Best wheel for Tamburino cage?

[Pebbles82]

Edit - I have just seen that you've only had her a week so best to wait a couple of weeks before starting out of the cage taming and weighing

[Pebbles82]

Also noticed you said she seems to be sleeping a lot. I think the new wheel will perk her up. They sometimes give up on a wheel that's too small or difficult to run in and then get a bit apathetic. She will love the new Carolina wheel.

Enrichment is the key with hamsters - somewhere to go and something to do, different textures and stimulation. She may also be in habits from the pet shop if she didn't have much stimulation there, where they basically can just eat and sleep. You could try adding a little treat parcel. You use a toilet roll inner tube and fill it with something (pumpkin seeds are popular) and make it into a kind of cracker. Then they have to get into the parcel to get the treats.

I think it's shown on this video which shows all kinds of toys you can make from toilet roll inners!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuPeyD6w-CI&t=13s

[Pebbles82]

Also do you have a litter tray? They will use one - and it means you don't have to spot clean very often - the cage stays clean and dry - poops don't matter really unless they start taking over. They are just like little hard black seeds and sometimes they eat them, which is normal (for extra nutrients - they have two stomachs).

A corner litter tray works well if her pee place is in a corner. Something like this with Chinchilla bathing sand in - ours have tended to pee in the back corner,very neatly, and sit in the front for a wash

This one is the right size, but don't use the litter that comes with it. Chinchilla sand is better. You just empty it out every four or five days and replace the sand. She will use it if you put it in the place she has chosen to pee, and it should also fit inside that long house if she has made her toilet near her nest inside the house (which they do when they have a large house).

It's really important not to clean out while they are settling in for a couple of weeks, but adding a litter tray is fine.

https://www.amazon.com/Ware-Manufact...gateway&sr=8-6

[xosunflowerox]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

It's hard to tell how big they are when they are long haired. Maybe you could get her out of the cage in a tube or a ball (let her walk into the tube or ball in her cage then lift it out. If it's a tube you'd need to put hands over both ends until you can put it down somewhere safe where she can't escape).

I used to put a treat at the end of the tube, let our hammy walk in the tube, lift the tube out with my hands over the end and then put one end of the tube in the hamster ball (close by) and the hammy should walk into the ball - then you pop the lid on the ball and can then carry the ball to a place that's safe to let them out - eg a playpen area or dry bathtub, where they can't escape. You can put the tubein the playpen area and already have the odd toy in there.

That's a good place for starting taming and getting her used to touch gradually (start with stroking her on the back with one finger occasionally).

While she's in there, if you have some of those flat digital weighing scales just have those in the playpen area with a bit of cucumber or apple in the middle. She should just walk onto it to get the food and then you can see the weight

Her weight may determine whether she is large or average. But yes the Carolina Storm wheel would be a big improvement now and it sounds like a good idea to keep her where she is for now if she seems happy, and think about upgrading later.

I will try this after I've had her for a couple of weeks! Do you have a recommendation for a hamster ball? The only ones I can find in the US are 7" (which is probably too small) and a 12". Also, do you have a recommendation for a playpen? I looked them up and see several options. I'm not sure if they are all about the same or not. Thank you!

[xosunflowerox]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Also noticed you said she seems to be sleeping a lot. I think the new wheel will perk her up. They sometimes give up on a wheel that's too small or difficult to run in and then get a bit apathetic. She will love the new Carolina wheel.

Enrichment is the key with hamsters - somewhere to go and something to do, different textures and stimulation. She may also be in habits from the pet shop if she didn't have much stimulation there, where they basically can just eat and sleep. You could try adding a little treat parcel. You use a toilet roll inner tube and fill it with something (pumpkin seeds are popular) and make it into a kind of cracker. Then they have to get into the parcel to get the treats.

I think it's shown on this video which shows all kinds of toys you can make from toilet roll inners!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuPeyD6w-CI&t=13s

I am hoping the wheel will help her become more active. I ordered it today, so it should be here soon. She had no wheel, hideaway or toys in her original cage at the breeder's. I'm sure she's used to just sleeping and eating as there was nothing else to do. I have given her wooden sticks (meant for small pets) a long with mineral chews. She doesn't seem to care for either. She's nibbled on them a few times. There's a bendy bridge in her cage too, but I haven't seen her do much besides walk over it. I also did give her an empty toilet paper roll. It's almost entirely chewed up now. I like the toilet paper roll cracker idea! I will have to start making those as I know she likes the toilet paper rolls.

