As pet owners, you always want what is best for your animals, especially if they will be with you for only a little while. In this case, you might have seen your hamster shake and immediately started researching. One question you might be asking yourself is, “Why is my hamster shaking?”
Seeing your beloved pet shake can be an extremely startling experience. The shaking itself can be caused by a myriad of reasons, with varying degrees of severity, ranging from being too cold to being downright terrified.
Diagnosing why your hamster is shaking is the first pivotal step in getting your fluff ball some much-needed help. To achieve that, the first thing you’ll want to do is begin meticulously scanning your hamster’s enclosure for things that are either out of place or could be putting your hamster into this state.
What Are the Reasons Why Your Hamster Is Shaking?
In most cases, there are about eight major reasons why a hamster may be shaking.
- Neurological issues could cause your hamster to shake violently.
- Torpor, often the onset of extreme stress or a very cold environment
- Hypoglycemia
- Hypothermia
- Pain
- A generalized sickness
- Fear
All of these reasons are valid. However, we want to ensure you understand the details of each item mentioned above. For this reason, we encourage you to continue reading below.
1. Your Hamster Has Neurological Behavior
A hamster suffering from neurological issues may also be considered to have mild to severe brain damage. The damage itself can cause everything from erratic behaviour to the same shaking or tremors mentioned above.
If you suspect your hamster has developed a new neurological behaviour, your best course of action would be to get your pet to the veterinarian immediately to assess the extent of the damage and develop a treatment plan.
How to Help
The first course of action here would be to examine your hamster’s area carefully and ensure there aren’t any additional external factors making the situation worse or actively contributing to the root cause. A larger pet swatting them through their enclosure could easily cause this.
Provide a Safe Environment
Keeping in step with preventive measures, securing your hamster’s enclosure and removing any obstacles or hazards that might injure them if they have a seizure or fall from an elevated platform will be imperative to keeping your pet safe.
Simply removing elevated areas from the enclosure isn’t enough; you’ll want to provide extra bedding to prevent your hamster from potentially injuring itself on the bottom of its enclosure.
While this may seem confusing at first, think about how easily it would be for your pet to potentially scrape itself on the bottom rungs of a cage, or potentially get entangled on something protruding upwards that may not have been a serious issue if your hamster were in full control of itself.
Keep the Area Low-Stimulating
Low-stim environments typically have less decoration, lower lighting, and generally come off as boring or tame at the very least. Still, this drab setting is precisely the kind of environment that will help your hamster regulate itself and keep bouts of shaking and seizures to a minimum.
Consult Your Local Veterinarian
Your local veterinarian can provide you with a much more detailed breakdown of what is causing your hamster’s shaking and what you can do to prevent it from happening as often. They may even develop a treatment plan to resolve the issue entirely.
2. Environmental Changes
Navigating a changing environment is difficult for even the best of us, and pets are no exception. Any time a surrounding changes, or a new person, pet, or object is added to your hamster’s life, they will need to get used to this addition over time.
Glaring changes to the environment, like new owners, new pets, or even an enclosure that adds additional playmates or a lifestyle change, will be dramatic and take extensive time to get your pet used to, so your best course of action would be to make this transition in a new lifestyle as easy as possible.
How to Help
Assuming the change is just within their cage or enclosure, try to make the changes slowly. If you are getting a new enclosure, for example, gradually introduce your pet to it so the change isn’t as jarring, showcase some of the finer points or more interesting areas, and give your hamster time to get accustomed.
Provide Extra Bedding
Comfort in a new location is paramount to actually enjoying the change of scenery; a good bed to lie on can make almost any new home feel welcoming. The same can be said of your pet: a little extra bedding to nestle into in unfamiliar territory might be just what the doctor ordered.
Check the Location of the Cage
While we might be able to make do with laying our bed anywhere in the house and making everything “work”, hamsters aren’t quite that flexible, especially when you consider their ears, noses, and other levels of sensory sensitivity are much higher than ours.
Placing a hamster’s cage too close to a circuit breaker, for example, can keep your hamster constantly stimulated, leading to odd behaviour or sleeplessness and, over time, creating deprivation and becoming taxing on its overall health.
Another bad location for a hamster cage might be near a door that is constantly in use throughout the day, especially the front door. The constant flow of people, pets, and occasional disturbances is too stimulating and makes your hamster feel nervous at all times.
Use a Heating Pad if Needed
Heating pads can also be a wonderful addition to a cage or enclosure. Still, you’ll need to take time to ensure it’s used safely, keeping a safe distance from your beloved pet and avoiding getting the cage or enclosure too hot, which can dehydrate your pet, or burning it directly.
When using the heating pad, it’s worth noting that there should always be a safe, “non-heated” area of the enclosure for your pet to retreat to if the ambient warmth becomes too much for your little friend.
3. They May Feel Fearful or Stressed
Hamsters aren’t blissfully ignorant and unable to perceive what is going on around them. The opposite is true; hamsters take in their surroundings and gauge whether whatever is currently near them can be taken as a threat or means to do them harm, accidentally or not.
