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Old 03-03-2019, 04:15 AM   #1
Sutty
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 6
Red face Suitable nest/house and moving cages

My son has only had his hamster a week; Called Gizmo I’ve realised the pico XL cage that we have is not suitable so have ordered the Savic heaven cage for tomorrow and will take the tubes and penthouse out much to my sons disappointment. My son didn’t like the Alaska cage (is his birthday present so wanted him to pick) and I haven’t got space for anything bigger, to be honest my hubby is already going to get a shock and won’t be happy on the size when he sees it!

So a couple of questions please

Nest/house- is there any plastic houses suitable , he is currently peeing in his house so want to get something that’s not too big so he hopefully won’t want to pee in it but that I can also clean.

Wheel - I’ve seen a few pictures where people have swapped for 28cm wheels either standing or hung upside down with less depth of base material around this area but as he is only 6-7 weeks old should I change the wheel straight away or could I use the wheel that comes with the cage for a little while?

I will move all the wood shavings to the new cage and add more so he can dig, any more tips for moving him?
At the moment Gizmo is very shy and just freezes or runs if we try to tempt him with food, the last two days I have had to open his bed and pull his bedding a bit otherwise he won’t come out and needed to clean the wet bedding out.

And lastly toys Any tips on what to get, what not to get. At the moment in the old cage I have a wheel, cardboard tube and a wooden tunnel to climb on or hide in, a few wooden chews. To put in the new cage also have a tube seesaw.

Many thanks
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Old 03-03-2019, 05:36 AM   #2
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Suitable nest/house and moving cages

Hello - he will be much better in the hamster heaven, and glad you've removed the tubes and penthouse - he'll be able to develop normal behaviours more easily and less stressful changes needed (as usually the tubes get blocked up etc).

I would add the new wheel at the same time. The small ones they come with are far too small and can cause back problems and pain and if it's uncomfortable to use also he may just stop using it and start bar chewing instead!

The Trixie 28cm wheel is fine and not too expensive. Yes the substrate will need to be a bit lower in the wheel area due to the height of the cage only being about 36cm internally - I just "sloped" it away from there so it was deeper in the rest of the cage. On the plus side the height of the cage means there is less danger of fall risks and also you can attach things to the top bars due to it having a nice big front opening door - which really helps with interaction with the hamster.

When moving him across I find a transition day helps them settle much quicker. So put substrate in the new cage and add the new toys and maybe one of his old toys and pop him in there to explore and play in it. If he freaks out and wants to come out again, pop him back in his old cage and try again the next day. Second time he should be more interested and exploring. Make it interesting to explore so semi set up with at least 3" to 4" deep of new substrate in. If he seems happy exploring the first time then fine, leave him in for a play and explore. Then put him back in his old cage.

Then the day after the exploring session (during which time his scent will be in the new cage), move everything over. As the new cage has a bigger floor area, you can leave the new substrate in and spread the old substrate on top of it - you want at least 3 to 4" - I used to virtually fill the base - so about 5" - it helps cushion any falls and gives them the option to dig and mess about with the substrate - they sometimes like pushing it into piles and burying things in it.

Move his nest across as well and a bit of his old hoard if it's under the nest. And put a big pile of new nesting material out as well. Torn up strips of plain white toilet paper are best and safest - not in the house, just a pile in the cage somewhere and he'll take some to refurbish his nest or build a new one. Sometimes they pouch it to take to the nest.

Scattering some food on the substrate helps distract them as well and hiding the odd treat (especially in the house you want them to use). It's then a bit like starting from scratch with settling in. Leave him alone for 2 or 3 days - just talk throgh the bars - unless he shows he wants to come out. He may be a bit skitty at first. It can take two weeks for them to fully settle in the new cage, although I find doing the transition speeds that up a lot. But don't clean anything in the first two weeks, just spot clean the pee every 2 or 3 days, or empty the litter tray every few days if he's using that.

You could maybe keep the solid shelf and take the other one out - you need to take one of them out to fit a 28cm wheel in.

Houses are quite important. They like to build really big cosy nests and if the house isn't big enough they may ignore it and build an open nest under a shelf. When I had that solid shelf with the little pod house on, our hamster decided to nest in the pod house and it was a complete nightmare as it wasn't big enough and got sweaty and smelly inside being plastic. And he stuffed it so full the top kept popping off, so I ended up removing it and giving him a bigger house at floor level.

