Do Hamsters Hibernate?

My hamster has made a big stack of food does this mean he is going to hibernate? And if so do I have to stop him? (Hannah Wall - United Kingdom)

Hamsters are inveterate food hoarders. Food is collected in the large cheek pouches and carried back to the burrow or nest box. A hamster can stuff an amazing amount of food into its pouches and its food stores can be enormous. In the wild, hamsters will undergo a kind of hibernation, but not true hibernation as in other species like hedgehogs.

They will slow down their body functions (they become "torpid") if the room temperature of the room they are in gets unusually low, but shouldn't just go into hibernation just because it's the winter season. If your hamster goes into this state it is best not to disturb them, but instead to let them come out of it naturally by warming them. In Syrian hamsters it is very important to stop hibernation in this way, as it is dangerous to hibernate for too long.

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