My Syrian hamster, Merlin, is now a little over two and I've noticed he has begun to struggle with his two-storey bin cage and finds it more difficult to get up and down the ramps.
I'm thinking about getting a giant plastic box to make him a single storey bin cage that would fit all of his favourite things and his nest on one level.
However, when I first moved him from his starter cage to the current cage, he seemed very stressed by the experience and I don't want to upset him too much. He's otherwise in very good health and very energetic, but I want to make him as comfortable as possible.
Have any of you tried moving an elderly hamster to a new cage before? Do you have any tips, and do you think it is worth the stress it might cause him?
Hello and Welcome to Hamster Central.
I think moving Merlin to a bin cage would be a good thing to do now that he is getting older and may start to struggle more using the ramps. I never moved my elderly hamsters into a new cage before as I would adapt their exisiting cage to be move suitable for them - i.e. not using shelves and ensuring its easy to get around the cage. However when moving a hamster to a new cage a good thing to do is transfer all the bedding/substrate and all his toys from his old cage into the bin cage therefore it will smell familiar to him and should help to minimise stress.
Yes I moved our Syrian to a larger cage when he was about 18 months (his second cage change), adjusted the set up when he was 2 and adjusted it again to be one level when he got less mobile.
Like you I found his first cage change when he was young caused him a lot of stress. I learned from that and didn't do it cold turkey the next time, but let him play in the new cage a couple of times before moving him and he setted in really well straight away.
I think also when they're older they're a bit more laid back. Moving him to a larger single level bin sounds like a great idea and he'll appreciate being able to use the space easier.
I would suggest putting substrate in it, and a few toys, and maybe a couple of toys from his old cage, into the new bin,scatter some food and let him have a bit of time in it - maybe only 10 to 15 minutes. Then put him back in his old cage. Then, depending on how he reacts, put him in the new one for longer the next time, then put him back in his old cage. Then a day or two later move him over, transferring all his old substrate (spread it out on top of the existing in the new bin) and all his current cage toys/wheel/house and try to put them in the same layout without cleaning anything first. And move his old nest over as well. He should settle easily.
I said "depending on how he reacts" because the timing will depend on that. The first time I let our hammy play in the new cage, he was excited but then panicked after about 10 minutes and was scrabbling to come out but relaxed once back in his old cage. But ten minutes later he was clamouring to come out of his old cage and I knew he was saying "put me back in that new one". So I put him back and he spent much longer in the new cage, checking everything out,exploring and looking happy.
I then put him back in his old cage overnight, and next day popped him in his pet carrier for an hour or two in the morning then transferred everything over from the old cage to the new, made sure it was all tweaked and set up so no changes neeeded for a while and put him in the new cage. He settled in well. He was a little bit cautious the first day or two, particularly about the cage doors being in a different place (not an issue with a bin), but happy as larry after that.
I initially set it up with everything low as he was getting older, but within a couple of months removed all levels and had everything at floor level so he didn't fall and hurt himself as he still liked to climb but kept losing his balance.
Having said that I did leave a level in but made sure it was high up and not accessible - because they like having a level to sit under and have some overhead cover.
With a bigger bin you can make the floor area really interesting for him. Our old hammy would zip about like lightning at floor level but couldn't climb any more.
Have attached a video I did for setting up a cage for an older hamster (this was before the ramps to the house roof were removed - the house roof was a level).
Our hammy loved his big cork log - it gave a little bit of climbing but without being dangerously high.
I'm sure you've already got plenty of ideas for a set up but there might be some ideas in the video too You need to check for little things like is the wheel low enough to the substrate to get in and out of easily without a leg being caught and tripping.
Changing an elderly hamster's cage?
I moved our Syrian to a larger cage when he was about 18 months (his second cage change), adjusted the set up when he was 2 and adjusted it again to be one level when he got less mobile.
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