The main thing with a house is that it is open underneath and sat on top of the substrate, so they can burrow down to keep warm and bury hoards under their nest. Most people use wood or cardboard houses. It needs to be dark inside -they need somewhere dark to go to to feel secure. Putting a bendy stick bridge over the door helps make it dark inside and adds a "tunnel" entrance so they're more likely to use it.

Smooth Wood houses do need painting with plastikote inside though so they're wipe clean or they can get stinky. A child's shoe box can make a good cardboard box house. Cut the base out and use the lid as a lift off roof so you can check inside without the nest falling apart and cut a door at one end of the long side for an entrance - they tend to nest furthest away from the door where it's darker.

Rodipet make amazing hamster houses but they're not cheap - some have a piece of granite tile for the roof which is good for putting a food bowl on and it helps keep their nails shortened every time they go to get food (rough granite).

To be honest I think that cage works best without the shelves and with a good sized flat roofed house instead of a shelf. It's almost impossible to fit a house under the shelf and once the wheel is in as well it's hard to fit a decent sized house in - but not impossible - depends on which house you get. I had a flat roofed house instead of a shelf and then had smaller screw in shelf or two just over the house - a lava ledge eg and also a hanging rat sputnik - those are great but quite big in the cage. It gives them something to sit under and with that cage they can climb into it from floor level.

I'll add a picture of my layout in that cage a few years ago.

Toys - they're not that interested in toys really - unless it's edible or something to hide in - so floor tunnels, hidey places etc work well. The seesaw would be fine as long as it's not to narrow - they can get stuck in narrow tubes. So they need plenty of "enrichment" and that includes, enough substrate, places to go and things to do - eg a bit of variety - a level to climb onto (but don't get those hanging ladders, they're dangerous). Lots of floor toys like tunnels and hidey places, the odd thing attached to the bars eg.

Most toys sold for hamsters are really too small or dangerous. They're designed for little dwarf hamsters. Syrians do better with rat sized toys and tunnels. Pringles tubes make good floor tubes!

I think it comes with a litter tray doesn't it? That helps massively. They will use a litter tray if you put it in the right place - ie the place they have chosen as their pee spot. So if they don't use it where you've put it, move it to the place they've chosen - often a corner of the cage.

Chinchilla bathing sand is best for the litter tray - it soaks up the pee. Or some people use childrens play sand from Argos (check it's sterilised).

What else. If you're using pine shavings, check on the bag that they are kiln dried and dust extracted. If you want alternatives at some point, Fitch is very popular - it's sold in bulk so works out quite cheap and hamsters like it as it's soft. It's recycled food grade paper. I get the 10kg bag and it lasts for ages.

It's better than Carefresh and cheaper and has no dust. You can also mix two substrates together for variety.

https://www.fitchfirst.co.uk/fitch-p...-delivery.html

These are the rodipet houses - the two room one is popular and fits well in that cage

https://www.rodipet.co.uk/houses/rod...t-rodents.html

A cheaper option also with a lift off roof is this guinea pig house (no nails and it's way too small for a guinea pig and a good size for a hamster). It fits together like a jigsaw. That does need a bendy bridge over the door as it has an extra large door.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ferplast-Gu...AE2678XT04FGB4

Their house is basically a nesting box.

If you get a wood one then you'd need to paint it with plastikote - the enamel paint on version is pet safe and virtually odourless - dries very quickly.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It comes in different colours too if you wanted a colour splash!
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Old 03-03-2019, 07:21 AM   #3
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Suitable nest/house and moving cages

This is one set up I had (identical cage size). The house doubles up as a shelf - it's about the same size as the two room rodipet house linked above. The Ferplast house linked above is slightly smaller but not much. I removed the long bendy bridge though as he didn't like walking on it - too narrow. The rat spunik was always popular - if you put some torn up toilet paper in it - our hammy often sat in there. Initially he didn't but I started putting treats in it and once he found it he used to sit in there and look out. He could also climb out of the cage from it onto the open front door (although my cage was on the floor).

