How Much Sleep Do These Cute Animals Need

How much sleep do animals need? Every animal needs sleep. But, does every animal sleeps at night?

It is right for humans but for animals, every one of the species has their own time and the amount of sleep they need.

You will see your pet energetic at one point running here and there, and just the other minute you see them lying on the floor falling asleep. They have naps all over the day and mostly they sleep well at night just like humans. Still, you need to keep an eye on the sleeping patterns of your pet and track that do they sleep properly. If not, there might be some problem and you need to go to the veterinary clinic.

How much sleep do animals need?

Puppy

When you think about a puppy, you think of a little baby. Puppies need to sleep for most of the time of day and night. They do not stay awake for a long time or run and play much. As they are little so they need to sleep for 18-20 hours. You need to make sure that your puppy has a normal routine, if not that is a sign of them being overtired or being sick.

Dogs

It purely depends on the breed of dogs and their age. Once it is grown out of the puppy age, then you will notice your dog sleep patterns change too. Amount of sleep depends upon their health levels as well.

Adult dogs are more likely to nap in similar routines as of human beings. But some dogs wake up early in the morning and do not need much of sleep.

Guard dogs do not sleep much at night and will keep you and your home safe from any sort of danger. Old dogs nap a lot at night averaging 15-18 hours a day so they might not be that much alert in comparison to the younger ones which sleeps 12-14 hours.

Kitten

Kittens have very different routines. If you have a kitten at your place, they would play with you for a while and would sleep in for the rest of the day. They stay awake almost for 3-4 hours per day in gaps, you would see them eating or playing and then kittens would go sleep for several hours.

Cats

You cannot judge how much time your cat would sleep because they take naps all day long. Cats are active pets and the amount of sleep needed totally depends upon how much activity they have.

Some of them are either just lying or cuddling or sleeping, such cats do not sleep much as they don’t get tired much. Cats who roam around a lot may seem to be sleeping more. 13-16 hours are estimated time for cats.

Rabbits

These animals are always alert, so you might think they never sleep. But, then again, every animal needs to rest. Rabbits seem to be napping in midday or midnight when the house is quite so they won’t have to stay alert. These animals need to sleep for at least 7-8 hours per day, they also nap with their eyes open so you don’t have to worry about them if they are getting enough rest.

Hamsters

Nocturnal animals sleep in the daytime and stay awake at night. You will observe hamsters take short naps and wake up several times in a day. A healthy hamster would need to sleep for 8-10 hours and wake up in middle to nibble up. At night they stay awake all the time and spend their time in various activities.

Turtles

Turtles are lazy animals and they need a lot of sleep, they usually take naps all the time. They would just swim eat and then go to sleep again. Amount of rest they need depends on their age. Young and very old turtles stay awake for fewer hours, the ones that are active and at a good age would eat, play and roam around as well.

Horses

As horses are known to be the animals that seem to be on open fields, therefore, they are much of strong and active animals. Usually, they would only go to sleep for 3 hours. This is the only amount of sleep required for them, and they would work well after that.

Squirrels

These animals are sleeping most of the night and even in the daytime. They are active ones and you will see juggling them from one tree to another all the time. But, still, they need to sleep for 12-15 hours in one day. The long sleeping hours keep them healthy and strong as well. If they do not get enough napping time their living life becomes less and they can’t function well later.

Giraffe

It might seem so shocking to some people, but giraffes only sleep for 2 hours only. They do not need many naps throughout the day and just seem to work fine and actively within rest of the hours of day and night.

These animals do not need to lay down while sleeping, they can just rest while standing. But it doesn’t mean they don’t lay down. When they want to have deep sleep, they would rest in well by laying on the floor and having their legs crossed.

Animals sleep differently in different seasons

This is a common practice, as seasons change most of the animals change their habits. They start to eat differently, change their activities and also you will see they would sleep differently.

Interestingly, some animals hibernate and you would not find them at all in the winter season or when there is a lot of snow. Obviously, not all the animals hibernate, some pets like cats and dogs just happen to feel colder and tend to nap more often than usual.

What happens if your pet does not take proper naps as they should?

If you have a pet, and they are not sleeping properly. Well, that is, of course, some concern you need to look out for. For some of the animals, you can’t really see if they are taking a nap or not, you would see them at one moment and at the other they will just be gone sleeping somewhere.

Make sure you track the pattern and see that they do actively play with you, eat their food properly and sleep when they should. If they are napping more than usual that simply shows that they are facing some sort of pain or depression. Make sure you work on it as soon as possible, and never neglect that.

Do animals need to lay down for napping?

This is an interesting fact and most people are unaware of it. As we think that humans need to lay down once they are napping, in the same way, we think of animals. But they do not necessarily need to lay down for having a nap.

Some pets like dogs and cats they lay down properly and then go to sleep, but animals such as horse’s, donkeys, giraffes they usually just sleep in while standing in one place. So, you don’t need to worry about how your pet has its time while sleeping, just let them have their time.

Can you accurately know the time, the particular animal should sleep?

Well, you can never know the exact amount of time that an animal would sleep because different creatures have different timings, unless under strict laboratory conditions.

Each one of them has different times to sleep too. Babies always need to sleep more, therefore they would nap in for long hours. Some of the animals who live in your home would adopt your habits. They would just wake up and nap whenever you would.

Animals usually nap more when they are not gaining attention so, therefore, make sure your pets and animals have all the attention from your side.

Do wild animals sleep less or more than pets at home?

When we talk about sleeping habits of animals, then we see that pets are comfortable as they have nice warm beds at home and they can just sleep whenever needed. Wild animals usually have to look out for their sleeping area and need to find a comfortable place every now and then.

Another important aspect is that wild animal need to hunt for their own food, so they work hard and then earn their napping time, whereas pets at home are fed right on time and they usually become lazy and start to sleep more as well in comparison to wild animals.

Conclusion

Once you have seen how much sleep does the animals need, then you can track the napping times of your pet to know if they are healthy enough or not. Different animals need to sleep at different hours, some sleep at night others at daylight and rest of them would throughout the day and night, just wake up for snacks.

It is totally dependent upon the breed and their eating habits, so major hours will differ due to these two factors. Seasons have various changes in animals sleeping behavior, most of them hibernate in cold seasons and stay active in warmer weather.