Barred cages is not allowed

[racinghamster]

Having kept mice, hamsters and gerbils in my past, I prefer tank-style caging now. Barred cages (if you can find the ones with the very narrowest bars) are the best cages for mice as mice are (a) good climbers and (b) require better ventilation due to their tendency for respiratory ailments.

Hamsters and gerbils on the other hand are ground dwellers by nature, so the Maxi Duna Multi type that Serendipity linked to would be my choice, or something along the same lines. The Zoozone 1 is 100cm in length and adequate for all species of hamster. The grill on the top however would require meshing for a Syrian, but dwarf hamsters (I`ve kept both Roborovski and Russian dwarf) in a Gabber Rex tank without adding the grill and never felt it was needed. I did make a wooden frame with mesh to fit this cage when I kept a Chinese hamster in it as Chinese hamsters are very mouse-like and good climbers!

The main dangers for me with barred cages are tooth breakages/injuries and falls from climbing. Having two liabilities waiting to happen are enough for me to choose the tank-style caging all day long. So the breeders who won`t sell to people who do use barred cages do have their animals welfare in mind. I can understand their logic.

[Dedenne]

Just realized that I called the Uk not European…. Well that’s the dumbest I have done in a month. I connected amazon to USA and did not think it through, sorry
I agree, you should always do what is best for your pet. But as the opinion varies it is hard to say what the best is really and since the alexander cage is half the price of the duna cage (and as I said, people thinking alexander cage is a good one) I just got frustrated. But I can of course understand that they want what’s best for the pets and respect that.
Missy has stopped chewing so much when she is in the play pen so maybe she was just checking it out not knowing what it was so sometimes when I’m home and she is awake I let her hang out in the pen most of the time

[returnswipe]

I would go for an aquarium because there really isn't any way they can get out of it. I keep mine in an aquarium and she does fine with it. This thread reminds me of the barred hamster wheels, which aren't good and they can break your hamster's feet. Even though the bars on the wheel are different from the ones on the cage, they can still chew on it, but I don't think they can break their feet on it. With the barred aquarium, dwarf hamsters can probably easily escape and slide through the wire. Kids can stick their fingers through them and tease the hamster. or cats and dogs can get their claws and noses through there. If you have kids or pets, keep the cage somewhere where they won't be able to get to it. Also, bedding can easily be kicked out through the bars and can make a mess. Falls from overly tall platforms can injure your hamster too. So, I would recommend an aquarium for your hamster. Bars might also get in the way of you being able to see your hamster, but aquariums, you can always see what they're doing through the transparent glass. Hope this helped!

[Dedenne]

Like I said in my original post an aquarium is not an option mostly due to price and transport. It is commonly known that barred wheels is bad due to that they can get stuck, usually way to small but mostly since they can get bubbles on their feet (I do not remember the exact name for them) but that is due to them standing and running on the surface which they do not do on the barred cage (how would that look…) while barred cages is promoted by some hamster owners here and the reason for bar chewing is mostly due to boredom so by putting a bar chewing hamster in a tank you just takes care of the symptom and not the problem itself. With the climbing the cage can be set up in a safe way (as all animal enclosure should be, big open spaces can also be bad for hamsters as that stresses them) and that would not be a problem. So I do not see the similarities at all since one is absolutely bad and the other one can be bad if you do not know what you are doing. But I will go with the DIY cage I posted earlier due to the size and price. I have stops planning to get a barred cage due to the rules in my country but I do not believe they are completely bad, maybe a bit harder to set up correctly and tend to, but not bad for the hamster if you know what you are doing, based what says in here. I’m clearly not qualified to have that kind of cage since I’m so new at hamsters.

Letting kids harass pets in cruel. The pets can be harassed no matter what type of cage they are in. I believe that kids should be thought to respect animals in the first place not just keep them apart. Why have animals if the family cannot enjoy them? Or why have a pet that does not get along with the family lifestyle? Same goes for pets, why get a lot of pets that do not get along? If anyone has that low respect or is that ignorant that they let them harass each other or let kids harass or hurt animals you should not get any pets in the first place. Same goes for people mistreating their animals in other ways and that after being told that that is not good not doing anything about it.

I’m sorry if I sounds aggressive but just at this moment the subject of peopel not respecting animals is a bit sensitive to me after every day seeing parents getting rid of pets they got for their children since the kids got bored of them. It just makes me mad.

[Razor]

I seem to have missed your reply to my comment. I haven't used any sort of furniture to place the Detolf on, just a nice thick layer of clothing below. So it basically sits flat on the floor. Regarding the bar chewing, I upgraded from the Mini Duna to Detolf for that very reason! I've never seen my hamster chewing on the grill. She did squeeze through the gaps between the grill once, but that was about it. You can see what that looks like in this video. She has stopped doing that since.

But fyi, the Detolf costs 499:- kr (about 95kr less expensive than the Mini Duna which about a third of the size.) and the Samla, which is exactly half the length is 149:- kr. I had written a little review of this sometime ago. Just my opinion. I do not intent to contradict you choice on the detolf in any way.

In Göteborg, I usually go to Arkens Zoo or Göteborgs Zoologiska for supplies. They do seem to have a variety of cages, especially the latter, or at least the last time I was there. Perhaps if you could find an alternative in whichever city in Sweden you are in?

I completely agree with you! It is rather disappointing to see how animals are treated. In fact not just by parents or kids, but even friends and guests who wish to meet your pet. I had reached such levels of frustration, that I have prepared a contract for anyone who wishes to meet my girl, Gaby.

[SaltyPickles]

I agree with Cypher, big cages aren’t for all hams. I moved Ares to a 30gal tank at one point. He HATED it. That’s why he still lives in his 30cm by 25cm cage even though it’s too small. I’ve tried so many good-sized cages to see if he likes them but he just isn’t comfortable with big enclosures.