I later added a large tube tied to the roof, leading from the other side of the sputnik across to the house roof, and that made an extra roof run, so a good use of space and keeps things interesting. A pringles tube might do it, or Zooplus sell a nice rat tube that's hard plastic (without the chains - chains are dangerous for feet). With enough substrate our hamster could just climb up into the sputnik from substrate level though.

The Hamster Heaven comes with the smaller sized sputnik -it's a bit small for a syrian - they can fit in but only just. I used that one hung over the house roof and used to put his bit of daily veg in it, separate from his food bowl.

Attachment 47939

Last edited by Pebbles82; 11-27-2022 at 06:44 PM.
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Old 03-03-2019, 07:26 AM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Suitable nest/house and moving cages

I can also recommend these water bottles as well - they come with a little bar fixing. You fix the holder to the bars on the inside of the cage and the bottle just lifts in and out of the holder. The mouse sized bottles are fine for hamsters and the size fits in a cage easier wherever you want it. It's always good to have a spare bottle in case one stops working. At one point I had two bottles in as I was always worried one would stop working after I had an issue with one emptying itself. But these bottles never seem to drip (not much anyway) and always seem to let water out easily. Plus our hamster was nervous and didn't like the sound of the bottle spout on the bars when I removed the previous one in and out.

The holder stays attached to the cage and you just lift the bottle in and out of the holder.

https://www.portonaquapet.co.uk/shop...rinky-B-M42882
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Old 03-03-2019, 07:55 AM   #5
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Suitable nest/house and moving cages

Just to add - he is less likely to pee in his house when it's at substrate level and open underneath, as he can easily walk to his nearby litter tray. They tend not to pee in their houses once they are a few months old and in better habits - baby hamsters sometimes take a few months to get more control. But the house in the Pico is at the top and it's a long way down to the substrate so it encoiurages them to be lazy and just pee in the house and it will get stinky if it's all plastic.

When they have house and toilet at substrate level, you can just "spot clean" the pee area - hopefully he'll use the litter tray. If he does have the odd accident in the nest then you would need to remove the nest, but normally if it's not pee'd in, it's best to leave it and they refurbish it themselves from the pile of toilet paper strips.

If you do have to remove it, try and leave a bit of old dry nest behind so it still smells familiar and he'll rebuild it from the toilet paper strips.

Also just to add - if you've been sold "fluffy bedding" then bin it! It is very dangerous stuff and has led to internal blockages and amputations and all sorts. Torn up strips of plain white toilet paper are best, and they like it - they can kind of weave the strips a bit and make a nice nest.
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Old 03-03-2019, 07:56 AM   #6
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Suitable nest/house and moving cages

Once he's in the HH and has more floorspace and more at floor level,he'll be able to have normal hamstery behaviours. They are quite clean little things if the environment is right
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Old 03-03-2019, 11:03 AM   #7
Sutty
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Join Date: Feb 2019
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Default Re: Suitable nest/house and moving cages

Thank you so much , this is all really helpful! My son likes the idea of painting a wooden house so will have a look at the colours for the plastikote and make sure we get another bendy wood to make a doorway tunnel! Yes the wood shavings and the bedding we have is suitable but the toilet paper is a good idea and probably cost less
I can’t see that it comes with a Sputnik (cage arrives tomorrow) but will order one as it looks like it will offer something different to the other bits in the cage.
Hopefully he will like his new home better!
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Old 03-03-2019, 11:06 AM   #8
Sutty
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 6
Default Re: Suitable nest/house and moving cages

Thank you so much , this is all really helpful! My son likes the idea of painting a wooden house so will have a look at the colours for the plastikote and make sure we get another bendy wood to make a doorway tunnel! Yes the wood shavings and the bedding we have is suitable but the toilet paper is a good idea and probably cost less
I can’t see that it comes with a Sputnik (cage arrives tomorrow) but will order one as it looks like it will offer something different to the other bits in the cage.
Hopefully he will like his new home better!
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Old 03-03-2019, 11:07 AM   #9
Sutty
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Join Date: Feb 2019
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Default Re: Suitable nest/house and moving cages

oops didn’t mean to post that twice !
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cage, wheel, suitable, won’t, clean, bedding, tips, moment, gizmo, i’ve, tube, moving, son, wooden, base, material, depth, 6-7, weeks, change, area, wood, move, straight, lastly


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