Dwarf sleeping too much?

Question
I have two dwarf hamsters, Harriet and Hermione. Hermione is the larger and
heavier hamster, and she plays and runs around all night, and when I come near
their cage she comes up to the door and seems always eager to come out into my
hand and play with me outside the cage. Harriet, however, seems to sleep ALL THE
TIME. When I come to get them out of their cage, Harriet will stick her head out
of her sleeping box for a couple seconds, then pull some bedding in and go back
to sleep. I've also noticed that in the last week or so, when she IS in her
excersise ball or out of the cage, she usually just sits there or goes to sleep
again. These are my first hamsters and I'm a paranoid hamster-mother. I've only
had them for a little over a month. Do you think something might be wrong?

PS Harriet seems otherwise normal and healthy. (She eats and drinks and doesn't
show any other signs of illness that I've read/heard of.)
Katherine*

Answer
hi katherine,

well hamsters do sleep alot, but this little one obvioulsy likes it more than most. im not really sure what is causing this tho, you should try vitamin oils which you can get from the pet store as it may be because the bigger one is taking all the good food and nutrition, hence why shes bigger and fatter. perhaps your hamster is older than you think as we all know when you get old you sleep more. or it could be that she is afraid of the bigger hamster,keep an eye on the behaviour of them both. she could also not be warm enough, so try putting in more bedding for her, as she may be trying to hibernate.

im sorry i couldnt have been of much help and i can only suggest you go to your vet if she shows signs of further illness.

but thank you for your question and please let me know how you got on.

joanne :)