I saw another old topic on here where someone divided the cage to fit the wheel in. One side had deep bedding and the other side had sand with the wheel. It was divided using the bendy bridges. I may want to try that for my cage. Would you happen to know if the bendy bridges needed anything to stay in place to keep them secure?

[xosunflowerox]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Also do you have a litter tray? They will use one - and it means you don't have to spot clean very often - the cage stays clean and dry - poops don't matter really unless they start taking over. They are just like little hard black seeds and sometimes they eat them, which is normal (for extra nutrients - they have two stomachs).

A corner litter tray works well if her pee place is in a corner. Something like this with Chinchilla bathing sand in - ours have tended to pee in the back corner,very neatly, and sit in the front for a wash

This one is the right size, but don't use the litter that comes with it. Chinchilla sand is better. You just empty it out every four or five days and replace the sand. She will use it if you put it in the place she has chosen to pee, and it should also fit inside that long house if she has made her toilet near her nest inside the house (which they do when they have a large house).

It's really important not to clean out while they are settling in for a couple of weeks, but adding a litter tray is fine.

https://www.amazon.com/Ware-Manufact...gateway&sr=8-6

I don't have a litter tray yet, but was planning to buy one once she had a designated pee corner. Right now, the pee corner is behind the saucer. I want to put the new wheel in that general area... Is it possible to move her pee corner?
I will order this litter tray for her, thank you! I wasn't sure which one to get.

[cypher]

I don't know what playpens are available where you are but many aren't suitable for Syrians as they can easily escape, you can make one though, some people make them out of cardboard but you would need to watch carefully for chewing her way out! You can get storage cubes in the US so you could make one of these.
Stylish playpen
I wouldn't bother with a hamster ball, they don't benefit the hamster at all as they can't use their senses to get around & explore, many find them stressful & they can get hurt if they bang into things, a ball doesn't give you an opportunity to interact with your ham either.

If you want to move the pee area you can try by putting some peed on substrate in there on top of the substrate or sand (don't use litter pellets).

If you divide up your cage with bendy bridges just wedging it in place with the substrate usually works, I wouldn't use a sand area for a Syrian, just shallower substrate would probably be better, if your cage is on the small side it doesn't leave much room for digging & burrowing in the rest of the cage really though.

[Pebbles82]

I am also not a fan of hamster balls for out of cage time but it's very useful to have one for safely transporting them from one room to another (ie carrying them in the ball) especially when they're not tame. In that case the size doesn't matter and the 7" would be fine but too small for running in. The problem with the 12" rat balls is the slits are too large and they can get injured by getting a toe caught while running. Of the 12" rat Balls the Savic one is the only one that has smaller slits and not sure if that is available in the US. I am still a bit iffy about that one though.

I would put a litter tray where she pees now - they will only use it if you put it in the place they have chosen. It is possible she may move her pee place if you put the wheel there, but also very likely she will just pee under the wheel or in it! Is there another place you can put the wheel? I think it would fit at one end (ie against the short side facing the other short side) and still leave room in the corners for a pee place - assuming she is using a corner, which they often do.

The bendy bridges stay up on their own because you bend them curvy and that gives them their own support - so like an s shape bend. You'll probably need two overlapping as the s bend makes them shorter effectively. You don't want the really wide ones or the fence is so high it's an issue getting back over it! So the 10cm wide ones should be fine - you can still have substrate a bit deeper than 10cm by sloping the substrate up away from the fences towards the other end. I think for a Syrian I would just use lower substrate on the other side of the fence and have sand in the litter tray. Syrians don't really need a sand bath so having sand in a litter tray is good. Enough for them to mess about with and pee in It needs to be Chinchilla bathing sand (not "dust").

Mineral chews aren't really necessary and I have yet to meet a hamster who enjoys the wood sticks so a treat stick with some tasty food stuck on the outside should go down well - and help keep the teeth trim. Ideally sugar free though. Also whimzee mini toothbrush dog chews are very popular with hamsters - also come in different shapes like alligators. I like the toothbrush ones because you can stick sunflower or pumpin seeds in the bristles sometimes as an extra treat and they enjoy wrestling the seeds out!

