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Old 03-21-2018, 10:50 AM   #1
Juls
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Join Date: Mar 2018
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Default Setting up my first hamster cage

On friday i will set up my very first hamster cage for my first hamster, Poppy
She's a dwarf (i'm guessing a campbell hybrid), 7 weeks old, and i'm picking her up on saturday. I have a large tank that will get on friday, so i will set it up on the same day. I'm going for a natural type theme, and i can't wait to see how she'll like it

So today i went shopping for the supplies i need. It seems to be impossible to get any aspen substrate where i live! All substrates as just marked "natural wood", and i've been to three different pet shops. I did however find some shredded aspen bedding for snakes (picture below), and i hope this will be ok for her to use while i wait for the CareFresh substrate i have ordered. I also got some coco husk substrate for reptiles that i'm hoping i can use in some areas in the cage, to give her some different textures In addition to this i bought some dried moss to be used for reptiles. I wasn't sure if this is safe, but when i searched online i didn't find anything that said it could be dangerous, so i took a chance and bought it, and if someone here knows if it's unsafe i won't use it
I also got her a little wooden house, a toilet and some paper nesting materials, wood bridges, wood log tunnels, a grassball with holes, and two small rock shaped bowls for her food and drinks I also got her a big rock bowl that i want to fill with sand for her so she can use it as a bath.
For food and snacks i got her some mealworms, peanuts with the shell on (i read somewhere that it is good for their teeth to chew on the shell before they get to the nut), some high protein hamster food, some nature snacks (one with nuts and one with egg, shrimp and mealworms, and then i got some kiwi tree nibble sticks. I was a bit unsure if these are safe though, so any insight on this will be much appreciated.
I've also ordered some more toys, but i don't think it will get here until next week. I also got her a wooden wheel

Again, i'm completly new at this, but i've tried to resarch everything as best as i could. But if someone sees that i've bought something that's dangerous for her, please let me know <3
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Old 03-21-2018, 10:51 AM   #2
Juls
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Default Re: Setting up my first hamster cage

Here is a picture of the wheel i bought I did also find sand that is meant for kids in sandboxes, but when i got home and opened it, it was very dense and almost felt like it was moist, so i don't think i'll use that one.
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Old 03-21-2018, 10:59 AM   #3
Advocaatje
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Default Re: Setting up my first hamster cage

Poppy is so cute!! I love the natural theme you got going on, I can't wait to see pictures of your cage all set up (:
Unfortunately I'm not familiar with the snake bedding... but from what I can see on the picture it looks similar to hamster bedding I've seen in stores.
Best of luck with Poppy! ^^
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Old 03-21-2018, 01:14 PM   #4
minijeva
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Default Re: Setting up my first hamster cage

all aspen bedding is the same u can use snake aspen as long as its dust extracted
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Old 03-21-2018, 11:25 PM   #5
Juls
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Default Re: Setting up my first hamster cage

Quote:
Originally Posted by Advocaatje View Post
Poppy is so cute!! I love the natural theme you got going on, I can't wait to see pictures of your cage all set up (:
Unfortunately I'm not familiar with the snake bedding... but from what I can see on the picture it looks similar to hamster bedding I've seen in stores.
Best of luck with Poppy! ^^
Thank you so much I look forward to sharing pictures when it's all set ut

Quote:
Originally Posted by minijeva View Post
all aspen bedding is the same u can use snake aspen as long as its dust extracted
Thank you for letting me know
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Old 03-21-2018, 11:30 PM   #6
cypher
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Default Re: Setting up my first hamster cage

The aspen snake bedding should be ok I think, the coconut fibre isn't good for cages as it holds too much moisture & can encourage moulds, it may be dusty too, moss is fine, I always put it in the freezer for a week just in case there are any tiny bugs or bug eggs in there!
The house you bought looks far too small as much as I can tell from the photo, sometimes the holes in those wooden logs can be a bit small even for dwarfs, it's hard to tell from a photo but do check they're big enough.
The children's sand should be fine, it is always damp so you need to bake it in the oven, not sure about temperature or time though.
I don't rate Beapher or versa laga foods very high, you would do better with the Bunny dwarf hamster dream expert (I think I mentioned that in your other post), it's better quality & has specific ingredients listed so you know just what's in it.
You really don't need paper nesting material, the best thing for nests (& the favourite with hams) is just plain shredded white toilet tissue.
The cork wheel is great, can you get plastikote water based enamel where you are? That's what we use in the UK to paint wooden wheels etc to protect them from pee.

ETA for a house I would aim for something around 15cm a bit bigger is ok, no windows, it needs to be dark in there. If you can't find anything suitable then just use a cardboard box with no base & a small door cut out of one side.

