How To Make A Dwarf Hamster Leash

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Dwarf hamsters make excellent first pets for children. They are easy to care for and can live in a 10-gallon aquarium made comfortable with a substrate of wood shavings, chewable toys and an exercise wheel. Dwarf hamsters are much smaller and more skittish than their larger Syrian cousins and are more likely to try to attempt escape (See References 1). Dwarf hamsters get most of their exercise in exercise wheels–up to five miles a day–but can benefit from being out in hamster balls, as well. Walking a hamster on a harness is inadvisable because they are so delicate.

Step 1

Measure your hamster using the ribbon from which you'll make the harness. Place one end of the ribbon behind the hamster's neck at its shoulder blades. Loop the ribbon across the front of the hamster's neck and diagonally across its back, bringing it up again to meet the starting end, making a figure-8 around your hamster's body. Measure another 1/2-inch, to leave enough room to sew your ends together. Cut the ribbon.

Step 2

Cut a 3/4-inch piece of ribbon. Thread the ribbon through the metal ring. Sew both ends together to make a loop. Turn the loop inside out to hide the sewn ends.

Step 3

Thread the ends of the ribbon through the loop, making a figure-8. Overlap the ends of the ribbon by about 1/4 inch. Sew the ends together.

Step 4

Sew one end of the remaining ribbon to the circular end of the lanyard clasp.

Step 5

Sew a loop into the free end of the remaining ribbon to make a handle.