Looking for help with new dwarf home

[BellaFarnese]

Suncoast Sugar Gliders in Florida has wodent wheels for a fraction of the prices I’ve seen elsewhere in USA. Lots of other neat stuff too. Amazon has wodent wheels, silent runner. Also wooden wheels with and without front covers.

[Pebbles82]

I agree it's better to get one. A pair will almost always need separating, and it takes quite a bit of setting up a cage to get it to work. Some owners of pairs even recommend having 3 wheels or two and a flying saucer, for a pair, with one wheel being a large syrian wheel (so they can run together easily and less likely to fall out with each other). Two houses or more - with more than one entrance (so one can't block the other one in), no levels or shelves. Even tubes and tunnels need to be large so one can't guard the entrance of the other. Scatter feeding or two large good bowls and at least two water bottles.

Even then they can still fall out if you take them out individually - ideally you take them both out together for playtime - or in that short time the other can start getting territorial.

So if you do want a pair, be prepared with a careful set up. With 3 wheels and 2 houses you would need at least a 40 gallon breeder tank - which is about 90cm long by about 50cm deep I think.

Some people use that size tank for a single dwarf hamster as well - but something about 80cm by 50cm is ideal for one.

It's a lot easier setting up a nice layout for a single hamster - you don't have to worry so much about what to put in it.

A 6.5" silent "spinner" used to be popular for dwarf hamsters but these have had issues of not spinning properly. A good alternative is a 9" silent runner or an 8" wodent wheel (for one hamster - I wouldn't use a wodent wheel for a pair - difficulty with the holes and both trying to get in and out at the same time - could be risky). For a pair I would look at getting a California storm wheel and another smaller wheel. The CSW spins easily and is 10" - good for a pair running together.

Exotic Nutrition sell both the Silent runner (it is actually their own product) and the wodent wheels - it's the cheapest price for the wodent wheel that I know of in the US.

Another cage option is a detolf - costs about $60 and is a glass cabinet you tip on it's side. It needs a lid making out of wood and mesh. The advantage of the detolf, if you do decide to go for a pair - is it can be partitioned into two good sized cages, with one hamster in each.

Having said that, from what I've read space is an issue with a pair too. Not enough space and they fight - too much space and they can get territorial. So really a 40 gallon breeder is better for a pair, and then be prepared to get another smaller tank for a single hamster if they need separating. Or make a bin cage.

But - having said that again! A detolf doesn't need to be too much space for a pair if set up carefully. A third of it could be a deep digging end, and that would make the floorspace about right.

As Cypher says - it can only be a pair of siblings - two brothers or two sisters - or a Mother daughter pair, or Father son pair. That have lived together consistently.

With a larger tank like a 40 gallon breeder you use a fair bit of substrate - at least initially (with spot cleaning and deep enough substrate you would just need to "top up" and not do big cleanouts more than every 6 to 8 weeks or even longer).

Boxo is a popular paper based substrate (I think it's from Walmart) that is sold in bulk and works out quite economical. Or you can have different substrates in different areas for variety.

Ideally 6 to 8" deep for a dwarf hamster so they can dig and burrow and might even dig tunnels. The deeper it is, the less often you need to do a big cleanout basically as that can stress them. With spot cleaning you just take out the odd handful and replace it with a handful and mix it in. Even when doing a full clean it's a good idea to replace some of the old substrate (sprinkle it on top or mix in a third old to 2/3 new) so it still smells familiar. And clean wheels a different week and toys a different week again.

I have recently got a robo and really wanted a pair. Having worked out the difficulties of settting up and because I couldn't really get another large cage, I reluctantly decided to just get one. It was much easier setting the tank up and I could give him a good platform. But then we do have a Syrian as well.

If you really want a pair, just think carefully about setting it up and be prepared to spend more on wheels! You could make houses with two entrances out of shoe boxes or tissue boxes and cut holes in them as it's hard to find houses with multiple entrances.

[BellaFarnese]

Thank you for the really detailed info, more to think about!! I need to rethink everything