Help Needed * Hamster Run

[irb1981]

Hi there,

We've got the lil one a hamster but she's not to confident holding Coco (the hamster) yet. She likes to sit and watch her in her cage.

I was thinking a plastic storage box 15" high and about 35" long instead of the trixie cages as i could easily keep all her toys in it, easier to clean if she needs the loo and prevent the mess from any diggin boxes.

Is this a good idea ? Never having had a hamster myself i wanted to check first. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated !

*obviously the lid would be off

Thanks in advance

[GarnetsSlave]

Hi irb1981,

I have a bin cage myself, and they are really great. They prevent bar chewers and ae easy to clean. The size you have is great (it would be perfect for an ever-day cage), but you really need to have a lid on it. To make sure there is enough ventilation, you need to cut a big hole in the lid and mesh it with gardening mesh (you can get it at Wilkinson's for about £5 per massive roll!). Also, you need to secure the lid. I have a dwarf hamster in my bin cage, and it is very unlikely he can reach the top, so I simply put a few bags on chinchilla sand on top to weigh it down. Obviously, make sure it is thoroughly cleaned before putting your hamster in the cage and it should be great for your little ham. Also, if you have a Classic water bottle, you will notice it has a bit of plastic on the top with a hole through it. To attach this to the cage, thread some wire through the hole and hang it from the mesh at the top of the cage.

If you are going to use it solely as a play pen, it should be fine to leave the lid off, although at least one of you should be supervising at all times and should be comfortable with picking up the hamster - my Syrian often manages to climb over bin cages and play pens, and you need to be able to catch and put them back quickly, before you lose them!

Hope this helped!
GarnetsSlave

[Posy123]

The bin cage sounds like a great idea. If you google images for hamster bin cage setup ideas, there are many great designs to look over for inspiration. Definitely agree with garnetslave about adapting a lid with lots of ventilation. It is amazing how creative hammies can be with climbing and pushing one toy up to another..

If she wants to handle the hamster but is worried about dropping her pet/hamster escaping, could be worth trying the bath trick. You might have read it elsewhere or tried it already. If not, I recommend it for younger children. We put an old towel in the bath, few hamster toys one end and get my youngest daughter to sit crossed legged in the bath at one end, then I hand her the hamster. She can interact sitting down and let the hamster wander on and off her without pannicking. It has given my daughter the confidence she lacked while knowing that she was sitting down and the hamster was safe to play around her. Just a thought

[irb1981]

Thanks for your help, i was going to attach a water bottle and try and also attach a wheel to the inside also.

She likes to try and escape (does the means she doesn't like it) but with the lid on, properly ventilated should solve that.

Thanks again