[mangoandmimi]

It is personal choice - but often when you upgrade a hamster into an appropriately sized cage you will see a change in personality as they have room to exhibit natural behaviours etc. Even hams who I’ve thought may not have benefitted from more space, have also appreciated the upgrade and that includes shy hams & hams who dislike time out of the cage. Especially with hamsters who don’t like coming out much I prefer to make extra effort making the cage as enriching as possible. Like I said it is up to you but if you have the money and the space I would personally upgrade and see how it goes, as tbh the current cage is definitely what I would consider too small for a Syrian. A cage change is always going to be stressful but if they enjoy it in the long run then it’s well worth it.

The 12” saucer (rat one) is fine but if you’ve seen it you’ll know it’s enormous, and would take up a huge amount of room in the cage! In a playpen would be ok. The little saucer is definitely too small.