Hamster tiny cage dilemma

ThePiggyRoom · 08-18-2018, 12:58 AM

I do small pet boarding and get quite a few hamsters to look after, most in cages too small. I do try and give advice on cage sizes where I can. Yesterday two rats and a Syrian hamster arrived. The Syrian is in probably in the tiniest cage I have ever seen, with no wheels or toys. She is three years old and it breaks my heart to think she has spent her whole life in such a small cage. She bar chews non stop and all the entrances are taped shut, because she tries to get out all the time! As soon as the owners had gone I moved her into a zoozone 2 and gave her a wheel. I can't face putting her back into that small cage, so I am thinking of getting a secondhand cage, or a bin cage and telling the owners it's an old cage I don't want anymore and they can have it. I have looked online and found a Duffy prestige cage for £15, it's not ideal, as it is still small 58cm by 30 something, but it's the biggest I can find locally. Alternatively I could make a bin cage (I am wishing I hadn't thrown all my old bin cages out now!). Does anyone know of a good size storage box that's not too expensive? I don't have an IKEA near by, so can't get a samla. I am only getting £10 for looking after her, so need it to be cheap as possible, I know it's going to cost more than £10, but I would rather lose money than send her home in that tiny cage.

cypher · 08-18-2018, 01:24 AM

That is heartbreaking, poor girl, I hope you can manage something to improve her life.
I don't know if it will be within the price & size range you're looking for but this bin from Asda is a fairly good size for a bin cage.

souffle · 08-18-2018, 01:27 AM

You do need to be very careful moving a hamster this age to a bin cage where they cannot see out and may get very stressed over a move. If she is doing well in the zoozone then you should be able to guage how she would do in a bin cage. I'd try and persuade them to upgrade her.

ThePiggyRoom · 08-18-2018, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by souffle

You do need to be very careful moving a hamster this age to a bin cage where they cannot see out and may get very stressed over a move. If she is doing well in the zoozone then you should be able to guage how she would do in a bin cage. I'd try and persuade them to upgrade her.

I thought of that thanks, but I would put a mesh panel on the side, so she could see out. She seems very happy in the zoozone and was running in her wheel a lot last night. They came to see my set up before booking with me and I suggested a bin cage, or a detolf to them then and they weren't interested unfortunately.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

That is heartbreaking, poor girl, I hope you can manage something to improve her life.
I don't know if it will be within the price & size range you're looking for but this bin from Asda is a fairly good size for a bin cage.

That bin looks perfect thank you. The nearest Asda is about 20 miles away though, I will get it if I can't find a nearer one.

Fluffagrams · 08-18-2018, 02:31 AM

I would advise handling this sort of situation gently as you are more likely to get a positive outcome by talking to the hamster's owners and finding out what their and the hamster's situation is.

Do you know why the hamster is in a smaller cage? I have one of my Chinese in a cage at the moment which would be considered to be quite small however there are reasons for him being in there and if someone told me, without knowing anything about him or his circumstances, that he needed to be in a bigger cage then I'd be less likely to accept advice too.

When you speak to the owners, you could explain that you felt that the hamster seemed frustrated and bored with the lack of toys in her cage so as you had a larger cage available, you thought you'd see if more space would help her feel settled. You can then go on to explain that the attempted escapes and constant bar chewing have stopped now she's feeling more settled. If you have a cage to offer them then great but it's worth bearing in mind that sometimes people just don't have the funds available at that point in time to buy anything bigger or have the skills or tools to build a bin cage.

Personally I would leave all the stuff about 'research' and the old RSPCA guidelines out of any discussion as those sort of things can come across as a bit preachy at times but if you focus on the benefits you have seen to the hamster as an individual then they may be more open to advice.

ThePiggyRoom · 08-18-2018, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fluffagrams

I would advise handling this sort of situation gently as you are more likely to get a positive outcome by talking to the hamster's owners and finding out what their and the hamster's situation is.

Do you know why the hamster is in a smaller cage? I have one of my Chinese in a cage at the moment which would be considered to be quite small however there are reasons for him being in there and if someone told me, without knowing anything about him or his circumstances, that he needed to be in a bigger cage then I'd be less likely to accept advice too.

