Time to downsize Artie’s cage?

chesca_27 · 05-21-2020, 05:04 PM

Hi, so I realise I haven’t been around much the last few years and I’ve made very few posts about Artemis, my Russian hybrid. She’s lived with me since August 2018, when I adopted her from the P@H adoption centre where she was estimated to be 6 months old (and she hasn’t grown since then). She’s very sweet and tame and I love her very much.

I now estimate her to be 2 years and 3 months old and I want some opinions on what to do about her cage. She has lived her whole life in the Savic Plaza Knockdown, which has worked very well for her as her cage. She has always managed climbing the bars well (to get to her shelves) and she has shelves attached around the whole cage to stop her falling too far. The space is also fantastic (and the big door) and she is still pretty active.

Artemis hasn’t really aged much, except for maybe not running as fast as she used to. However, the last few days I have noticed she is struggling to climb the bars as well as she used to, which I’m putting down to her age. I’m now wondering whether it would be safer to downsize her to the Ikea Billy (Larry-Jasper’s old cage)? It is more of a tank style cage and has no bars for her to hurt herself on and isn’t particularly tall. She has stayed in the Billy before at my Mum’s house, but only once or twice. What I’m worried about is her falling and hurting herself, which is why I’m considering the Billy.

I don’t know whether the stress of moving her outweighs the benefits of the safety of the Ikea Billy. The other factor is that it is quite a lot smaller than the Plaza and she is still a very active hamster, so I don’t know if taking away her bars and floor space would make her too happy with me.

I guess in conclusion, I just want to know some opinions on what the best decision for her is, cage wise. Obviously I want to be the best owner possible, but I would like to rule out getting a different cage entirely, as I already have two cages and it’s kinda hard to make a bin cage in a pandemic. There’s also the cost factor, and I hate to be morbid but Artie is already over 2 and I’m not even sure if I can have another hamster until after I finish university. Sorry to end on a negative note, but what would you do?

cypher · 05-22-2020, 02:20 AM

Good to see you chesca

I would be more inclined to adapt the current cage rather than change to a completely different cage if it's possible.
It's such a large cage you should be able to keep everything more or less on one level maybe with a bit of adaptation so she doesn't need to climb the bars & if she still tries & you think she may hurt herself then I would use a strip or cardboard or something to prevent her climbing.
If she's still able maybe a few low shelves with gently sloping bendy bridges to access them?
Without seeing your set up I'm not sure what else to suggest.
She sounds lovely & is a great age, I hope you still have quite a lot more time together yet.

flowerfairy · 05-22-2020, 01:17 PM

I agree with Cypher, adapt her current cage. I have made everything very accessavle for my 2 year old roborovski, Mallow. Same for my lovely fluffy syrian, Tarak.

Have fun!

Good to hear from you.

LunaTheHamster1 · 05-22-2020, 01:40 PM

Serendipity helped me out when I had to adapt the savic plaza for my elderly syrian hamster. Albeit she didn't climb much. I will see if I can find the thread. Also you could attach grass mats or cardboard to the sides on the inside to try and stop climbing.

LunaTheHamster1 · 05-22-2020, 01:43 PM

I found the link

Hamster Cage setup for Arthritis

Pics on the last page of the thread- i ended up taking out the shelves that i put up high and replaced with grass mats, just to give Star some shelter from above and she didn't feel too open/exposed without the shelves there anymore.

Engel · 05-24-2020, 02:57 PM

You know your hamster better than anyone here. Sure you could adapt the plaza like Luna's mentioned but if you feel in your heart that she'd be better in the Billy then so be it.

With my Lilith I had everything one level in the plaza before downsizing to the Alaska during her final months. She did better in the smaller cage but each hamster is different.

chesca_27 · 06-04-2020, 03:57 PM

I’m so sorry I haven’t replied to this sooner, but thank you all so much for the tips! Artie’s been okay at the moment so I haven’t adapted her cage yet, but I plan to tomorrow. I think I’m going to wrap one of those long bendy purple tunnels around most of the cage to try and discourage her from climbing any higher and move the main green level down so it’s at the bottom of the bars (so she can dig under it, without me worrying about the wheel toppling over). I’m thinking of making the bedding a bit deeper and moving the shelves much closer together so she can just sort of step between each one. I looked for some grass mats today in P@H (and more shelves) but they didn’t have any so ill see if I’ve got any clean cardboard lying around (I’m hesitant to use any packaging because of Coronavirus) to attach higher up. Thank you again and I’ll update you all tomorrow.

chesca_27 · 10-24-2020, 05:41 AM

Just thought I’d update you all on Artemis.

She’s now around 2 and 8/9 months, so she’s pretty old. She’s looking very thin these days and I’m pretty sure she’s now blind, but I still see her come out her nest quite a lot. She stumbles when she walks a lot and falls over her bedding. She still climbs the bars though and I’m really worried about her hurting herself so I’m planning on swapping her cage over to the Ikea Billy. I don’t think I can adapt the Plaza anymore to make it safer so I really think she’d be much better off in a tank style cage and I’m sure Bucky (my robo) would love the extra space.

My only issue is I’m worried how the stress of moving her cage will affect her. I’m going to reuse her bedding she has at the moment so it smells the same and use a similar layout so she can find everything. Anything else I can do to make the transition easier?

cypher · 10-24-2020, 06:26 AM

Is there anything you can do like use cardboard/hemp mat/grass mats to prevent her climbing the bars?
I think at her age and with her possibly being blind making the change to another cage altogether would be stressful for her.
Do you have a photo of the set up? someone may have some ideas to help.

LunaTheHamster1 · 10-24-2020, 06:30 AM

If you haven't done the move already, I was actually thinking about this just yesterday, could you put cardboard/grassmats on the inside of the bars so she can't climb.

If you do go ahead with the move I don't think there is much more that you can do other than what you already stated.

Just one thing, the Plaza is quite high up for a robo, so you may need to make sure you got platforms strategically placed to try and break up any potential big drops.