New to hamster care. House advice for a robo.

[jack5125]

I like the large opening of the grosvenor and I like the slightly bigger Mickey 2xl and its side door which may help as I am still taming him. I have found a place it is selling for 67 only 12 more than the grosvenor.

The hamster cage will be sitting about 90cm off the ground on a desk, is this a huge risk in the case of him making a run for it out the side door???

How much is a 2nd platform good for roborovski or is it each pet to their own preference? Money isn't as big an issue as I've just paid a holiday off so I have spare cash this week.

[Pebbles82]

I forgot to add - any of those cages mentioned - Savic mickey 2xl, maxi duna multy, zoozone 2 - are all equally suitable for a Syrian in the future

I don't know much about the Grosvenor but I think the Zoozone is better value for a similar price. But as Cypher says - some depends on whether you prefer tank style or barred cages.

[Pebbles82]

I would definitely prefer the Savic Mickey 2XL over the Grosvenor. Where did you see it for £67? It's a hard cage to find. I paid £86 for it in 2014!

Could you have the cage on the floor under the desk? I don't know how much of a risk it is them making a run for it -our syrian tried a few times, but not very often. I guess you could have something handy to block part of the door (eg a cushion) when opening it if he looks like he's going to run for it!

I think a platform is always good to have - they like having something to sit under and climb onto. It also means you can put any heavier items on the platform (they can get tunneled under if on the substrate and squash them - eg ceramic bowls for sand baths etc). it's difficult to find one. There are some shelves you can buy. When I had that cage i had a large flat roofed house instead of a platform and had a couple of smaller shelves over it, screwed to the bars.

Or you can buy a corner shelf

This one fits - it's quite large but no bad thing.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Frie...+friends+shelf

Ranchhouse cages on ebay also sell some nice wood ones in various sizes that come with fittings - the fittings might be easier for 7mm bars than the plastic shelf above.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/ranchhous...p2047675.l2562

I really like the coloured curvy one they do - like a bendy bridge but screws to the bars. Makes a nice smaller shelf, or access up to a larger one.

[cypher]

I've never had an issue with hamsters making a run for it with the large front doors on cages, unless they're completely tame & want to jump into my hands! They're far more likely to move away from the door when it's open.
Shelves aren't essential but they can help to maximise space, a good hideout/digging area under the shelf & room for more toys, food or water bowls etc on top.

ETA I forgot to say you will probably want a shelf of some sort to stand the wheel on, I just make small free standing ones with a piece of wood & dowels for legs for that.

[jack5125]

I am going to order a saving mickey 2xl. I'll get it set up before I move him over. I seen it for 67 on zoo bio but delivery is 8.50 lol!!!!!
I am just ordering it on amazon 77. I have prime so I have free delivery anyway.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!!
Once I have it in I will update on how I feel about it as well as its set up!!
Again, thanks!

[Pebbles82]

Just wrote a long post and lost it! Would recommend Fitch for substrate if you're interested. You buy it in bulk and it works out cheap. Food grade recycled paper. Hamsters seem to like it

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

Setting up the cage - plenty of hidey places - cardboard egg boxes with a hole cut in, a tissue box eg. If you only buy one floor toy I would get a cork log. I think they're great - they can run through, climb over, and it's light so doesn't sink in the substrate. This one isn't the cheapest but it's the right size for a hamster cage.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cork-Tunnel...s=rodipet+cork

Would also recommend this water bottle for narrow bars - the clip fits to the cage and you just lift the bottle in and out of the clip. They are good bottles too and don't seem to leak or jam up like some do. I get two at a time so you only pay one lot of postage. Good to have a spare anyway.

https://www.portonaquapet.co.uk/shop...rinky-B-M42882

When you move him over - sprinkle his old bedding on top of the new so it smells familiar and resist the temptation to clean any cage contents before moving them. It helps them settle in if things smell familiar.

If you get something like Fitch you can afford to put loads of substrate in so it cushions any falls and allows them to dig some tunnels. You can fill the cage base - it doesn't fall out through narrow bars

It works out much cheaper with substrate because with big cages you don't need to clean them out as much - the more substrate you have, the less often you need to clean out. You can just replace the odd handful when necessary. I only do a substrate clean about every 3 months, and even then I replace half of the old and mix it in so it smells familiar.

[Pebbles82]

Forgot to mention. On my Mickey 2XL where the door bends over at the top the gap was about 1cm. Just about all narrow bar cages have a larger gap somewhere. So just check that. It'll probably be fine but I thought about sticking something over that area.

[racinghamster]

I bought a Mickey 2XL (now sold) for my one and only Syrian hamster Boris and it was a nice cage. I added a half shelf and a ramp inside this cage and Boris would sit in his tissue box up on the shelf and do his grooming! I wasn`t mad keen on the large front door clips however because when trying to close it, the latches never quite pulled in far enough for the door to `close` properly and I always left a small gap at the sides due to not being able to close the door very tight. So when your cage arrives, test this first to make sure the two top latches reach the intended bars to hold the door closed fully.

One other small thing to mention here is the hanging of a water bottle for a robo in a cage with such a deep base. I would say have a bottle stand inside the cage and a water bottle placed where you put a shelf inside so he has two water sources. I used a plastic insert from a Savic Rody tank inside my Gabber Rex tank to hold a mouse-sized water bottle and my robos reaches this without having to reach upwards or struggle to reach it. This is vital as robos are small and it`s easy to overlook this if the bottle spout is hung on the bars of this cage where the wee robo might struggle to reach the end of the spout.

I will attach a photo to a home-made plastic drinks bottle weighted down by a large stone holding a water bottle that stands inside a cage for you just as an additional idea should you need to use it.

[cypher]

I haven't got any gaps around the door on my savic mickey at all, there are two positions you can have it closed in but if fully closed there are no gaps at all on mine, I guess it could depend on how well the door is fitted on each cage don't know really though! I think it's the only cage I have that doesn't have even a slight gap around the door.
Fitting water bottles to narrow barred cages can be a bit of a fiddle & some bottles bend the bars so making a stand like the one RH showed might make it easier there shouldn't be any problem with height if you do fix it to the bars though provided the base if full of substrate.

[Pebbles82]

I loved the door on the Mickey 2XL - you can fasten it two ways. On the first bar it is partly open with a gap - this is convenient when opening and closing the door a lot when doing things in the cage. For general fastening, fasten it on the second bar - I didn't have a problem with that at all and it is one of the most securely fastened cages I've come across that way. Maybe yours was not quite right RH.

Oh and thanks to RH for showing that water bottle holder again! I made one like that for Charlie's hospital cage