When you speak to the owners, you could explain that you felt that the hamster seemed frustrated and bored with the lack of toys in her cage so as you had a larger cage available, you thought you'd see if more space would help her feel settled. You can then go on to explain that the attempted escapes and constant bar chewing have stopped now she's feeling more settled. If you have a cage to offer them then great but it's worth bearing in mind that sometimes people just don't have the funds available at that point in time to buy anything bigger or have the skills or tools to build a bin cage.

Personally I would leave all the stuff about 'research' and the old RSPCA guidelines out of any discussion as those sort of things can come across as a bit preachy at times but if you focus on the benefits you have seen to the hamster as an individual then they may be more open to advice.

That's good advice, thank you. I'm pretty sure from talking to them, that it's ignorance more than a health reason. The two rats are very overweight, which they seem unaware of (even after they saw the other rats I have here and even commented on the size difference). I was going to say about the bar chewing being the reason for moving her into a bigger cage (it was very loud) and that she seemed happier in the new cage and that they can have it if they want it.

mangoandmimi · 08-18-2018, 04:52 AM

Educating them in a very nice way tends to work and they often then ask for caging advice to buy their own I’ve found. The odd few don’t care and for those I’d probably offer the cage along with the hamster. Explaining nicely (not condescending/information overload) does usually work as as you’ve said, most the time it’s ignorance and not that they’re deliberately giving their hamster unsuitable living conditions! Best of luck.

ThePiggyRoom · 08-18-2018, 10:28 PM

I am wondering this morning if I should report them to the RSPCA. The rats are so fat they can hardly move and one of them breaths very noisily. They know about the breathing issue, because they mentioned it when they arrived. She said something along the lines of that's how Gus Gus breathes. He also has a skin problem on his tail, which she said was just excema (can't spell!), but hasn't taken him to the vet about it.
I don't know if the RSPCA would do anything though and I don't think it would do my business any good by reporting them.

ThePiggyRoom · 08-18-2018, 10:32 PM

This is the cage the hamster was in.

Pebbles82 · 08-19-2018, 01:27 AM

It doesn't seem as if they are the kind to let the hammy roam free. I would be tempted to say their hamster had died and keep it! (Which is not really ethical or good for the pet sitting business plus it's lying). The cage is very tiny and not big enough to fit a wheel in, which is important. It is probably for space and cost reasons they have them in small cages. It's a tricky one because even if you gave them your Zoozone 2 they may just say they haven't got space for it and want her back in her old cage.

What conditions were they in when they arrived? (Enough bedding? Somewhere to nest? Something to chew on? Able to have normal behaviours? If not then it doesn't meet the welfare needs.

The 2006 Animal Welfare Act says there's a need to provide for the five welfare needs:

need for a suitable environment
need for a suitable diet
need to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns
need to be housed with, or apart, from other animals
need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease.

It may be a bit borderline - I'd say a cage that size for a Syrian doesn't allow for normal behaviour patterns and could cause suffering. Having a wheel isn't considered essential but being able to exercise (normal behaviour patterns) is essential. So if they let the hamster free roam daily it's probably not a welfare issue. But they would probably have told you if that was the case.

Three years old is very old and she sounds quite well and active but had responded positively to the upgrade. It wouldn't do any harm to ring the RSPCA and ask for advice. I wouldn't make a bin cage - they may refuse to take it. The RSPCA may advise on how to deal with the situation with some authority - eg they may give you the authority to be able to say that unless the hamster has xyz you unfortunately will not be able to return it. That would be hard to have to say. But without some authority you can't really do that. The only consolation is- if the hamster is 3 and seems in good health then maybe they do give it lots of time and attention and out of cage time.

I would be tempted to say you had to move her to a larger cage because she became so stressed after they left and she is now settled in that cage and enjoying the wheel and say you will let them have the Zoozone 2 if they will agree to let her stay in it as it's better for an older hamster as they start to struggle with levels and tubes and are better with more floorspace. But they probably won't want to spend any money on lots of bedding, wheel, toys etc so there's no guarantee it will remain a suitable environment. So I'd ring the RSPCA and ask for some advice on how to handle this. Yes they are busy and may not have time to come and look, but they do rely on animal rescues to take a lot of pets they can't house so they will probably at least advise you on how to handle this.

If you've already advised them about cages and they're not interested then asking advice from the RSPCA may be the way to go.