These are the whimzee chews - vegetable based. They only seem to sell enormous boxes on Amazon when you can get them in packs of four or singly so you might want to look in a pet store for them.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Whimzee&ref=nb_sb_noss

I get these Rosewood naturals ones although they cost about $11 for two with shipping in the US presumably because imported. They're sugar free.

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewood-Bore...ateway&sr=8-26

These are good too but seem a bit expensive (maybe imported too)

https://www.amazon.com/Vitakraft-Ham...ateway&sr=8-10

When looking for cage items and hamster toys, here are a few pointers. Any round entrance holes need to be at least 6cm diameter. Any wood items need checking for splinters (since having a hamster I now keep a sheet of sandpaper handy!). With wood items also check for protruding nails.

Actually I have always really liked this little extra hide! Not big enough as a main house but they like other hidey places to visit and sit in and it has a flat top so they can climb on it too. It's only sold in the US I think. The entrance will be fine as it's open at the bottom, so if on the substrate they can easily get in and out by burrowing down a bit if necessary. I have a similar little hideout with a flat top in my cage and always put an "extra" or treat on it, so our hammy knows where to go for food, where to go for his veg and where to go for his extra - keeps them using the whole cage.

I put his bit of daily veg in a different place to his hamster mix and his "extra" (varies between half a walnut, half a pecan nut, a small bit of apple (no pips) or a blueberry eg somewhere else again.

https://www.amazon.com/Kaytee-Natura...y&sr=8-83&th=1

Scattering a bit of food as well as putting it in the food bowl means they enjoy foraging for it and stimulates them. Sometimes I'll scatter a few pumpkin seeds instead - they adore those.

If you didn't know already, it's good to supplement their main hamster mix with a bit of fresh veg daily and they really love fresh food. At first you just want to give it every 3 day so their stomachs adjust to it. After a week you can go to every other day then after another week, to every day.

Just a very small piece though - eg a tiny broccoli floret the size of your thumbnail or 1cm cubed size piece of carrot etc (doesn't have to be square! - that's just for size).

I tend to alternate between what I usually have in the fridge that keeps a long time, which is broccoli, carrot, baby corn, cucumber - they keep much longer in the fridge. And fresh spinach if I'm treating them as a bag only lasts a couple of days when open. There are many other safe veg as well and some unsafe, but the ones above are all safe.

An occasional bit of apple (apple pips are poisonous though so it needs to be cored) similar size no skin, or a blueberry or bit of banana are ok as well.

What hamster mix are you using? Syrians aren't prone to diabetes like dwarf hamsters but it's still good to use a sugar free mix as they can get toothache and dental decay like humans when they're older!

[Pebbles82]

Are you using the long wood house that came with the cage or have you removed it? If it's been removed then they need somewhere dark to go to feel secure and a house big enough to build a large cosy nest in. So a house that's dark inside and a good size is needed really. The built in one is ideal as it's space saving and also large and dark at one end and makes a bit of a shelf to put a food bowl on etc.

With those built in houses I put a thin layer of substrate inside it so it's not bare plastic underneath and they build a nest on top. They like to bury hoards under or near their nest usually and snack in bed

You can also have the substrate deep enough that it almost covers the entrance an then scoop a bit out where the house entrance is, and then it mimic an underground burrow.

[xosunflowerox]

Originally Posted by cypher

I don't know what playpens are available where you are but many aren't suitable for Syrians as they can easily escape, you can make one though, some people make them out of cardboard but you would need to watch carefully for chewing her way out! You can get storage cubes in the US so you could make one of these.
Stylish playpen
I wouldn't bother with a hamster ball, they don't benefit the hamster at all as they can't use their senses to get around & explore, many find them stressful & they can get hurt if they bang into things, a ball doesn't give you an opportunity to interact with your ham either.

If you want to move the pee area you can try by putting some peed on substrate in there on top of the substrate or sand (don't use litter pellets).

If you divide up your cage with bendy bridges just wedging it in place with the substrate usually works, I wouldn't use a sand area for a Syrian, just shallower substrate would probably be better, if your cage is on the small side it doesn't leave much room for digging & burrowing in the rest of the cage really though.

I tried to find a 3 cube storage unit, but I am only finding 6 cube ones... Do you think this would work? I saw these types on pens being advertised for small pets.
https://www.amazon.com/EocuSun-Toddl...animal+playpen

Ok, thanks for the advice! I am planning to use one bendy bridge to section off some of the higher substrate and then have substrate slope down to where the wheel is. Kind of like a hill down to it.