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Old 02-09-2021, 01:12 PM   #31
Zedrobber
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Default Re: Cage/Peer pressure on social media

It's funny I see this topic today because I was just thinking about how I'm in a hamster group on another site (social media) and I find it utterly offputting! If you don't have the most massive tank/cage available, if you don't have minimum 30cm bedding (of a specific type) to tunnel, a natural set up, 3 types of substrate etc then you get shamed and someone will very condescendingly come along to give you helpful "advice" about how you need to upgrade to X cage (usually a detolf) because the one you have (within the minimum specs, generally liked on here like the HH or alaska for example) is terrible for hamsters and you should consider immediately buying another one, also your wheel is too small, your bedding isn't high enough, you need a different hide and what food are you using??? It honestly makes me hesitant to post or share anything on there. At the moment I'm only staying for the odd piece of good advice etc that shows up. Often their recommendations are at odds with this forum, and I know which one I trust more.
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Old 02-09-2021, 01:32 PM   #32
LunaTheHamster1
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Default Re: Cage/Peer pressure on social media

Zedrobber that makes me sad because I think you can give a hamster an awesome home in those cages.

I was reading a post the other day about how all hamsters should burrow and if yours doesn't then you are doing something wrong, you have the wrong bedding, not making it good enough to hold burrows , it's not high enough etc (just like you said) and I was like I have tried everything to get Twinkle to burrow, he just doesn't. I read some research that said sometimes it can take up to 80cm of bedding i think it was before they start burrowing. That's just not possible with the cages I have.. I felt really sad when I read all that and it made me think I was being cruel to my hamsters.

The thing is I actually think keeping hamsters in cages is cruel, they should never have tried to be domesticated, but the fact is they have and so now we have to step up and give those that need it a good home to live in. That's all we can do really.


Someone criticised one of my cages because it's not the German min 100*50cm, I think it is 97cm *47cm. I honestly don't think my hamster is going to die or have harm come to it because it is a few cms short of 100*50cm.. I think common sense has to prevail at some point. If my cage was empty and had nothing in it, then maybe criticise me.. but seriously!

It does worry me about the future though, will it put people off from having hamsters because they think they can't give them a good life as they don't have room for a detolf cage or bigger.
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Old 02-10-2021, 08:28 PM   #33
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Default Re: Cage/Peer pressure on social media

Well the Cage Cops,and or Cage Nazis have now cause a young girl(11 years old) to not be allowed a Hamster at all even after the child did a lot of looking and learning with her Parents. The parents got attacked full bore on only this cage can properly house a Hamster and only that wheel will be right and Yes Wood bedding is deplorable (even Aspen) The daughter was all excited to get a breeder Hamster and no matter how much the Breeder tried to show them the Cage freaks were not correct and that a large Bin Cage is a fine cage and that they didn't need a huge Cage and a over priced wheel of 15 Inches(Yup they had 15 inch wheels) The family felt it would be impossible for them and their budget to get and own a Syrian Hamster. So so sad that people who don't even own a Syrian Hamster nor breed Syrian Hamsters can destroy the dream of a Child.
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Old 02-11-2021, 12:56 AM   #34
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Default Re: Cage/Peer pressure on social media

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Originally Posted by Nancy's Hamsters View Post
Well the Cage Cops,and or Cage Nazis have now cause a young girl(11 years old) to not be allowed a Hamster at all even after the child did a lot of looking and learning with her Parents. The parents got attacked full bore on only this cage can properly house a Hamster and only that wheel will be right and Yes Wood bedding is deplorable (even Aspen) The daughter was all excited to get a breeder Hamster and no matter how much the Breeder tried to show them the Cage freaks were not correct and that a large Bin Cage is a fine cage and that they didn't need a huge Cage and a over priced wheel of 15 Inches(Yup they had 15 inch wheels) The family felt it would be impossible for them and their budget to get and own a Syrian Hamster. So so sad that people who don't even own a Syrian Hamster nor breed Syrian Hamsters can destroy the dream of a Child.
Thats so sad for the girl involved Nancy. Maybe if they step back from the situation for a while they will change their minds and common sense will prevail.
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Old 02-11-2021, 09:18 AM   #35
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Default Re: Cage/Peer pressure on social media

