern. If you are unable to afford a vet please do not seek help on our community, but through the discord server instead.
If this is not a medical question then you can ignore this message.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.