[Nancy's Hamsters]

I call them the Cage Cops. I have went a bit round and round with one person who caused my FB Syrian Hamster Genetics and Care group to be deleted because they were so angry that I had a no cage size post rule and they kept posting The Hamsters were Not happy in any Bar cage or Bin cage.

The dispute came to a blaze when she Bluntly told a new Member from a Country that is just learning the do's and Don'ts of Hamster breeding, That they should never place Human emotions on their Hamsters, But then turns around in the same sentence and says their Hamster is not "Happy" in that Tiny Boring Bin cage. Mind you in this new persons country to even find one bin of good size is like a $40 buy, and this person went out and bought a bin for all 10 of their Hamsters because their goal was to educate the Country on proper cages for Syrian Hamsters. Yes the bin was a bit dull for Toys but they did have an 8 1/2 inch wheel for each Bin, and a nice home made Hide which was bigger then some for sale online. They switched to Paper bedding from Pine, and went to large extremes to make their own food mix as in their Country the quality food is horrible.

This STILL was bashed on by the Cage Cops and I soon learned that they were PMing this person and making harsh words to them. I never did get a response on just how do they know their Hamster is "Happy" since "Happy" is a human emotion and not a Hamsters emotion. If your Hamster is active and healthy and runs just fine in a 8 1/2 inch wheel then to me it is "Happy". If you see the Hamster stop using its wheel than observe what is causing that new behavior, and if it is found the wheel is making the Hamster uncomfortable THAN get a bigger wheel. If you can make Hides and the Hamster uses it than I say the Hamster feels it is fine.

Like Amethyst Ice I have tended Hamsters for over 27 years now and have seen the so called "Right" cage size go up, and, up and, up. Cage size seems to need to be bigger every year. Wheels also have changed size to bigger and bigger as well. Ask the Experts (The Hamsters themselves) which wheel they prefer. Do a fun test and record your results. I have 13+ year old Wodent Wheels here. I have several 8 1/2 inch Jr WW, and have five 11 inch WW Sr. Also have 8 1/2 inch Comfort wheels , and a HUGE 12 inch Silent Spinner I paid a whole $5 dollars for. I use a kiddie Pool for my Play pen and my Pups don't get Wheels at all until at least 5 months old as I have found pups run off their weight when given a wheel sooner.

I placed one of each kind of wheel in the Pool and took out a 5 month old keeper pup from 4 different litters. They had free choice of which wheel to use and until the test had never seen any wheels at all. 100% of the time they went for the WW Junior.

Thinking the choice was because they were Babies and the smaller wheel gave them a secure feeling I tested 5 Adults the same way. One by One they checked out the WW Sr and then the WW Jr and 4 of 5 stayed in the WW Jr, One had to be different and actually chose the Comfort wheel But that was still only and 8 1/2 inch wheel. So even The Hamsters picked an 8 1/2 inch wheel even when they had the choice of the 11 Inch WW Sr or the 12 inch Silent Spinner.

FB deleted my Group cause this angry person reported us as selling Live animals which me and my Co Mod tried in vain to save. We had over 3,000 members when it was deleted BUT I now have a PM chatroom and we all feel at ease talking about anything Hamster or other Pet related Chat(from Pygmy Mice to Dairy Goats and Horses). We talk Syrian Genetics and have a wide variety of Countries participating so there is seldom a time there is nobody to chat with.