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Old 01-12-2020, 11:41 AM   #1
Kyrkogrimr
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Default Barney Cage Set Ups

Hi all,

As I've said in various places on the forum, I have syrian male in a Barney cage. He seems pretty happy with it, but I'm struggling to feel like he has enough enrichment, so I was hoping that anyone with a Barney might be willing to share pictures of their set ups? I figured I can't be the only person to struggle with this kind of thing, and I can find it difficult to translate ideas from a different cage to the dimensions I'm working with.

I'll include photos of Hydrogen's cage too

Ps. Don't mind the mug; it's the one I use for carrying Hydrogen from his cage to his playpen at the moment because he's not tame enough for holding/carrying yet.
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Old 01-12-2020, 03:42 PM   #2
Benefitsben
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Default Re: Barney Cage Set Ups

Lmao haven't got my bedding in yet so can't show my setup as I haven't made it, but when I do I'll be sure to share pictures. I have the Barney cage as well and was considering getting a male syrian
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Old 01-12-2020, 04:02 PM   #3
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Barney Cage Set Ups

I have a few pics of my various set ups in the Barney. Some are on the “let’s see your cages “ thread. Others on various posts. Will add some here if you like but can’t right now.

Your set up looks to have a lot of enrichment. The way I think about it (after trial and effort) is to think about accessibility and stability of items. Eg can they access shelves/items easily, are ramps sturdy, could they fall off anything or land on anything hard or sharp, is the water bottle in an accessible place, is the wheel stable- that kind of thing. Also to think about their priorities - which are nesting, hoarding , foraging/feeding and feeling secure in the cage with plenty of hidey places and tunnels, which you seem to have.

The only thing I’d be careful about is the fleece items- if chewed that can be dangerous - maybe your hammy doesn’t chew the hammock but I’d keep an eye on it - even a loose cotton thread could get tied round a limb. Fuzz it’s make fleece hammocks that have safe stitching and no inner wadding - but the eyelets need consideration and hanging carefully.

I would remove the fleece tunnel though , just in case - replace it with a different tunnel maybe. I like the rosewood hyacinth tunnels. The small size is plenty big enough for a hamster and they’re safe to chew on - they have side holes fur interest as well.
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Old 01-12-2020, 05:00 PM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Barney Cage Set Ups

Here are some of mine if it helps. The first two were for our older Syrian, Charlie. The next one ws for our last Syrian, Newt, and the last two are the current set up before the wheel was added - it is now at the back where the back shelf is on the photo. Since then I've added a cork log in the middle of the cage and replaced the ceramic house (it got broken) with a coconut hut screwed to the roof. The pictures aren't that good - sorry - so you can't see everything inside well - the silver bars don't help either.

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Last edited by Pebbles82; 11-27-2022 at 06:50 PM.
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Old 01-12-2020, 11:27 PM   #5
Maker
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Default Re: Barney Cage Set Ups

Hi, serendipity, what wood do you use for your shelves, I’m struggling to find anything untreated in the uk
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Old 01-13-2020, 05:30 AM   #6
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Barney Cage Set Ups

Hi. The main shelf is the one that came with the Barney cage which has been painted with plastikote so it’s wipe clean. Plastikote is fine in the water based raisin in the little pot - doesn’t smell of anything really and pet safe.

The other shelves are from ranch house cages on eBay. They’re kiln dried pine and perfectly safe. It is pine shavings that are the problem due to the increased surface area of the shavings for releasing phenols.

Anyway ranch house cages do a very good selection of sizes and shapes, packs of shelves and will make a custom size as well. I painted those with plastikote as well. Actually none of our hamsters has ever pee’d in a shelf but I did have one ruined by a leaking water bottle once.

The other thinner corner shelf in some photos I got from German Amazon - I’ve had that one a few times. It isn’t very big but a nice shelf and well made. That is birch wood ply. You have to be careful with some plywood due to the amount of glue used in making it but the German birch wood ply is fine.

In the first set up - the right hand “shelf” is actually the roof of a Rodipet labyrinth house which is raised on legs- this was the best set up I had really - worked well. I changed it slightly with different hamsters just to avoid familiarity after one died. In that set up, the long narrow shelf at the back is from ranch house cages. They come with the fittings needed for bars - washers, nuts and screws and pre drilled holes in the shelves.

The labyrinth house killed two birds with one stone- hamsters like the rooms inside because it’s dark and there are separate areas for nesting, peeing and hoarding, and the flat roof makes an additional platform if the house is raised. It’s too heavy to sit on top of the substrate which would be risky too as it could subside into the hamster if they tunnel under it. So it needs to be in legs to sit on top of the substrate. I stuck dowels onto it the first time as legs but Rodipet actually make legs for that house now. The dowels are easier to cut to the right height though if you need to get the legs a certain height.

In the third photo I have that house as a subterranean house - ie sitting on the cage base so it doesn’t need supporting with a bit of substrate inside and the corner shelf over it. That didn’t work so well really as they can’t bury hoards under their nest so it needed spot cleaning more often. A house with a lift off roof can be good as you can put a litter tray inside and then just lift the roof off to remove the litter tray to empty it.

I’ll link the shelves and house. The house is a bit expensive but also can double up as a shelf when it’s raised on legs. I plastikoted the inside of that as well to protect it and make it wipe clean. The Germans sometimes stick ceramic tiles inside to make it wipe clean!
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Old 01-13-2020, 05:36 AM   #7
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Barney Cage Set Ups

This is the Syrian sized Rodipet house. There are two versions - one with a large hole on top that a teracotta food dish sits in. The other version has the flat roof. Pros and cons to both. The flat roof makes a good shelf. But the large hole under the terracotta dish means you can lift the toilet out without taking the whole roof off if the toilet is in the compartment under the large hole. Except Newt decided to pee in a different compartment so that was no advantage!
https://www.rodipet.co.uk/houses/rod...erracotta.html
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Old 01-13-2020, 05:42 AM   #8
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Barney Cage Set Ups

https://www.rodipet.co.uk/houses/rod...26-cm-7cm.html

This is ranch house cages - I think the long shelf I had at the back was 30cm x 10 cm. current set up has a smaller house and a bigger shelf but the labyrinth house was better value.

https://www.m.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?...ne=true&_pgn=1
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Old 01-13-2020, 05:47 AM   #9
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Barney Cage Set Ups

This is the shelf from German amazon. I didn’t use one of the ladders, which are sold separately but used the coloured bendy bridges from ranch house cages which screw to the bars. They are really good as they’re stable and stay where you put them - ie don’t sink into the substrate.

https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B008OQ...Q6PCDDEQ&psc=1
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Old 01-15-2020, 03:48 PM   #10
Benefitsben
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Default Re: Barney Cage Set Ups

Got my cage done now, so I can share my setup lol. Bedding is about 6-10 inches deep (I put cardboard on one corner so I could put more bedding) and the wheel is 28 cm (about 11 in)
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cage, barney, ups, set, thing, include, photos, working, hydrogens, translate, ideas, difficult, find, dimensions, moment, holding/carrying, tame, playpen, hydrogen, mug;, mind, kind, carrying, pictures, male

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