While attempting to decide if something can be harmful or not doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, doing so constantly, or being left in a perpetual state of fight or flight, will gradually wear on your pet’s psyche and can easily have them feeling exhausted, or worse, terrified in the long run.
How to Help
If you notice your hamster becoming progressively more alarmed when certain people, pets, or objects enter the room, or when they get frantic, staring at specific locations, your best course of action to alleviate the stress would be to remove the problem.
You cannot be expected to directly remove a specific person from your home (especially if they live there), but if the person in question is rather loud, or a little too mobile for your pet’s liking, taking time to explain their behaviour is upsetting your pet, in a calm, respectful way, can help get them clued in on how to conduct themselves better. Worst-case scenario, set clear boundaries on where this person can go to guarantee the hamster isn’t threatened by their presence.
The same can be said of specific animals that might be getting too close or becoming too aggressive toward your hamster. At the same time, pets cannot be held to the same standard as a person can about boundaries. You can personally take responsibility for keeping them away; everything from constantly closing the door to installing pet gates to making the area less desirable to them is a valid option.
Gradually Build Trust
Moving towards things that might directly help your hamster, taking time to bond with your hamster, even just by being near it and letting it get used to your presence, can do wonders. Getting them used to who you are, what you sound like, and even your touch is incredibly important in fostering a loving bond between you and your pet.
Giving your pet treats to help motivate them to like you more is a definite possibility, but you should be aware that too many treats can ruin your pet’s diet or set an unhealthy expectation that if they see you, a treat is coming.
Create a Safe Space
Because hamsters are very flighty little beings to begin with, they need ample room to retreat to for them to feel safe about what’s going on and have some semblance of control over what is happening to them.
To accommodate this, you’ll want to create small hideouts, tube networks, or other creative areas where your hamster can scurry off to “collect their thoughts” before venturing into the great unknown again.
Doing so will allow your hamster to handle what is going on in their environment at their own pace and to more aptly flex into careful observation, rather than being constantly exposed to whatever is happening around them.
Eliminate Loud Noises and Sudden Movements
As noted above, with people, pets, and objects potentially being too stimulating or outright terrifying to your hamster, you’ll need to make some changes to your routine and lifestyle to accommodate your hamster’s needs better.
While some of these changes might be harder to implement, especially if you enjoy playing loud music, slamming doors, or occasionally racing around the room, these habits can be very alarming for hamsters. You’ll need to work on better control over yourself, for their sake.
4. Health Concerns Might Arise
There is a definite possibility that your pet might develop any number of health complications or issues, some of which might be an underlying condition that has been worsening over time (which can be addressed with regular vet visits), while others might just be symptomatic of your hamster’s specific breed.
Regardless of the kind of health issue you face, you’ll need to observe what is happening to your pet, try to figure out what is causing it, and finally determine what you and your vet can do to help alleviate the issue.
How to Help
Some health concerns you may have, such as your hamster becoming slightly obese from too many treats, can be addressed with a better diet. A healthier lifestyle, other health issues might require specific medication given to you by your vet, some might need a complete revision of either the enclosure, or where you are housing your pet, think sanitation issues, regardless, small revisions in your life can make big changes for your pet.
Contact a Veterinarian
If your pet has suddenly begun shaking without a clear root cause, you’ll want to get your hamster to the vet immediately, as the cause might be life-threatening and every second counts.
Provide a Warm, Calm Environment
Securing a portion of your house as the designated hamster area will allow you to control how calm it is, and giving your hamster small laps or warm blankets can help them feel calm and gradually make the shaking disappear. Still, again, this will only work if your pet’s nervousness caused the shaking.
Monitor for Any Additional Problems
If you’ve gone out of your way to make things as comfortable, calm, and stress-free as possible, know that your hamster trusts you and is used to your company. Still, the shaking persists; you may be dealing with a larger issue, so a professional’s guidance may be needed to ensure your pet’s safety.
5. Your Hamster Came in Contact With Water or Has Hypothermia
Hypothermia in hamsters can be just as dangerous to them as it is to humans, if not more so, as their fur can often keep them from drying properly, making them much more likely to get it. The aftereffects can be much worse by association.
You can safely increase the heat in your hamster’s cage using low-wattage lamps, or better yet, a heating pad under a portion of the cage, carefully observing that it isn’t getting the cage itself too hot or coming into direct contact with your hamster’s skin.
How to Help
If you’ve recently bathed your hamster (which you shouldn’t this is incredibly dangerous for them, partially due to the hypothermia possibility, and partially due to it removing vital oils from their skin), or perhaps they’ve spilled water on themselves, your hamster managed to get absolutely drenched, either way, you’ll want to warm them up to stave off hypothermia.
Provide Warm Bedding
In this situation, your first goal is to dry them as well as you can and gradually increase the heat in their enclosure, while maintaining a space within the cage that isn’t heated so they can cool down if they need to.
