# Hamsters in wheels **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 2, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137 "2011-01-02T12:59:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/1 "2011-01-02T12:59:56Z")
It could go in general question, but I think it is a pretty mundane and pointless thing to actually discuss, but feel free to move it if needs be =) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YXRH50fvHWA/hqdefault.jpg "My hamster can not manage to stop spinning in his wheel") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXRH50fvHWA) Hamster running its little paws off in a wheel … other than the little bugger is amazingly fast, do they actually like it or are they just bored out of their little minds? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/2 "2011-01-02T15:55:08Z")
Hamsters in the wild run several miles a night as they scavenge for seeds. Running makes them happy. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/3 "2011-01-02T18:14:53Z")
Yes, ours always ran for a while, then jumped off and grabbed food and stuffed it in their cheeks, then hopped back on and ran some more. They are re-enacting their foraging behavior in the wild. They live in arid areas, generally (the Syrian hamster is a desert animal, and I think the Siberian hamster comes from grasslands, which generally have lower rainfall), and it takes a territory of some size to support a single hamster. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/4 "2011-01-02T18:24:29Z")
We should be able to do thread searches one right after another. That video proves they can handle it. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/5 "2011-01-03T07:00:33Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > We should be able to do thread searches one right after another. That video proves they can handle it. ROFLMAO So, how much electricity could one of the little buggers generate overnight …😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/6 "2011-01-03T07:25:22Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > Hamsters in the wild run several miles a night as they scavenge for seeds. Running makes them happy. Nah. Running doesn’t make them happy. I’m convinced that WAKING UP THE HUMANS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT makes them happy, especially if the humans are in the habit of bribing the little rodents with raisins to get them to quit running. Seriously, yeah, they seem to need to run, and a wheel keeps them happy. Plus there’s not a lot of entertainment options in most hamster cages. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/7 "2011-01-04T00:53:56Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Nah. Running doesn’t make them happy. I’m convinced that WAKING UP THE HUMANS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT makes them happy You may have run afoul of the First Law of Pet Hamsters: Thou Shalt Oil Thy Damned Wheel! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/8 "2011-01-04T02:42:46Z")
I did oil the damned wheel. I was ready to oil the damned HAMSTER. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/9 "2011-01-04T02:48:20Z")
Hmmm !.. oiled hamster ! with olive oil or WD 40 ? Both have their advantages taste-wise. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/10 "2011-01-05T01:25:28Z")
That was really cute. If you watch the music-free version of that video, you can hear the THUNK as the cute little guy goes flying out of the wheel after his 12th spin. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/11 "2011-01-05T13:35:06Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > That was really cute. If you watch the music-free version of that video, you can hear the THUNK as the cute little guy goes flying out of the wheel after his 12th spin. I much prefer [this version of that video.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDrpPqsXfVU) (caution: a bit of profanity at the end) ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/12 "2011-01-05T16:21:01Z")
HA! That was awesome! That guy has a little too much fun at the expense of his hamster. I miss having hamsters. They’re so damn cute. I’d love to put that hamster in a ball so it can run all around my house, pissing off my dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hamsters-in-wheels/566137/13 "2011-01-05T16:50:57Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Nah. Running doesn’t make them happy. I’m convinced that WAKING UP THE HUMANS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT makes them happy Obligatory Onion link: [This Squeaky Wheel And I Are Pulling An All-Nighter](http://www.theonion.com/articles/this-squeaky-wheel-and-i-are-pulling-an-allnighter,18607/)