[Amethyst_ice]

Hi all,

I hope everyone is keeping well. I wanted to make a post after receiving some private messages on some other social platforms & engaging in some discussions. It is not a criticism of anyone who has a large, tanked natural set up in any way.

I have never been a huge social media poster. I left facebook nearly a year ago and have found life a lot less stressful! I have been using instagram quite a lot recently as I love taking photos to preserve memories.

I have been observing the ever changing ways that hamster care is developing over the world but lately have seen some trends that concern me and I wanted to make this post to perhaps provide some assurance and guidence for our members. (It may make me appear a bit of a golden oldie!)

I've been keeping hamsters as an adult for around 13 years now and been on HC 10 years! I've seen cages, substrate and toys all develop which is to be expected and am still learning daily things about hammies.

I, as i'm sure many of us have, have cringed and felt guilty about the cages we had in the earlier days of our keeping hammies, used fluffy bedding and a host of other faux pas.

Large glass tank cages with a natural set up seem to the the popular "go to" at present. They look amazing, have multiple layers of different kinds of bedding and hides, tank decorations and a host of other "themed" accessories.

This post isn't to criticise them at all but I'm seeing many accounts telling new owners the dos and don't and a popular theme is the cost of hamster care and that these are the "right" kind of set ups. One I recently interracted with said they did a large survey of hamster owners and they spent £20-£30 per month on their hamsters. They were arguing that hamsters aren't a cheap pet.

While this may have been the findings of the demographic they surveyed (most of those posting their set ups on social media appear to be the large natural tanks so I wonder if the survey results were not a fair reprresentive cross section of hamster owners- it also didnt mention the country as hamster care and availability of supplies varies), I feel this is misleading and from the private messages I received after putting forward my points, I was quite upset that many people who wanted to own a hamster felt they couldn't afford to and thus were denied the joy of owning our little fur friends.

These large, natural set ups are lovely. If you have the time, space and finances to provide a set up like this then that is wonderful. I have absolutely no issue with them at all. Personally, I couldn't manage the upkeep of one on a financial and personal health level. I have also recently downsized house.

In my opinion, they are not ESSSENTIAL for a happy, healthy hamster and this is my main concern, that new owners are feeling pressured into providing these set ups with all the trimmings that they see on social media.

Hides can be made from card board boxes, tunnels from free carpet inserts, raiding your house for things you can turn into fun hammy toys and buying bedding in bulk if you can will reduce costs.

Some of these hides can cost £20 in themselves. The people spending these kind of figures each month are CHOOSING to, it is not the basic essential costs of keeping a hamster. Again, if you can afford to and want to then fine, we all love to spoil our pets! But they are not the essential needs of keeping a hamster happy and healthy.

Most of us now agree the cage minimum is 80 x 50cm for a syrian. My cage is a criceti 16 (I think) that I got second hand from another HC member 8 years ago for £10... and she got it from ebay prior. This cage has served me well over the years for both hammies and ratties (hospital and intro cage). I am still a personal fan of the Alaska and Barney which have come down in price considerably now and seem good, sturdy wire cages.

The tank set ups can cost upwards of hundreds of pounds from what I have seen. They can be a good investment though so an initial large spend on a hamster isn't so much of an issue in my opinion. It is the ongoing costs that I believe don't have to break the bank and shouldn't put off new owners.

There is also rising discussion in wheel size. A popular topic I've watched over the years, but now i'm seeing the MINIMUM for a syrian being put forward as 10-12". Many of you know I keep rats and while I dont use wheels for them, I have friends who have rats that comfortably run, flat backed, in a 12" wheel! A rat is at least 3 times the size of a hamster. I purchased a 10" wheel for Boromir and I struggled to fit it in the cage and he struggled to actually run in it. His 8" wheel (again, that I have had for years) he bombed his way on, flat backed and suited him fine.

Again, this point was raised in my messages that these new potential owners were scared to sharing their set up or hamster on a wheel for fear of being told they are being cruel.

I'd be interested to know if any of our members have felt peer/cage pressure in these ways or indeed if they disagree with my points. I invite healthy discussion and have grown to realise that in the pet world, there will always be someone who doesn't think your way is the right way but in most cases we should respect that (unless of course it is an obvious mistreatment like keeping syrians together).

Keep safe all,

Amethyst