When money is tight, a tenancy agreement has a no-pets policy, or you lack time to play with your pet, you may wonder if it’s okay to set a hamster free to live out its days in the wild.
No, never release a pet hamster into the wild because they aren’t used to the harshness of the outdoors.
Pet hamsters will die from starvation, dehydration, predation, exposure to extreme weather, or parasites. If you can’t look after your pet, take it to a rescue shelter, give it away, or sell it.
Unfortunately, life sometimes gets in the way when owning a pet hamster. As its owner, you must make ethical decisions to ensure the hamster continues to live a full and happy life elsewhere.
Can I Let My Hamster Go In the Wild?
If a hamster seems stressed in captivity or you can’t give it the attention it needs, you may be tempted to let it go in the wild, where you think it’ll be happier.
Unfortunately, this is among the worst things an owner could do. Captive hamsters come from a long line of pets and, as a result, lack the survival skills needed to survive in the wild.
There are also laws around releasing pet animals into the wild because they can destroy local ecosystems by throwing the balance of different animals off balance.
Although unlikely, if a hamster were to survive and breed, it could wreak havoc with the natural order and threaten the native plant and animal species within the environment.
If you set a hamster free to live in the wild, it’ll likely die from one of the following:
Starvation
Pet hamsters have their food given to them, even if owners scatter-feed to encourage foraging.
Food is difficult to find in the wild, particularly for captive hamsters who lack outdoor experience. They also wouldn’t find their usual foods in the wild, so they’d soon starve.
Dehydration
Not only is food and water hard to find in hot and dry conditions.
Some hamsters can learn to drink water from puddles and other water sources. By the time they find water, they risk dying from dehydration.
Predation
Companion Animals explains that hamsters are small prey animals. One of the main issues they face with living in the wild is being killed by larger predators.
Domestic cats are a risk, especially as hamsters don’t know how to protect themselves. Any animal that eats a wild mouse will eat a hamster, so they’re at the bottom of the food chain.
Weather Exposure
Hamsters come from regions that many habitats can’t replicate. Similarly, hamster bedding is different from the natural terrain found outdoors.
It’s hard to burrow into as the soft, loose substrate hamsters are used to, especially when the ground freezes over or gets wet. This leaves hamsters unable to survive in difficult weather conditions.
Heatstroke and torpor are the two main temperature-related health concerns. Hot, sunny weather commonly causes heatstroke (sleeper disease), which is often fatal.
Torpor is a serious condition that occurs when hamsters become too cold, and their bodies go into decreased physiological activity. Some hamsters never wake up from torpor.
Hamsters dislike getting wet because rain strips the coat of essential oils. The sudden temperature change also causes them to go into shock and develop hyperthermia.
They use sand to clean themselves, as the rough texture removes dirt while keeping the oils intact.
Parasites
Pet hamsters are vulnerable to parasites. When pet hamsters become infested by tapeworms, pinworms, or mites, antibiotics and other medications can easily clear them up.
Unfortunately, hamsters released into the wild won’t receive veterinary treatment.
Can Hamsters Live In the Wild?
Hamsters can live in the wild if they’ve never been pets. They’re hard to spot in their natural habitats because they come out between dusk and dawn and hide in underground burrows during the day.
Hamsters live in dry, warm areas like sand dunes and deserts, so they keep themselves out of harm’s way and don’t tend to live too close to human activity.
According to Live Science, hamsters were first discovered in Syria, but they also live in:
- Northern China.
- Belgium.
- Greece.
- Romania.
Hamsters survive in the wild due to their large teeth. As Cell Reports explains, they continuously grow throughout their lives. They also have sharp claws on their feet.
These features make them excellent diggers, enabling them to create intricate tunnels where they can escape from predators and bad weather conditions.
Another feature that makes hamsters well-adapted to living in the wild is their large cheek pouches, which allow them to store food, feed their young, and remain hidden.
Hamsters have poor vision and rely on their sight and smell to evade dangers.
Pet hamsters don’t have the same survival skills as their wild cousins and rely on their owners to provide them with what they need to stay alive.
If you were to release a captive hamster into the wild, it would soon die and most likely suffer for the short time it managed to survive.
I Don’t Want My Hamster Anymore: What Do I Do?
If you don’t want a hamster anymore, you’ll want to know, “Where can I take my unwanted hamster?” Whatever you do, don’t release it into your wild.
The hamster won’t be happy living outdoors and will quickly succumb to the dangers.
The two main options are to sell the hamster or find a loving home. Rehoming is the best way to ensure a pet goes to a good home. Rescue shelter staff will care for a former pet until it’s ready to go elsewhere.
They’ll also ask for proof that the new owners have a large enough cage with toys and enrichment.
However, the potential issue is that not all towns and cities have rescue centers set up for hamsters, and they’re often full. This means you’ll have to travel to find one that has space.
Reselling a pet may be easier, but it’s not a way to make money.
While you should never give a hamster away for free (as it could fall into the wrong hands), you must ensure the hamster’s new owners have the following:
- Good intentions.
- A large cage.
- The love and means to care for a pet.
Ask family and friends if they’ll care for the hamster. That way, you can assess the setup beforehand to ensure it’s suitable, and you’ll know the hamster is going to a good home.
There may be an instance where you need to rehome a pet. This isn’t anything to be ashamed of, but releasing a hamster into the wild is inadvisable because it’ll lead to premature death.
