need help choosing a new cage for my syrian hamster

[arnieA380]

i do apologise

its not fuffy stuff we have for his bedding i thought it was, its actually this stuff

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pe...fe-bedding-90g my girlfriend has just informed me lol

not sure how big brian is but he is only small at the moment, dont know how old he is, pets at home dont seem very good at their information i guess when selling him.

im not at home at the moment so not sure what the food is called but it looks like all dried up little flake things all various colours if that helps.

we did buy him a pack of sweetcorn on cab things which attatched to the side of the cage but he soon eat them in no time haha so guess he likes sweetcorn

[cypher]

Originally Posted by arnieA380

i have noticed something brian does and not sure if hamsters are supposed to do but he often like brushes himself upto the side of the cage and into his substrate something you know kind of like a cat brushing himself up against you.

what could this mean? he seems to do it when we go near his cage.

yes i can afford the barney i think as i feel the alexandra is a tiny bit more expensive then i can afford right now. and i was thinking of getting the barney putting lots of substrate like you say in it, do hamsters like the hammocks and swings etc iv seen?

iv seen a coconut hideout thing with a stringy ladder would that be nice for brian?

Brian will be scent marking when he rubs his sides on things like that, they have scent glands on their side.

Some syrians like hammocks but you have to make sure you don't have a chewer so they need to be supervised until you are sure as chewing/ingesting fabric can be dangerous.

Avoid string ladders or any open ladders, any ladders should be closed like bendy bridges to avoid accidents.

[Pebbles82]

I'm just thinking Do you have a photo of Brian? If he is very small and they sold you a cage for dwarf hamsters, maybe we had better check he is a Syrian lol! The paper bedding is fine! Anything that isn't paper or fluffy cotton or other fabric is dangerous though.

As Cypher says, the rubbing on the side is scent marking - he is making it his territory and it helps him find his way about as they don't see very well. Which is why it's best not to overclean them.

[arnieA380]

Hi

just to let you guys know, i have ordered the Barney cage and the Trixie wheel for brian, which should arrive thursday form zooplus.

I do have these two photos on my mobile at the moment, im at work so cannot get anymore just yet, he is small well to me he is anyway, il try and get better pics

[Pebbles82]

He looks lovely I am sure he will love the Barney cage. Make sure you have a big bag of substrate ready to fill it up! I would try and fill the base of the Barney to the brim as it cushions any falls from the top if Brian decides to monkey bar along the top. Syrians are good at climbing up but not good at getting down and tend to just drop. Plus the deeper the substrate is, the happier they are because they can move it around, build mountains, burrow and sometimes dig tunnels.

I would recommend setting up the Barney with the substrate, wheel and a few toys when it arrives and letting Brian have a play in it a day or two before moving him in. This will help him adjust to the change quicker. Then when you move him in, don't clean out his old cage first. In fact if the base part detaches, you could put the base part of his old cage (open at the top, just the base) in the middle of the Barney on top of the substrate and let him explore out from there, leaving it there for a week or so until he is settled in. Is his nest in the base part?

If you don't have many toys for the cage, egg boxes, tissue boxes, kitchen roll inner tube slit down the side, all make good floor toys so it's not too open and empty. Plus a sand bath (old ice cream plastic tub maybe with Chinchilla bathing sand in). You could maybe put his food bowl and a chew or other toy on the shelf. A toy in the corner on the shelf can be good so it doesn't feel too open - a little cardboard house maybe.

Did you manage to get Pets at Home to agree to a refund? If so don't bother with putting the old cage base in the Barney, just take the old substrate out and sprinkle it on top of the new in the Barney so it smells a bit familiar. And put a big pile of torn up white toilet paper somewhere in the cage (not inside the house) so he can take it and build his nest.

Sprinkling some food on the substrate and hiding the odd treat can also distract him from feeling nervous and enjoy foraging a bit

[arnieA380]

Hi

I have attatched a photo of the current substrate we use ( the stuff we put at the bottom of his cage)

im abit confused with some wording etc. what is the difference between a hamsters substrate, bedding and nesting?

the current bedding use use for brian is called bedding small paper flakes - pets at home brand.
we did get some stuff called snug n cosy - ultra soft small animal bedding - rotastak, but have never opened the bag and wont since you told us how dangerous this kind of stuff is.

what substrate would you recommend to us - the stuff we currently have or iv heard i think you fitch?