Gradually Warm Up the Cage
Slowly heating the entire area is vital to stabilizing your hamster’s temperature and keeping them from getting into a worse situation than they are already in. Appropriate distance from heat lamps, or half-heating a portion of their enclosure, will get the job done perfectly.
Avoid a Direct Heat Source
You’ll want to avoid using any instant-heating sources like a hair dryer or hot water bottle, as these might seem like great ideas for quickly increasing their temperature, but sudden changes in overall temperature can cause them to go into shock or burn them if used poorly.
6. Your Hamster Has Low Blood Sugar
Low blood sugar, or becoming hypoglycemic, is a definite possibility depending on your hamster’s age, lifestyle, food intake, and stress levels. Carefully monitoring all four factors will help you better understand how to overcome this issue.
How to Help
Noting how much your hamster has, or more aptly, hasn’t been eating will let you know whether your hamster has low blood sugar. If it is indeed hypoglycemia affecting your hamster, you’ll need to make sure they get enough food to overcome this issue.
Make Sure They Are Consistently Eating
Hamsters aren’t very good at dealing with fluctuating eating schedules. They will thrive in environments where food is readily available to them at all times, especially if it isn’t just piled up in a jar waiting for them.
Simulating their natural habitat and allowing them to “forage” for food within their enclosure will help them burn energy and engage their innate wanderlust, providing a two-in-one solution: activity and food.
Immediately Provide Food
If your hamster is shaking due to low blood sugar, you need to feed them immediately. In this case, the aforementioned bowl of food will give you the solution you are seeking. Keep a vigilant eye on your pet to guarantee they are actually eating it, however.
Monitor for Recurrences
If you notice your hamster stops eating randomly, refuses to go near the bowl of food itself, or displays little to no interest in foraging for other sources of food, you’ll want to take your hamster to the vet immediately, as this could be a sign of a larger problem at hand.
7. The Hamster Is Hibernating or in Torpor
Well, before diving into answering this, let’s set the stage properly. Domesticated hamsters do not hibernate at all. If your hamster has labored breathing, appears to be sleeping, or is immobile for long periods, it is entering torpor, a very dangerous state that could claim its life if left unattended.
How to Help
Torpor is a condition often associated with extreme temperature drops in your hamster’s environment, leaving them without the energy to remain mobile and alert, and they may shake slightly as the condition worsens until they become completely immobile and potentially pass away.
The only way to combat torpor is to raise the entire room’s temperature until your hamster’s internal temperature stabilizes and it can’t drop to that point again.
Keep Their Cage Warm
Heating lamps, heating pads, and other such devices will help you better regulate the temperature in your hamster’s cage, preventing them from going into torpor. Still, if your hamster is going through this, you’ll likely feel the cold as well.
Do Not Bother Your Hamster Too Much
When your hamster is recovering, you mustn’t attempt to stimulate or agitate it while it regains its bearing and composure. Recovering from a torpor state may leave your hamster feeling slightly confused and unbalanced; unnecessary stimulation might only make their condition worse.
Monitor Their Condition
If things get worse, you’ll need to take your hamster to the vet immediately, as being immobile, cold, and disoriented for long periods can have long-term effects on your pet and may be fatal.
8. They Are in Pain
Hamsters, like most animals, don’t tolerate pain very well. If they are experiencing it, they will become nervous, agitated, and much more likely to shake when anyone or anything approaches, as they may perceive the approaching person or thing as dangerous.
How to Help
Observing your hamster, finding out what is causing them pain, and doing your best to remove the cause will be your best bet in this situation, but it’s worth noting that certain kinds of pain a normal person isn’t truly equipped to alleviate.
If your hamster is shaking and grunting/squeaking, obviously in some pain, but you cannot discern any visible wound, they may be suffering from something internally, which is likely entirely out of your scope to handle, in which case you’ll want to seek professional aid.
Seek Veterinary Help
A vet will not only be able to discern what is going on with your hamster, but figure out the cause of the pain. Better yet, develop a treatment plan to get your beloved friend back into tip-top shape, granting them peace of mind and freedom from whatever ails them.
Provide a Quiet & Soft Place
If the pain your pet is experiencing is something more mundane, like a scrape, scratch, or something similar, giving them ample space to recover, letting them feel safe, and gradually letting them sleep it off with heightened bedding is a wonderful solution.
Handle with Care
As with most injured animals, you’ll want to double your efforts to ensure they feel secure and safe. If you’ve got to move your hamster while it is injured, you’ll want to move it as if it were incredibly fragile, with grace, so that it feels secure in your hands.
Unless the enclosure itself injured them, you probably won’t need to relocate your pet, but if you do, use a cupped hand movement, and bring them as close to your body as you can, so they can’t fall, and feel that they won’t be dropped, also protecting them from themselves, if they attempt to scurry away or fidget randomly.
Final Thoughts
Helping your hamster when it is shaking without knowing the primary cause can be heart-wrenching, but if you are in this situation and aren’t sure what to do, don’t waste time, and don’t try to guess; get your pet the help it needs from a medical professional as soon as possible.
