Are hamsters sensitive to noise ?
Yes, hamsters are very sensitive to noise, high pitched sounds and screams, especially sudden noises that later startle your hamster and are a great source of stress for him .This will surely cause stress related diseases, especially wet tail.
Why are hamsters so sensitive to loud noises ?
There are several reasons for this, the first being that hamsters have a highly developed sense of hearing and very sensitive ears.
Since hamsters have poor eyesight, they use their noses, but especially their ears to detect and hear predators from a distance.
This makes hamsters hear sounds several times more than we humans do.
A sound of 10 decibels for us may mean 50 or 60 decibels for the hamster.
Secondly, hamsters react badly and get stressed when they hear a new sound, especially if the volume is high.
This behavior is used by raptors against hamsters, you have probably noticed raptors calling when they are in the air.
The purpose of this is to scare the little hamsters out of their temporary hiding places so that they can pounce on them and catch them.
This is another proof that hamsters are right to hate noise.
May loud sounds kill my hamster?
Like in the case of long exposition to cold weather and overheating, In the long term, my answer will be “yes”; the noise will drastically reduce your hamster’s life expectancy, which is already very short by nature. A hamster is exposed to a permanent or repetitive source of noise, especially if it wakes him up from sleep, and makes him jump out of fear.
This will stress your hamster and it will then have its immune system weakened especially if it lacks nutrients and vitamin when its food is not balanced.
He will then get stress related hamster diseases like wet tail which can cause the death of your hamster after only 3 days.
If the noise will not kill your hamster, it will make him more aggressive and all your efforts to tame him will be useless.
So avoid causing your hamster stress and do not expose it to sources of loud noise especially during pregnancy and the nursing period.
What kind of sounds are bad for hamsters?
For starters, I would say that all loud noises will trigger the hamster’s stress, including classical music if you turn it up loud!
So avoid all loud noises when you are near your hamster’s cage.
I will also mention the noise of household appliances with motor, such as vacuum cleaner, chainsaw, drill, Blenders, hair dryers, motorcycle, car … etc
In fact hamsters are much more frightened by mechanical noises than by the more natural sounds of humans and other animals.
Be careful what you watch on TV when your hamster is around:
Many people don’t pay attention to this, but if you’re a hamster fan, you probably won’t miss a documentary about these little fur balls.
They will surely show their natural predators and your hamster is not supposed to see that !
I especially want to draw your attention to animal documentaries because the sound of a jackal screaming or a raptor …. will surely make your hamster get out of its nest and scare it to death.
Always turn down the sound when watching these programs.
Some tips to avoid exposing your hamster to big noise:
Here are some tips and measures to take to avoid stressing your hamster without paying attention by exposing it to harmful noise without you even realizing it.
1- Install your hamster’s cage in a quiet room, which does not have a window overlooking the road or a construction site, a carpentry workshop, …. etc
2- Avoid turning up the volume on your TV when your hamster is in the room, use headphones instead if you are listening to music on your smartphone.
3- Avoid using the vacuum cleaner or any other tools mounted above in the same room as your hamster, take his cage out or at least cover it if you have to vacuum his room and be quick.
4- If there are children in the house, don’t let them scream in the presence of the hamster or use toys that make loud noises like police cars, firearms that just make noise, fireworks, etc.
5- When you are afraid that your hamster is exposed to a stressful noise during the day, try to give him a small piece of fruit or a treat rich in vitamin C, because the stress has probably lowered the level of vitamins in the body of your hamster and he probably needs it for his immune system.
Will a hamster exposed to a loud noise lose its hearing?
We are talking here about Tinnitus and hearing loss in hamsters exposed to a noise of 100 Decibels approximately
A study is done that hamsters can become deaf just if you expose them to a loud noise for an hour.
They can also get tinnitus just by exposing them for 10 minutes to a noise that exceeds 100 Db (the study showed this for 124 Db to 127 Db)
Never do this at home, and if you like loud music especially if it’s hard or metal… put on your headphones or earphones and enjoy the music without stressing out and causing your hamster’s premature death.
How do you isolate your hamster from the noise when you take him to the vet?
You will probably take your hamster outside at some point, to the vet or on a trip…
You should close all the windows of the car and you can also cover the cage of your hamster carrier with a towel to isolate it a little more from the car horns and possible sources of noise.
Do hamsters fear or hate music?
Not at all, everyone loves music and hamsters are known to love classical music, but the problem can arise if the volume is high.
You can listen to the music in the room where your hamster is installed and even play it except if it is drums or percussion…etc.
So turn the volume to the minimum and inspect the reaction of your hamster, if he starts to get agitated, lower the volume again until he calms down and returns to his usual activities.
You don’t ask me this because you are thinking of taking your hamster to a concert!!! never do that!!!
How do I know if my hamster is bothered by a noise ?
There are several signs that your hamster is frightened by a sound:
- He will run and hide in a hideout or his nest
- He will even leave his nest and start climbing the bars of his cage and trying to find a place to run away from.
- Bare biting, your hamster will want to get out to escape and will jump on the bars of his cage and start biting them
- Your hamster will lie down and put his ears back and stay on the floor of his cage without moving (when he has nowhere to hide)
- Your hamster may even squeak and scream to tell you that he doesn’t like the noise.
Can we get a hamster used to noise?
Hamsters are generally not afraid of everyday sounds and noises.
Conversation in the house, the sound of the TV or music at a reasonable volume. A vacuum cleaner in the other rooms or bringing your car into the garage…etc.
These everyday noises, hamsters do not pay too much attention.
But if there is a new sound, like if you are an artist and you play bass guitar.
You can try playing in the next room and set up a camera (your smartphone) to record your hamster’s reaction.
Start for example in the room farthest from your hamster and approach little by little to get your hamster used to the sound.
If not, you should set the sound to minimum and increase the volume little by little to detect the level tolerated by your hamster and that you should not exceed.
What to do when you can not move the cage of your hamster?
If your hamster is tame, you can simply take him out of his cage when your mom vacuums or your sister fixes his hair with the hair dryer…etc.
There are even those who put their fingers on the ears of the hamster if they suddenly hear a loud noise that is supposed to stress the hamster.
On the 4th of July for example, you can put your hamster in a room and close the door and the window until the end of the fireworks if you hear it from your house.
Let’s sum it up
Hamsters are predators of other small mammals, but they are also prey for many predators.
This means that any unusual noise will scare them into a state of panic.
This trait is used against them by raptors and hunting birds by flying over the areas where the hamsters are located and calling out to get the hamsters out from under the streams where they hide to catch them.
So avoid all loud noises in the house when you have a hamster and especially in the room where his cage is put.