and his nest? well he sleeps in his bed ( which hangs off side of cage)

currently in his cage we have got his one wheel ( as as you suggested we took the bottom one out), a toilet roll tunnel

yes i know we need buy him lots more toys which we are looking into now.

and noe we not spoken to pets at home just yet but we will be doing

[velma]

It does get a bit confusing, doesn't it? It took me a while

So, substrate and bedding are the same thing - the material that goes on the bottom of the cage. I guess substrate is used more often because it makes it easier to differentiate between that and the nesting material (bedding and nesting used together could get confusing!). This can be wood shavings, which it looks like you have (but not saw dust, which isn't suitable at all) or products such as Carefresh, which I use or Fitch which is popular but needs to be bought in bulk online (unless you live very close to the manufacturer) and there are other products out there too which other use.

Nesting material is, you've guessed it, for their nest. Anything fluffy whether synthetic or natural isn't at all suitable. It can cause blockages in their digestive systems, get compacted in their cheek pouches and the fibres can get wrapped round limbs. Cheap white unscented toilet paper is good. It dissolves in water (so doesn't get blocked in their systems) and the hams have great fun tearing it up as they like. I rip mine into big-ish shreds.

You don't have to spend a tonne of money on toys (although that never stopped me when I'm a pet shop ) and sometimes building up things gradually gives you a chance to work out what they like so you don't waste your money on stuff they ignore. Upturned boxes are just fine, loo rolls like you already have, chews such as whimzees are fairly popular and they always enjoy breaking into a monkey nut. You can alway bury some treats for him to dig up. Check out the DIY section of the forum for DIY toy ideas - there's some good basic ones there including making loo rolls into treat holders.

It takes all of us a while to get our setups to a point where we're happy with them because it takes a while for our hams to settle into them. Just think when you last moved house how long it took to fiddle with the furniture and move your stuff around before it felt right. Well. It's just like that in miniature with the hams

[Pebbles82]

Edit: Posted at the same time as Velma

It is a bit confusing. Substrate (sometimes called bedding as well) is the stuff on the floor of the cage. It looks like yours is pine shavings. Pine shavings in the Uk are kiln dried by law which removes a lot of the phenols, but it's always good to check if it says kiln dried and "dust extracted" on the bag. Strong scents and dust are bad for hammies who can easily get respiratory problems. But I'm sure yours will be kiln dried and dust extracted.

Nesting material (also sometimes called bedding!) is the paper strips for building their nest. But you can have paper substrate as well. That's the Fitch. I love the Fitch and our hammy loved it. It works out cheap because you buy it in bulk. Hamsters will sometimes use some of that in their nest as well as the paper strips, but they can weave the paper strips to hold the nest together better.

If you need some bedding (substrate) then getting a bag of Fitch should last you quite a while. The more you put in the cage, the less often you need to do a full cage clean so it works out quite economical. Especially if using a litter tray.

I get this 10kg bale because it's not too big to store indoors.

https://www.fitchrecycling.co.uk/ani...-delivery.html

If you've got a spare bedroom or something it works out even cheaper to buy the 20kg bale which is only a few pounds more. It does need to be stored indoors though or it can get damp and go off.

https://www.fitchrecycling.co.uk/ani...bale-20kg.html

My 10kg bales come in oversized plastic bags, inside an outer plastic bag, so I find you can squish it into different shapes to store it with the bag having space in to squish it without the stuff falling out. So I've had it squished tall and thin to fit between wardrobe and the wall, short and fat to fit under a bedroom chair. But latterly I just had it in the corner of a room with a throw over it so it looked like a small beanbag chair

[arnieA380]

this is well confusing for me

so substrate is what you put on the floor of the cage

and

nesting is the stuff for the bed?

. the current stuff we have for the bottom of his cage is id say of very soft woody stuff, we got it from pets at home whoch comes in a really vacum packed bag.

so for brians bed should i use fitch or paper strips ( toilet paper)

sorry if you've already told me im just really confused about all the wording

[ladyntramp002]

Originally Posted by arnieA380

this is well confusing for me

so substrate is what you put on the floor of the cage

and

nesting is the stuff for the bed?

. the current stuff we have for the bottom of his cage is id say of very soft woody stuff, we got it from pets at home whoch comes in a really vacum packed bag.

so for brians bed should i use fitch or paper strips ( toilet paper)

sorry if you've already told me im just really confused about all the wording

You are correct that


substrate=floor of cage
nesting= brian's bed


I personally like to use toilet paper for the nesting material. But this is just personal preference. It is soft and my hammies always use it for the nest.

Hope this helps you understand better.