What's in your hamster's nest? - Page 2

Ria P · 05-11-2019, 09:49 AM

Smokey and Newt make me laugh! What little characters they are. Smokey seems to be one tidy hamster and Newt takes hoarding to a whole new dimension.

I'm contemplating whether to upgrade Henry to a bigger cage or not which i could do, now that i've moved furniture around. He doesn't seem to be overly keen on open spaces or out of cage time and shows no signs of cage related stress. In fact, he appears to be fond of his 70cmx45cm P@H cage which i bought because i didn't know any better at the time. He's a small hamster and uses a 8in wheel and a medium flying saucer. I have no issues with spending money on Henry and would be more than happy to buy him a bigger cage and a big silent runner wheel but at the same time don't want to upset a hamster who sulks when i touch his nests. Would he like a bigger cage and bigger wheel or not, i just don't know the answer to that. I got a 28cm Trixie wheel for his playpen but he wouldn't run in it. I think it may have been faulty because it didn't sit right on the stand and seemed too heavy so i returned it.

Pebbles82 · 05-11-2019, 10:04 AM

If he seems happy in his current set up then no rush to upgrade him. I would say he would need a bigger wheel fairly soon. An 8" wheel is about the minimum but they do better with an 11" wheel usually, once fully grown - it's easier for them to run in. There is also the wood trixie wheel which spins well and is silent but that needs plastikoting. Sometimes they will ignore a wheel out of the cage - it depends.

I wouldn't use the medium flying saucer though as that is too small. They run very bent on a small saucer and it's not good for them. For a saucer it does need to be 12". A wheel ideally between 10" to 12".

It's usually best to wait until they've settled a bit before upgrading.

Ria P · 05-11-2019, 10:35 AM

I don't think he's fully grown yet so will wait and see for now. Thanks for advice. I've seen a large flying saucer for rats and wonder if that would be suitable for a Syrian too. He likes his flying saucer so wouldn't want to take it away from him. I don't really know what he's up to at night because he waits till lights are off and i'm in bed upstairs then comes out to play. My partner gets up during the night sometimes then says in the morning " your hamster sat on his saucer at 2am staring at me till i gave him a slice of carrot" etc. Soon as i'm on my own in the house and not working next day, i'll camp in the lounge overnight to find out how active Henry is at night. He'll probably sniff me out and decide on a hamster day in bed to outwit me....again.

mangoandmimi · 05-11-2019, 10:44 AM

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.

Ria P · 05-11-2019, 11:19 AM

Yes, its certainly food for thought. I visit Germany twice a year and will probably buy a new cage over there because i like a natural set up or get my partner to build one. Design thoughts are swirring round my head now....
But yes, the size of the saucer and wheel are bothering me and to go larger would crowd the current cage too much. Oh well, we live and learn. If i would have known what i know now, after joining HC, i would have rearranged the lounge and gotten a bigger cage in the first place.

Pebbles82 · 05-11-2019, 01:11 PM

You and many others! I measured up the space in our living room for a cage and bought something totally unsuitable - 3 tier rotostak thing. Quickly realised our hamster wasn't happy in it and he got stuck in tubes. So did some research and ordered an 80 x 50 cage. To fit it in I had to rearrange the house! And cleared so much space in the living room I found I could have fitted a 100 x 50 cage. I regretted not getting 100 x 50 from then on, until I finally upgraded to one. So ended up buying 3 cages for one hamster!

This time around it was easier. I already had the 100cm cage and still had the 80cm one which is now used for our Robo

I agree with mangoandmimi. When you do upgrade them to a larger cage, their behaviour changes and they enjoy the freedom and almost smile! Although it can take about 10 days to adjust and during that time they may be skitty. Once the adjustment time is done they suddenly start having great fun, rearranging things and making the most of the space and using it how they want.

It is a fiddle, cages. We had a super big syrian and it was tricky fitting big enough things in an 80 x 50 cage. Wheels need to fit etc.

I found I preferred bar cages - for the interaction and access to the hamster and to attach lots of things from the roof and bars for enrichment.

You can't go wrong with the Barney or Alexander cages from Zooplus, or the Savic Hamster Plaza - although that may need another shelf and a house buying as well.

He'll be fine with his 8" wheel but the saucer is too small for him. A 12" one in the playpen would be better.

Ria P · 05-11-2019, 01:30 PM

LOL! I'm looking into a 100cm x something, especially after reading your reply. I may get away with 2 cages for one hamster and not 3, haha. I'm just sitting in the playpen with Henry but he's not very excited about being out, not scared or nervous either. Aren't hamsters meant to run about and try to climb over the fence? Henry just looks bored. He definitely needs something to perk him up. I've started a new threat to get some info on a cage i saw but can't remember its name.

Ria P · 05-11-2019, 02:00 PM

It is a bar cage i'm looking for because i wouldn't put my hamster in anything else. I wouldn't want to deny him the freedom to climb if he wants to, be able to see and sense what's going on around him, feel the circulation of air and smell the burning of my cooking.

Pebbles82 · 05-11-2019, 02:19 PM

Ha ha. Yes that would be an interactive experience

Cooking smells do bring them out.

Sometimes they do just sit in the playpen and don't know what to do. If they've had enough and want to go back to their cage, I've found they tend to sit in a corner or start digging at a corner. Or just disappear inside a hide.

Their personalities vary. Both our Syrians have seen a playpen as something to try and escape from and if they give up and realise they can't escape they can just sit. I hide a trail of treats and food to be foraged which can perk them up - but then when they've filled their pouches they want to go back to the cage and depouch.

Our last Syrian Charlie was quite a lazy hamster really - he would often just go to sleep when out of the cage!

The main thing about the playpen is he can get used to you and get used to being handled etc.

Puddle · 05-14-2019, 01:00 AM

I always felt so guilty cleaning out my last hamster and destroying her perfect bed etc that I started to make her new bed for her. Always piled the sawdust up a little bit with a delve in middle, then some hay and then some carefresh animal bedding and then a load of ripped up toilet paper. She always had 2 or 3 treats in her bed. Towards the end she knew that as soon as i lifted the cage lid off and started picking sawdust etc out that it was cleaning time and she would pouch her 2 or 3 bed treats before i got to it