The Best Toys for Hamsters & Guinea Pigs

Hamsters are burrowing animals who like to whizz around and explore things. They’re smart little critters who really appreciate having new toys to test out and investigate. You can meet this need for new things with anything from the leftover tubes of toilet rolls with treats hidden inside to new fun games to try out in their cage.

Who could overlook such a classic? It’s almost a given that when you get a hamster, a wheel is required as well. While you can get some big cages, they don’t always satisfy your beloved pet’s need to run around to their heart’s content. Some hamster wheels that come with the smaller sized cages might not be big enough for your furry friend, especially as they grow and reach maturity. To understand how to properly fit your hamster to a wheel, they should have a straight back while they run.

If you had to walk around with a bend in your spine, you would wind up getting a sore back and it’s no different for our little friends. Running with a nice straight back will keep them fit and healthy while meeting their needs for physical exercise. You don’t even have to worry about the squeaking of the wheel with wheels like the Super Pet Silent Spinner. The medium size is usually good for hamsters but you may need to upgrade to a large if they’re particularly big. Since hamsters tend to be at their most active in the night, a silent spinner can save you waking up every time they really pick up some speed.

When you’re looking for things to keep your hamster busy, boredom breakers are a great option. They are purposefully made to be different shapes and textures to encourage your beloved pet to be active and explore. You can make use out of the space you have in their home or even create a whole agility course when they come out to play to entertain them and tire them out.

From an entire climbing frame like the Boredom Breaker Activity Assault Course, this packs a lot into a small space. Not only do you have multiple ways to climb up including ladder rungs and little pegs to pull themselves up but they can parch all the way on top and even crawl through or over the swinging tunnel in the centre. It may be a little pricier than other toys but it offers your hamster quite a lot to do.

Simple isn’t always a bad thing and if you’re limited on space or have a hamster that doesn’t enjoy daring acrobats, you can provide something like the Boredom Breaker Small Rainbow Play Bridge. Providing any different surface to climb on can be fun, regardless of how simple or complicated it may be, and bridges are great for giving an alternative route up to a second level or even adding to different toys to change the floorplan of their cage.

If you really want to challenge your little friend then getting them to use their brain with some puzzles is a great way to go about it. Hamsters are intelligent animals who are actually very good at working out tasks, especially if there’s a food reward in it for them. The Rosewood Hamster Fun Maze is the perfect gift for a hamster who loves finding their way around mazes to the big reward at the end. If they figure one maze out you can even connect more with tunnels to make it extra fun and interesting for them.

Guinea pigs are social animals and love nothing more than being with each other, but that doesn’t mean that having company entirely replaces the need for enrichment. They’re curious little fluffs and like to have new things to try out sometimes too.

There are two things guinea pigs love, exploring new things and safe, cosy places that they usually wind up falling asleep in. The Rosewood Carrot Fabric Tunnel has both of those covered with an endless ability to create your own maze of tunnels for them to explore while also being shaded, comfortable places that you’ll usually find your piggies napping in.

Guinea pigs explore most things with their mouths, they’re like toddlers who never quite grow out of the phase because their little legs are so short. You can really harness this by providing them with toys and enrichment that are made for having a good chew on. The Rosewood I Love Hay Cube is a fantastic little box full of goodies with marigold blossoms and hay insides. It’s entirely safe to eat and even the box can be chewed on once they’ve managed to empty out the inside.

The Natures First Willow Treat Ball is similar but it encourages your guinea pigs to roll around the ball and they have to chase their treats down to get them. After they empty out all the goodies, the ball is safe to leave with them to continue to chew on or you can fill it with your own goodies.

Some guinea pigs absolutely love a challenge and there are plenty of ways you can provide that for them. Stretch out their meal times by placing some of their food in interactive feeders instead of letting them grab it straight from the bowl and you’ll find yourself with some very sleepy and happy pigs at the end of the day. The Rosewood Hide N Treat Forage Tray is great at getting them to have to move objects to find their food or pull out tubes and get to the base to really polish off every little nugget in there.

Snuffle mats are all the rage with puppy parents and now guinea pigs have their very own as well with the Rosewood Snuffle Forage Mat. They love to find their own food so in the summer months you can toss it over grass and during the winter, you can bring the grass to them with this handy forage mat.

There are so many options to keep your small pets happy and entertained no matter the season, just pop in one of our stores or take a look online!