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Old 03-02-2019, 10:23 PM   #1
bijoubabette
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Join Date: Mar 2019
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Red face Alternating Cages?

Hi there,

I'm new to Hamster Central and thought I would join, as I frequently browse the site. I have had my current hamster (Bijou) for two months now, and she is currently housed in the Prevue Pet Products 528 Universal Small Animal Home. Recently, a local pet shop had a dollar-per-gallon sale on breeder tanks, so I wanted to get a 40 gallon. It wouldn't be too too much bigger than her current cage, though. They ran out of 40-gallon tanks, so I instead purchased a 55-gallon on sale.

I haven't yet set up the tank or transferred Bijou but I was wondering if anyone had input regarding alternating "houses" or the idea of "vacation cages." What I mean is that once I transfer Bijou to the new tank, I will still be keeping her original cage-- also, some of her toys and treats are meant for cage bars rather than a glass tank, and I want her to be able to play with them.

Apart from temporarily housing Bijou in her cage or tank while cleaning whichever her "main" home will be, would it be okay to periodically alternate between her cage and tank? For example, a week or two in her cage, then a week or two in her tank, alternating. Would this be enjoyable for a hammy and decrease boredom? OR, would it stress them out and confuse them being moved around? Does anyone else have a "vacation" cage or "play cage?"

I hope this post makes sense; the last thing I wish to do is cause stress to my hammy. Thank you for your input!

P.S.: I have owned hamsters in the past, but this was 12 and 15 years ago when I was a child and during my preteen years. Back then, I had very little knowledge of hamster care as it pertains to proper housing and so on, but I am now well-versed in the basics and fairly well-versed on an "intermediate" level, I would say. Still, I have random questions here and there and cannot seem to find answers!

So thank you!
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Old 03-03-2019, 04:06 AM   #2
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Alternating Cages?

Hello. A 55 gallon tank sounds great. Alternating cages I would say no - that will just stress them out. They need a main cage and ideally nothing much changes in it - once set up and familiar they really don't like change.

Having said that, having a play cage for out of cage time can be a good idea - although a playpen area or fenced off part of a room that's hamster safe is better.

Personally I wouldn't use it as a play cage - because she will remember it as her old home and it could cause more upset than it's worth. Moving them to a new cage is quite a big thing anyway and once there it's best not to go back to the old cage.

I would keep it as a vacation cage - ie it is rarely likely to be used and when it is = if you're away on holiday for a week, it could be good to have a familiar cage in unfamiliar surroundings. But on the other hand, it may be a bit large to transport for a vacation cage!

I have a holiday cage - took our Syrian away with us for a week once. It's not too big not too small. If the cage folds down and can be transported easily then yes keep it as a holiday cage for rare use. Or the option would be to sell it and if you ever need a vaction cage get something slightly lower/smaller.

It is annoying when you have toys that won't work in a new tank, unless you can adapt them, but they do like floor tunnels etc and hidey places and you can easily make those out of cardboard tissue boxes and pringles tubes If you can keep 2 or 3 of her old toys it will help her settle but it may be a case of just needing mostly different ones. Ones she has adapted and adjusted it's best not to go back.

When you move her, if the old cage base fits inside the tank, that can be a good way of moving her over. Set up the tank with new items at either end, take the bars off the cage and put the whole cage base in the centre of the tank, as it is, without cleaning anything. With substrate in the tank as well so the substrate is level with the top of the cage base. And she can explore out from there.

If the base won't fit then you need to move all her old substrate from the old cage across to the new one - even then it can take two weeks for them to adjust and be settled. And try to set it up so the layout is similar - eg house and wheel in similar locations as before. And any floor toys in a similar location.

I find a transition day works best. ie set up the new tank with substrate and a few toys - any new ones you plan to use - and let her play in it the day before moving. She may not want to be in it very long and may panic and want to come out again, so put her back in her current cage. If that happens, try it again the next day and she should show interest and explore for longer. And put her bck in her current cage again. Then the day after move everything over. If she spends a long time exploring on her first try then just move everything over the day after.

The tricky thing can be where to put them when you're taking things out of the old cage to put in the new one. If you have a pet carrier you could pop her in there. Our last Syrian knew when I was messing with his cage and would get very anxious so I used to put him in his pet carrier in another room with a blanket over the top and he'd just go to sleep.

When you move her into the new, set up tank, it's like starting from scratch - they need two or three days left alone (unless she is showing signs of wanting to come out) and will scent mark and get their bearings. etc. Then don't clean anything for the first two weeks - except the pee place can be spot cleaned. I use a litter tray which makes things much easier and you just empty the litter tray every few days. She may hide away a bit at first.

The main thing I'd say with setting up a large tank is when setting it, to try and make sure it isn't too exposed and there is some "overhead cover" - eg a large house works well (with a large house you can put a litter tray inside and that works well). A shoe box house is ideal. You cut the base out of the shoe box and keep the lid as a lift off roof - for checking inside and emptying the litter tray without having to remove the house so the nest doesn't fall apart. Cut a hole for a door near one end of one of the long sides and put something like a bendy stick bridge over the door entrance - that makes it dark inside. They need somewhere dark to retreat to.

I find if you put the litter tray in the back corner, at the same end as the door they use it and tend to nest at the end furthest away from the door where it's darker.

Move her old nest across when you move her into the new cage too and some of her old hoard if it's underneath, so it helps feel familiar too.

And a level or platform of some kind is almost essential in a tank. It's something to sit under and climb up to but mainly to sit under. The way the Germans do it is to put a long shelf all along the back of the tank. But that would need some diy - but just a piece of wood and some legs made out of wood dowels

I can see the sense in that as then they can travel from one end of the cage to the other, under cover and not feel too exposed.

Most people put a platform at one end - and in between you wold need lots of floor toys so they can dodge and weave and feel safe. I like the large cork log tunnels - an interesting texture to climb over and makes a long dark tunnel in the middle of the cage. Reptile stores sell them.

Some people use Ikea Knuff magazine racks to make shelves (see link below) which is maybe easier.

So basically you probably will need different toys and accessories anyway to some degree - keepig a few old familiar toys would be good but you may have to leave some behind and just accept they won't be useful now.

Basically fill the open space with floor toys, hides and tunnels and different levels of substrate eg, as much as possible, so it doesn't feel too open and exposed. The more "enrichment" you add, the better she can enjoy the extra space and it becomes a real habitat and environment.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ha...w=1252&bih=554
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Old 03-03-2019, 04:09 AM   #3
cypher
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Default Re: Alternating Cages?

Hi & welcome to the forum.

It would be very confusing & stressful for your ham to change cages.
I would just stick to the tank if that's larger & keep your ham in there all the time, you could set up the old cage as a play cage so your ham could have some out of cage time in there or put the old cage open in a playpen for out of cage time & use it that way but don't switch between the two as a main home cage.
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