Meet Niko - Page 5

Otaku · 11-24-2019, 04:14 PM

Thank you, I'll be careful! And absolutely, I'll get photos up once it starts to take shape! Now my father's home I hope to make progress. I will go over my blueprints with him and see if he has better ideas, we'll discuss materials and ways to secure the shelves etc. I'm keen to get to work on it, but I have work for the next 2 days, then uni, and I have yet to learn what dads schedule is this week, so while I am itching to become a (hamster) mummy I have to wait until the cage has been customised/modified so that it is safer for a new occupant.
Meanwhile I shall browse the forum and fawn over everyone else's hamsters. lol.

Engel · 11-25-2019, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otaku

Thank you, I'll be careful! And absolutely, I'll get photos up once it starts to take shape! Now my father's home I hope to make progress. I will go over my blueprints with him and see if he has better ideas, we'll discuss materials and ways to secure the shelves etc. I'm keen to get to work on it, but I have work for the next 2 days, then uni, and I have yet to learn what dads schedule is this week, so while I am itching to become a (hamster) mummy I have to wait until the cage has been customised/modified so that it is safer for a new occupant.
Meanwhile I shall browse the forum and fawn over everyone else's hamsters. lol.

Yes best get everything ready BEFORE you get the hamster...I literally got everything for my bin cage an hour before I got Niko...well the essentials anyway...I don't think you can ever be done with a hamster cage lol always browsing through Amazon for bits and pieces.

I've just got Niko a new wheel as he had a 6" silent spinner which was fine when I got him but he was still growing and now he started to look a tad cramped on it so I put in the bigger one which comes with the cage which is noisy as hell and freaked him a little but that was 6.5" and looked more comfortable with it so today I got him a 7" silent spinner and he loves it!

So make sure however you have your set up make sure you're able to fit in a 8" wheel if housing a dwarf, 11" when housing a Chinese as they have a tail or a 18" if housing a Syrian

Otaku · 11-25-2019, 05:35 PM

I have a silent spinner which is about 12"/1' across. I haven't seen a larger silent spinner, but know you can purchase bigger wheels because I've seen them for cats. 12 inches across for a Syrian is fine, right? I mean they market this size for rats, sugar gliders, chinchillas etc.

I'm glad you're accommodating Niko's growth. I've only seen Robos in P@H so don't know how big they grow but thought they were a bit smaller than Russians. I think you should post more photos, for perspective of course. (^_~) haha.

AmityvilleHams · 11-25-2019, 07:07 PM

12 inches in diameter is typically fine for Syrians as long as it's a proper upright wheel, not a flying saucer. I wouldn't really consider them as suitable for larger animals like rats, chinchillas, etc as they're actually still too small and even the largest wheels I've seen(16 inches I believe) were not large enough for such species in many cases(especially with rats who can grow 20 inches in length total including tail which essentially means a massive 40 inch wheel that most likely doesn't even exist).

Engel · 11-26-2019, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otaku

I have a silent spinner which is about 12"/1' across. I haven't seen a larger silent spinner, but know you can purchase bigger wheels because I've seen them for cats. 12 inches across for a Syrian is fine, right? I mean they market this size for rats, sugar gliders, chinchillas etc.

I'm glad you're accommodating Niko's growth. I've only seen Robos in P@H so don't know how big they grow but thought they were a bit smaller than Russians. I think you should post more photos, for perspective of course. (^_~) haha.

Robos grow to about 2"
Campbell's and winter White about 4"
Chinese hamster I've read 4" but not sure if that includes the tail.
Syrians about 7-8"

Those are their average sizes.

While in theory a 6" wheel would've been ok for a 2" robo they do have quite long legs really so when they stretch out to run theyre slightly longer again.

When I got him he was sent a baby really so I could get away with a smaller wheel, now he's around the 5-6 month mark he's fully grown length wise, just growing out now.

I will admit I wasn't sure about a bigger wheel until I put in the cheap one which came with the cage and he used that more than the smaller one despite the noise

AmityvilleHams · 11-26-2019, 09:28 AM

Typically Syrians are considered 5-6" long, but if you did have an unusually large 7-8" long Syrian clearly a 12" wheel isn't going to cut it. You'd need a 14-16" wheel depending on the hamster's length, which definitely rules out Comfort Wheels along with Silent Runners along with bucket wheels(which are not actually large enough for many Syrians anyways as they're only 10" in diameter).

Tic Tac Wheels as far as I'm aware are the only makers of decent quality 14-16" wheels, especially in the UK(I believe all their products are made in the UK as well). They're solid metal wheels which are coated with some kind of paint. However, the major downside to this is that the typical Syrian as mentioned should not need such a size so it may be completely unnecessary to purchase such a large wheel for the typical owner. Plus, these are not cheap wheels - they're £46.00 without shipping in the UK, not sure the cost difference in the USA but that is the equivalent of $59.09 which is quite a bit more expensive than the Silent Runner which some people already consider insanely expensive.

Engel · 11-26-2019, 03:33 PM

I must be the worst hamster owner ever...I can't decide on the layout of Nikos cage. It's not very big 486sq inches so I don't have a lot to play with to be honest. But I keep finding so many things. Welp, this is what the cage is like now

Thankfully Niko doesn't mind me adding in new bits. Every time I add something in he is trying to climb all over it and have a look, often before I've put the item down lol

Engel · 11-26-2019, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

Typically Syrians are considered 5-6" long, but if you did have an unusually large 7-8" long Syrian clearly a 12" wheel isn't going to cut it. You'd need a 14-16" wheel depending on the hamster's length, which definitely rules out Comfort Wheels along with Silent Runners along with bucket wheels(which are not actually large enough for many Syrians anyways as they're only 10" in diameter).

Tic Tac Wheels as far as I'm aware are the only makers of decent quality 14-16" wheels, especially in the UK(I believe all their products are made in the UK as well). They're solid metal wheels which are coated with some kind of paint. However, the major downside to this is that the typical Syrian as mentioned should not need such a size so it may be completely unnecessary to purchase such a large wheel for the typical owner. Plus, these are not cheap wheels - they're £46.00 without shipping in the UK, not sure the cost difference in the USA but that is the equivalent of $59.09 which is quite a bit more expensive than the Silent Runner which some people already consider insanely expensive.

That's a lot of money for a wheel not gunna lie. I think Nikos happy with his £7 silent spinner lol.

Not sure on Syrians so did a Google hence the 7-8" but from my understanding the females can get quite big? I had a male when I was younger and he would have been 5-6". God 6 yr old me was very creative with his name too...Hammy....

Otaku · 11-27-2019, 11:59 AM

Aww, Robos are so small! Adorable!! As for Russians, they grow bigger than I realised. Chinese hamsters are long but their bodies are slender and petite but Russians are stockier so yeah, I didn't realise they grew into quite the handful.

Blimey, Tic Tac thinks we're all minted (slang for rich)!

Fingers crossed this Silent Spinner is adequate for my new addition (when the time comes). Meanwhile, Niko is clearly very happy with his new wheel.

Engel · 11-27-2019, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otaku

Aww, Robos are so small! Adorable!! As for Russians, they grow bigger than I realised. Chinese hamsters are long but their bodies are slender and petite but Russians are stockier so yeah, I didn't realise they grew into quite the handful.

Blimey, Tic Tac thinks we're all minted (slang for rich)!

Fingers crossed this Silent Spinner is adequate for my new addition (when the time comes). Meanwhile, Niko is clearly very happy with his new wheel.

That spinner will be fine for a Syrian but if you get a robo it may be too big for it to move so bare that in mind