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zedrobber View Post
It's funny I see this topic today because I was just thinking about how I'm in a hamster group on another site (social media) and I find it utterly offputting! If you don't have the most massive tank/cage available, if you don't have minimum 30cm bedding (of a specific type) to tunnel, a natural set up, 3 types of substrate etc then you get shamed and someone will very condescendingly come along to give you helpful "advice" about how you need to upgrade to X cage (usually a detolf) because the one you have (within the minimum specs, generally liked on here like the HH or alaska for example) is terrible for hamsters and you should consider immediately buying another one, also your wheel is too small, your bedding isn't high enough, you need a different hide and what food are you using??? It honestly makes me hesitant to post or share anything on there. At the moment I'm only staying for the odd piece of good advice etc that shows up. Often their recommendations are at odds with this forum, and I know which one I trust more.
I'm sorry you have felt that way. That is why I made this thread as it seems much more prevalent than in years past (how old does that make me sound!). Unless it is juts down to the changing nature of social media and more people able to post in various ways.

Other social media groups can be a good source of knowledge but I think forums perhaps have some more thought out advice as more effort is required to be part of a forum.. register, avatars, website rather than a quick comment post via an app. Perhaps that is why, forums arent quite as fast media as other platforms.


Sad to hear the parents were trying to do their research and got those responses. However, as adults, they also have autonomy and if the breeder they trusted to get a hamster from was ok with their plans then a reasonable adult would trust their breeder and not an online group so im a bit on the fence there!


I have a feeling once we are out of this awful pandemic and less people are working from home, social lives return etc that the surge in showing off big set ups may die down. I feel they are becoming more works of art than habitats , like terraniums.. I saw one set up with lots of ceramic ornaments to match the theme. It was lovely but obviously not needed.

I'm saddened with Brexit though that good wired cages like the barney and alaska will be harder to source with zooplus no longer shipping them. This may lead new owners to HAVE to get tank set ups.

Even if I had the room, I dont think a tank set up will ever be for me. I struggled to clean a zoozone2 years ago and issues of moisture and mould concern me.

It's good to keep the discussion open though
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Old 02-11-2021, 11:15 AM   #36
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Default Re: Cage/Peer pressure on social media

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Originally Posted by Amethyst_ice View Post
I feel they are becoming more works of art than habitats , like terraniums.
I actually agree with that - so many massive tank setups I see look gorgeous, but not necessarily actually 100% set up for the hamster so much as for the human. I don't personally enjoy tanks - I find my asthma (allergy reaction) plays up much more when I use tanks instead of cages, for some reason. Maybe just because there's less ventilation by nature? They look awesome and I love that you can often see the little tunnels the hamsters make though.

It does feel more common now than in the past (Though in the past I was mostly active on rat groups/forums).

The cage situation is annoying! I managed to snag a second hand hamster heaven for the hamster I'll be getting soon but I do intend to upgrade to a plaza....if there's ever any in stock when I have money They come and go so fast and they never seem to know when they'll be getting more stock
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Old 04-04-2021, 07:16 AM   #37
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Default Re: Cage/Peer pressure on social media

I know this is a bit of a holy thread resurrection (but being Easter Day, I hope I'll be allowed), but I saw this thread exactly after getting annoyed at multiple posts on FB.

I'm a member of a number of hobby forums (Cars, Radio and others) and I genuinely find that people on forums tend to actually know stuff. They do their research. For instance, the car forums I'm a member of have specialist mechanics who regularly give their time for advice and you quickly learn which ones to listen to.

The problem with Facebook and the like is that it's quite often Facebook has rather strict admins who have their own opinions and whilst they think they're doing it for the right reason, actually come across as "know-it-alls" and foist that opinion.

In addition, there are people who have their own opinion and present it as absolute fact. If you ask a question about food, for instance, there's quite often someone who'll say "You can't feed that to a hamster" really quickly, until you read about 20 posts down the thread that there's someone who'll say "Actually my hamster is 4 years old and I've fed it that weekly". Unfortunately, unlike a forum, it just gets missed and Facebook's algorythm will hide it for the rest of time.

