Odd Hamster Behavior

Question
I have a male dwarf hamster. he lives in a fairly decent sized cage, he has normal Hamster food mix from the store, and a fruit twig that he chews on for his teeth. I recently bought him a ball to run in. The first few times I put him in the ball he ran in it, but recently when I put him in the ball he begins to groom himself, and then goes to the bathroom in the ball. He will not run in it a t all anymore. How do I get him to stop viewing his ball as a bathroom?

Answer
Dear Jillian,
thank you for your question.
Hamster balls are not reall that good. Hamsters rely on their sense of smell, hearing and touch to find their way around and all those are muted in the ball so that the hamster is running around blindly, all he can hear, smell and touch is the ball. Many hamsters panic and some, like yours just refuse to use the ball. If you want to give the hamster exercise that is interesting for him, make a room hamster safe or build him a play pen where he can run around without getting lost. That way, he can explore and smell new things. The balls are also dangerous because hamsters can get caught in the ventilaion slits with their feet and break their bones and because most balls are closed and the hamster cannot leave it when he wants to.

Dwarf hamsters are susceptible to diabetes and shouldn't have any fruit or sweetened treats at all (most chew stick and treats contain sugar, molases or honey). Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and the occasional nut make good treats or mealworms  or silkworms, which they should have every other day anyway. For chewing, offer him branches, twigs and leaves from hazel, apple, pear, willow, poplar, alder, currant, beech, birch or maple are great climbing and chewing toys (make sure the trees are not sprayed with insecticides).

I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer