could this environment be made suitable or should i rehome him?

[chocolatebear]

for various reasons i would rather not get into, i live in an SUV. maybe this was stupid of me but i found an ad in the local online classifieds for a 'free hamster' and he was shown living in a 10 gallon tank (hes a syrian!!) with just a wheel, a food dish and a bottle and when i contacted the ad inquiring about why he was being rehomed i was even more appalled by the answer: my son got bored of him. so long story short i now have a hamster in an SUV and things have been going ok but its only been 4 days. he still lives in his little tank right now and i plan to set up a bin cage for him but i do have a dilemma

is my situation even suitable for him? could it be made suitable? or should i rehome him? its not cold yet, but it does get kinda cold where i live. it also gets hot in the summer but i have searched online for some ways around both issues such as:

- shade cloth/aluminet draped over my car during the day possibly in conjunction with some parking spot that is shaded + windows open (i actually work night shifts so this could work well; i could keep tabs on how hot it is because i'd be in the car too)

- lots of bedding in his cage, maybe a heating pad or similar to rest the cage onto + wrapping the cage in blankets and such to serve as extra insulation when it is cold

and then i was thinking i could get a very high sided/escapeproof playpen type of deal and use that in the trunk area for out of cage time. but i dont know man. i dont want to rehome him (my life sucks and im lonely lol) but i will if its whats best for him.

thoughts?

[Shannonmcn]

I don't think this is a suitable environment, no. You are of course a step up from a person who doesn't care about him at all but the best thing you can do for him is find a person who cares AND who has a safe and suitable environment for him. That's a wonderful gift to give the little guy.

I understand that your situation must be lonely and hey, you're not living in a suitable environment either! I would rehome you as well if I could! But living in an SUV is not in his best interests. I think you know that.

[Ria P]

I don't know in which country you live and what hot and kinda cold means in Degrees but talking about wrapping blankets around a cage etc doesn't sound like a suitable environment for a hamster.
I'd advise you to take the hamster to an animal rescue or maybe you can even locate a hamster rescue where he will be looked after properly.
Your own circumstances aren't any of my business but you say that you work so maybe you will be able to give yourself and this hamster a proper home in the near future.
Best of luck with whatever you're going to do.