Forums generally have great search engines and don't need the same questions time after time after time - anyone who knows how to use a forum will know that it's very rare that really you need to start a thread - the answer (particularly one that's as large and varied as this) is already here!

Whereas Facebook tends to be the same question over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
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Old 04-04-2021, 10:10 AM   #38
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Default Re: Cage/Peer pressure on social media

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Originally Posted by TheOtherStu View Post
In addition, there are people who have their own opinion and present it as absolute fact. If you ask a question about food, for instance, there's quite often someone who'll say "You can't feed that to a hamster" really quickly, until you read about 20 posts down the thread that there's someone who'll say "Actually my hamster is 4 years old and I've fed it that weekly". Unfortunately, unlike a forum, it just gets missed and Facebook's algorythm will hide it for the rest of time.
Unfortunately the internet is a bit of a catch 22. Great for advice and help but, on the other hand, everyone thinks they're an expert and they're opinions often get presented as facts and anyone who disagrees is cruel to their animals.
Admittedly not with hamsters but with other animals, I see it at work a lot. As an example, a family in utter shock that their dog had to be admitted for fluids and hospitalisation after getting hold of their Christmas chocolate because "We gave our old dog chocolate all the time"
Obviously not hamster related but proof that knowledge is ever evolving and new things come to light all the time. I think education is great and the internet is a fantastic forum for that. Unfortunately, rather than educate, people see fit to jump on anyone else who's ideals don't match their own.
"You have an ikea detolf? That's not good enough! You should have 2 connected!"
I once got jumped on a couple of year ago for having a ZooZone 2 with a natural set up for my roborovski because it was "too small"
I breed and exhibit Chinese hamsters and have done for the past 6 years. In all that time I've only ever had 2 chinese (out of over 40) that thrived in larger (80x50) cages. The rest became skitty and aggressive and highly stressed. My current Chinese is in a Duna Multy (70x40) and it's taken almost a year to get him comfortable in that sized cage. If I'm entirely honest, he was just has happy in the mini duna he was in when he first started here (I never put babies straight into massive cages, I always start my chinese off in Mini Duna). I've always been a strong advocate for housing my hamsters in what they're comfortable in. If that's a ZooZone 2 then great, if it's a Mini Duna then also great. I've also always said that I'd much rather see a hamster in a cage that might fall just under the 70x50 that people always quite that is happy and loved and gets tons of time out of the cage than a hamster in one of these humungous set ups hat never gets any interaction with their owner.
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Old 04-05-2021, 07:51 AM   #39
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Default Re: Cage/Peer pressure on social media

It's funny you should mention that. We have a 4 month old Syrian and I didn't realise at the time, but even the Pets at home XL is far too small. I'm currently building him a proper hamster palace. However, he shows absolutely no signs of being in any way stressed - doesn't bite bars, doesn't climb other than on things he's supposed to, uses his wheel absolutely loads and is anything but a fussy eater!
He doesn't particularly like coming out of his cage (we have a huge run with lots of toys and stuff) and I'm actually concerned we may stress him when we move him to the bigger home. I mean, it's absolutely huge in comparison - 3 levels of 100 x 60. The only benefit I'm seeing at the moment is that I can give him a bigger sand bath and if I have to move up a size to the whopping wheel (he's a big boy - I'm not convinced he's not arching his back on even the 12 inch wheel!) then we would have the space.

I'm not convinced a detolf is a good idea either - I mean, you'd have to absolutely hide it from windows, because it would become like a greenhouse in the summer.
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Old 04-21-2021, 05:05 PM   #40
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Default Re: Cage/Peer pressure on social media

I am a new hamster owner and decided to start off with a 31"x13" tank for my baby syrian hamster. I was on a facebook hamster group and posted a picture of my hamster and before i knew it i had all kinds of rude comments about how my hamsters cage is too small and so is her wheel etc. I did my research and i feel like the set up i have right now is ok for my hamster right now since she is still small and plan to upgrade soon. I ordered a bigger wheel for her also. Does anyone else have about a 20 gallon set up for their hamster currently?
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