Another edit, I keep forgetting things!
I noticed you have a can of worms, those are fine but after opening need to be kept in the fridge & go off after a few days so you will waste a fair bit, no ham can eat all that in a few days, if you have a look where they sell food for wild birds you should find bags of dried mealworms which are fine for hams & store well in an airtight container.
I've only ever come across one other member mentioning kiwi sticks, not sure if they're a new thing or not but I really don't know if they're safe or not.
The other treats look as though they should be ok but can't say for sure without reading the ingredient list.
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Last edited by cypher; 03-22-2018 at 01:36 AM. Reason: Brain like a sieve!
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Old 03-22-2018, 01:32 AM   #7
Juls
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Default Re: Setting up my first hamster cage

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
The aspen snake bedding should be ok I think, the coconut fibre isn't good for cages as it holds too much moisture & can encourage moulds, it may be dusty too, moss is fine, I always put it in the freezer for a week just in case there are any tiny bugs or bug eggs in there!
The house you bought looks far too small as much as I can tell from the photo, sometimes the holes in those wooden logs can be a bit small even for dwarfs, it's hard to tell from a photo but do check they're big enough.
The children's sand should be fine, it is always damp so you need to bake it in the oven, not sure about temperature or time though.
I don't rate Beapher or versa laga foods very high, you would do better with the Bunny dwarf hamster dream expert (I think I mentioned that in your other post), it's better quality & has specific ingredients listed so you know just what's in it.
You really don't need paper nesting material, the best thing for nests (& the favourite with hams) is just plain shredded white toilet tissue.
The cork wheel is great, can you get plastikote water based enamel where you are? That's what we use in the UK to paint wooden wheels etc to protect them from pee.

ETA for a house I would aim for something around 15cm a bit bigger is ok, no windows, it needs to be dark in there. If you can't find anything suitable then just use a cardboard box with no base & a small door cut out of one side.
Thank you for your reply
I don't know if it's any difference, but it says "coco husk" on the package i've bought. I don't know if it's the same as coconut fiber? It looks like chunky bits, like in the picture.

I thought i could use it like pathways or something like that, but if it's not good then of course i won't use it

I also took some new photos of the house and the logs with my hand as size comparison, so see if it's too small.




I think the logs are big enough, but i'll get her a new house with no window if i can find one

About the food, i ordered the bunny dwarf hamster dream expert when you tipped med about it, but i don't think it will get here until next week, so the food i got is just temporary until i get the other one. Unfortunatly the pet shops i've been to so far have had very limited options for most things when it comes to hamster care :/

I'm still not sure about the sand though. It's not dusty at all, but when i put my fingers in it they got stained with a brown colour, and it smells very muddy/dirty. I want to buy the tiny friends sand that you recommended, but i haven't been able to find a shop that ships to my location yet. And so far i've only found two types of sand for hamsters/chinchilla in the shops, and i know one of them is very dusty. Other than that all i've found is fish sand and sand for reptiles, and i read somewhere that it's not safe. So i'm not sure what i'll do about the sand yet.
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Old 03-22-2018, 01:42 AM   #8
cypher
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Default Re: Setting up my first hamster cage

Coco husks is the same as coconut fibre, just not broken down quite so much & the same applies, I wouldn't use it, it would be ok for a digging box in a playpen or something like that but not really good in the cage.
The wooden log looks as though it should be fine, the house is too small though, if you use a wooden house it will need to be painted with something safe inside as the chances are it will be peed on at some point & you can never get pee out of wood, having said that I do think wooden houses are preferable to plastic.
The food will be ok until you can get something better so don't worry about using it short term, do change gradually when you swap foods though, always introduce new foods over a few days to a week depending on how different they are, so mostly the original food with a little of the new slowly increasing the amount of the new so her digestive system can adjust.
I've never used play sand but I think it is usually like that & once baked it's safe to use & won't stain things, it might be ok for a short while until you can find something better.
It does need to be chinchilla sand though, reptile sand is different & not considered safe.

You might have trouble finding a good house in a pet shop there aren't that many around usually, if you do buy things made from that natural kind of wood with the bark on give them a really good check over as I have found they can have exposed tacks or nails in them & be dangerous.
This house from rodipet is my favourite for dwarf hams, it is quite expensive including delivery but they are good quality & being able to take the top of makes spot cleaning really easy without having to destroy the nest or hoard.
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Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri
❤️

Last edited by cypher; 03-22-2018 at 01:54 AM.
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hamster, bought, wood, substrate, shell, food, cage, wooden, mealworms, snacks, set, find, ordered, friday, reptiles, aspen, natural, safe, rock, wait, dangerous, read, shaped, teeth, good

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