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Old 08-30-2021, 11:33 AM   #1
angus
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 1
Default Got a hamster today

meet Angus!



got him today. had previous owner with a kid. hes about 1.5 yo. friendly and very active

the cage is small with wire floors so want to change... the cage he came with is this...



i have a small rat cage (small for rats) that used for a single old male. i have plastic levels and all kinds things still. its this

Little Friends Narrow Bar Castle Hamster / Rat Cage - Little Pet Warehouse


it says that a syrian can live in it. the width is correct. but has anyone used one of this cage for hamster? any problems?

dimensions are H 65 L 79 W 44

also am i right thinking a couple weeks settle in before change the cage? i already added some forage fun stuff and wheel as cage was bare

thanks
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Old 09-02-2021, 01:46 PM   #2
harmless
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: South Carolina, USA
Posts: 45
Default Re: Got a hamster today

Hi! That's a nice picture of Angus.

He seems to have had an improvement in his circumstances.

I don't have enough hamster experience to give any advice, but someone will be along who can. There are sometimes short quiet spells on the forum.
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Old 09-02-2021, 02:07 PM   #3
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Red face Re: Got a hamster today

Congratulations on Angus who is a lovely looking hamster.

You need to get him out of that awful Pico cage asap. Wire surfaces are so bad for their little paws and the wheel is too small.

The rat cage isn't ideal but better than the one he's in now. The height would worry me because hamsters climb and then drop down. You say that you have shelves that you could use so maybe you could set it up to prevent falls.
Is there room for a 26/28cm wheel, a large house plus plenty of enrichment?
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Old 09-02-2021, 04:30 PM   #4
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Got a hamster today

He's gorgeous - agree about that awful cage - too small and the wire shelf. The other one is a bit on the small size floorspace wise but not bad. The height is an issue - too high for a hamster. But the middle section is lower. So if you could block off the other two "towers" at that height it should be ok - depending on the internal height of the middle section. Eg put a full shelf across the base of each tower to just block off those areas.

But to be honest you'd be better with something like the Savic Hamster Plaza which has more floor area and less height. It's still slightly on the tall side for a hamster but fine with enough depth of substrate in and set up so they can't fall on anything hard or sharp if they happen to climb to the top and monkey bar across the roof.

Unlike rats, hamsters aren't great climbers. They will climb (to see if they can get out of the top) but then can't get down again and don't see well, so they tend to just let go and drop - and get injured! They are more ground dwellers who like to move substrate around, bury things and burrow down.

Having said that. The rat cage you have is not too bad if set up carefully. I just think the floor area is a bit below the minimum needed for a hamster (usually at least 50cm deep) - but not too bad. If set up carefully.

He'd need a 28cm wheel, a solid shelf (to sit under and sit on and somewhere else to go) and a good sized house/nesting box at floor level - ideally dark inside. A shoebox house is good. Plus a few tunnels/hidey places at floor level and at least 4 to 6" deep of substrate, and plenty of nesting material (torn up strips of plain white toilet paper in a pile in the cage - they forage for it).

Safety wise, no chains, open rung ladders or fabric. Cardboard, wood and ceramic are your friends And some plastic items.
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