New cage advice

[Amyhx]

Hi,

So my new hamster is an extreme hyperactive monkey barring, bar chewing syrian so we've decided to get her a new terrarium style cage we want to buy one rather than make a diy cage if possible where she is currently is under the stairs on a cabinet (only place large enough to put a cage in the Alexander cage and due to the slope of the stairs i dont know if i can have one thats longer than 90cm with just a lid as an opening.

Any advice?
The placement of the cage can't be changed and the cabinet is 115cm long

[Pebbles82]

Hello - I just read your other post about her history and the bar chewing. How long have you had her? I'm asking because it can take them two weeks to settle into a new cage and a move is always stressful.

Putting things on the bars isn't recommended. You could weave strips of cardboard (eg torn up cereal box) around the bars where she's chewing, but she may just move onto another area then.

It's important not to clean her cage or move things around during the settling period as this will also stress her out.

Check out a few things before deciding to move her to a tank. Sorry if you've probably done all this already.

1) Is her water bottle working properly and easily accessible?
2) Is her wheel working properly (not stuck or jammed?)
3) Does she have enough substrate in the cage (3 to 4" depth minimum - more is good)

Will wait to hear how long you've had her and she's been in the cage. Main thing right now is try and let her settle a bit so don't do any clean outs or move anything. Try the cardboard round the bars and try scatter feeding a bit (ie as well as the food in her bowl, scatter some on the substrate) and hide the odd treat in different parts of her cage which may help distract her. Talk gently to her through the bars.

At 3 months she is still only a baby and the running around so much sounds like stress. It may be she also wasn't treated well previously and the change has really stressed her.

I had a similar thing with our last Syrian - not when we first got him but after he'd been left at someone's house while we were on holiday. When he came back to us he was behaving exactly as you describe. It was worrying and upsetting and it took a good two weeks for him to settle down again. With the bar chewing we found he only did it when we were in the room. So we started going to bed early and turning the lights out and he soon stopped doing it.

I also set up a playpen area around his cage and left the cage door open during the evening (a tube or something for access out of the cage door) and just let him run in andout of the cage. He still ran round and round madly. It took two weeks for him to settle again (which is the usual time for a hamster to settle after a cage change).

Depending on how long you've had her we could advise on when is the best time for a cage change - whether to do it now or wait.

Tank style cages are hard to find and usually expensive and hard to find anything as big as the Alexander which gives as much scope for enrichment with the shelves etc.

There is the Maxi Duna Multy which is a 100cm perspex tank style cage - same size as the Alexander but not as tall and it may not be big enough for her (and it's not cheap - about £90) - hard to fit in very much or fit shelves in.

Zooplus sell the Skyline Marrakesch - which is a tank style with wood ends - the wood ends are waterproofed. But really it is no bigger than the Maxi Duna Multy - same height (only just big enough for an 11" wheel) - not as deep so less floorspace really. Also expensive.

The biggest tank style cage is the Eco Habitat which comes in 115cm size - it's on wheels but you could leave the wheels off and stand it on something. The top has large 2cm vent holes so would really need meshing or she could escape (yes they can find a way up there! One hamster used the side holes to climb on top of the wheel).

Or you can get a custom made glass tank about 100cm by 50cm and taller with a mesh lid made to fit - for about £115 (I was quoted for one).

There is also the 100cm Falco cage on Zooplus - it's a 100cm glass tank with a barred top. There are fall risk issues with that so really it needs a full level making - either that or filling the base with substrate - but then you'd have a barred cage again - and access isn't good as there's only a top door.

There is also the Ikea Detolf hack - a cheap option about £60 - a glass cabinet you tip on its side and leave the door off. It would give plenty of space for an active hamster. But you would need to do a bit of diy and make lids out of wood and mesh. Also it does have some internal support bars which may or may not be chewed - havent heard of that being an issue very often. But it is longer - 163cm long. It might fit on top of a 115cm chest if you could push one end up against the wall to support that end.

[Amyhx]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Hello - I just read your other post about her history and the bar chewing. How long have you had her? I'm asking because it can take them two weeks to settle into a new cage and a move is always stressful.

Putting things on the bars isn't recommended. You could weave strips of cardboard (eg torn up cereal box) around the bars where she's chewing, but she may just move onto another area then.

It's important not to clean her cage or move things around during the settling period as this will also stress her out.

Check out a few things before deciding to move her to a tank. Sorry if you've probably done all this already.

1) Is her water bottle working properly and easily accessible?
2) Is her wheel working properly (not stuck or jammed?)
3) Does she have enough substrate in the cage (3 to 4" depth minimum - more is good)

Will wait to hear how long you've had her and she's been in the cage. Main thing right now is try and let her settle a bit so don't do any clean outs or move anything. Try the cardboard round the bars and try scatter feeding a bit (ie as well as the food in her bowl, scatter some on the substrate) and hide the odd treat in different parts of her cage which may help distract her. Talk gently to her through the bars.

At 3 months she is still only a baby and the running around so much sounds like stress. It may be she also wasn't treated well previously and the change has really stressed her.

I had a similar thing with our last Syrian - not when we first got him but after he'd been left at someone's house while we were on holiday. When he came back to us he was behaving exactly as you describe. It was worrying and upsetting and it took a good two weeks for him to settle down again. With the bar chewing we found he only did it when we were in the room. So we started going to bed early and turning the lights out and he soon stopped doing it.

I also set up a playpen area around his cage and left the cage door open during the evening (a tube or something for access out of the cage door) and just let him run in andout of the cage. He still ran round and round madly. It took two weeks for him to settle again (which is the usual time for a hamster to settle after a cage change).

Depending on how long you've had her we could advise on when is the best time for a cage change - whether to do it now or wait.

Tank style cages are hard to find and usually expensive and hard to find anything as big as the Alexander which gives as much scope for enrichment with the shelves etc.

There is the Maxi Duna Multy which is a 100cm perspex tank style cage - same size as the Alexander but not as tall and it may not be big enough for her (and it's not cheap - about £90) - hard to fit in very much or fit shelves in.

Zooplus sell the Skyline Marrakesch - which is a tank style with wood ends - the wood ends are waterproofed. But really it is no bigger than the Maxi Duna Multy - same height (only just big enough for an 11" wheel) - not as deep so less floorspace really. Also expensive.

The biggest tank style cage is the Eco Habitat which comes in 115cm size - it's on wheels but you could leave the wheels off and stand it on something. The top has large 2cm vent holes so would really need meshing or she could escape (yes they can find a way up there! One hamster used the side holes to climb on top of the wheel).

Or you can get a custom made glass tank about 100cm by 50cm and taller with a mesh lid made to fit - for about £115 (I was quoted for one).

There is also the 100cm Falco cage on Zooplus - it's a 100cm glass tank with a barred top. There are fall risk issues with that so really it needs a full level making - either that or filling the base with substrate - but then you'd have a barred cage again - and access isn't good as there's only a top door.

There is also the Ikea Detolf hack - a cheap option about £60 - a glass cabinet you tip on its side and leave the door off. It would give plenty of space for an active hamster. But you would need to do a bit of diy and make lids out of wood and mesh. Also it does have some internal support bars which may or may not be chewed - havent heard of that being an issue very often. But it is longer - 163cm long. It might fit on top of a 115cm chest if you could push one end up against the wall to support that end.

Hi Thankyou for your response. I adopted her just over 2 weeks ago and we have tried the weaving method but she destroys that in 30mins and goes back to chewing on the bars and also finds other free bar spaces to chew. It has gotten so bad she has completely stripped alot of the bars of the coating and continues to chew it. Also she will only eat out of her bowl or a box she won't eat if its scatter fed as we have tried that already. We have also tried blocking the bars where she mainly chews with wooden bridges and using bitter deterrents but that wont stop her. We are taking her to the vets on Saturday to see if the problem is dental as she does have 1 tooth longer than the other that's pointed tooth but if it is a behavioural problem we were thinking of getting the eco Habitat for her to prevent any dental problems from occurring.

[Amyhx]

Also the centre was given her when she was 3 months and i dont know how long they have had her but i know at least 2 weeks so she could be older but i adopted my previous hamster at 3 months and he was the complete opposite so i thought id check for advice on here

[Amyhx]

Oh and She has lots of deep substrate her water bottle and wheel are working perfectly and she can access both easily

[Razor]

Have you tried giving her a Whimzee dog chew? Most hamsters love it and can chew on it endlessly. It would be a really good distraction for her. It could hopefully help her out of the habit.
https://www.whimzees.com/products/toothbrush/

[cherubble]

If you do get the eco habitat keep in mind the frame is wooden (and the base) and my friends hamster basically chewed a hole in the frame. And the air holes can be chewed depending on how high the bedding reaches. So maybe worth considering something fully escape proof if she really does chew anything.

[Amyhx]

Originally Posted by cherubble

If you do get the eco habitat keep in mind the frame is wooden (and the base) and my friends hamster basically chewed a hole in the frame. And the air holes can be chewed depending on how high the bedding reaches. So maybe worth considering something fully escape proof if she really does chew anything.

Hi she will chew paper and sometimes cardboard but mainly the bars and anything fabric she has lots of wooden chews and levels but wont chew them at all

[Amyhx]

Originally Posted by Razor

Have you tried giving her a Whimzee dog chew? Most hamsters love it and can chew on it endlessly. It would be a really good distraction for her. It could hopefully help her out of the habit.
https://www.whimzees.com/products/toothbrush/

Hi, i havnt tried that but ive tried other hamster long stick treat toys that are meant to last weeks and she devours that in 30mins to an hour might give it a try tho thanks

[Amyhx]

Originally Posted by cherubble

If you do get the eco habitat keep in mind the frame is wooden (and the base) and my friends hamster basically chewed a hole in the frame. And the air holes can be chewed depending on how high the bedding reaches. So maybe worth considering something fully escape proof if she really does chew anything.

And if do get that one i will be modifying it with plexiglass to prevent the bottom spoiling