Some housing questions...

[Pebbles82]

The 130 litre samla bin (78cm) is fine for a dwarf hamster It's a good option. I wouldn't bother to connect two though. Personally I/m not a fan of connected cages - they do better with everything in one floor space and out of cage time.

[Ria P]

I converted a large Samla for my foster hams, meshed the lid in two separate panels, added a meshed front window and a meshed back vent. Add as much substrate as you can which will increase the floor space and a dwarf will be fine in there. There's room for a house, an upright wheel, a flying saucer wheel, hides and toys etc plus its secure, you can even buy clips to secure the handles and reassure your wife.
If you really feel the hamster doesn't have enough space you still have the option to connect the exsisting bin cage with a tube at a later date.
My two dwarfs live in connected bin cages and i use my nose as a guide of when to clean, usually just spot clean miffy areas. It's hard to find a dwarf's pee spot because they are so small hence pee so little.
I think the fact that your dwarf peed in a tube wasn't a good start but substrate absorbs pee.
Once you are more hamster savy you will probably look back in amusement at your beginner's worries. Last year i was clueless and sought advice here then put it into practice......and on the way became truly obsessed, turned into a batty old hamster lady.

[Pebbles82]

Lol Ria . That sort of describes me haha.

[gtyatt5]

IKEA Samla it is then.

Though I don't like the tedious DIY stuff, it does let me show off in front of my kids (I've never told them I actually suck at these things).

And I think we may as well do what Ria P suggests with the connecting the old one with the Samla once we get it.

But I worry once again...I get that the substrate will absorb pee...but won't it collectively all smell down the line? Yeah, I guess our dwarfy and I began on the wrong foot. But the tube pee leaked quite a lot, which suggested small drops could lead to quite the accumulation.

In any case...Ria P, my sincere apologies for my previous rude remarks. I must say that maybe I do get offended easily and not vice-versa as I'd like to think. But, I really am not one to hold grudges for long.

BUT...I'm not sure becoming hamster-savvy is a good thing for me...hehe

[Ria P]

[QUOTE=gtyatt5;940215
In any case...Ria P, my sincere apologies for my previous rude remarks. [/QUOTE]

Accepted. The fact that i have already apologised to you in advance doesn't say much for my diplomacy skills either.

How smelly it gets, if at all, depends on the individual hamster. I once had a female Syrian foster ham who was a real stinker but have not yet met a smelly dwarf. They tend to pee in the same area and the substrate forms clumps which is easily spot cleaned by removing that area and replacing it with fresh substrate. Like you, i used to worry about the hygiene aspect and thought that i ought to clean my Robos tank after 3 months, couldn't find much in regards of smelly areas but was confronted by a tiny, angry hamster squeaking at me.
You will be surprised how much of a difference deeper substrate makes and how much it reduces the need to clean.

I make bin cages for a rodent rescue and was intrigued by your bin cage. Did you make a front window/door that opens? I'm asking because that is something i have thought about but have so far failed to figure out the functionality of it. I'm always looking for ways to improve my bin cages and yours looks neat.

[Pebbles82]

You could try a litter tray - although dwarf hamsters don't always use them (Syrians usually do). Some will use a sand bath as a toilet. Our robo actually used a corner litter tray inside a house - sometimes - he also pee'd in other parts of the cage but never pee'd in his house or nest.

My suggestion would be to get a labyrinth house for the bin cage. It helps them have normal behaviours - nest in one room, hoard in another and pee in another. Or you could just make one out of cardboard. Put a litter tray in the house. A house with a lift off roof is good as you can easily take out the litter tray without having to remove the house and disturb the nest. Our robo loved his labyrinth house but also had a second nest near his wheel he would move to if I cleaned his toilet inthe labyrinth house.

So he could pee in different places in the cage, but the key is to spot clean any pee areas (take a handful of substrate out and add a new handful and mix it in). If you can;t tell where he's peed and it doesn't smell don't worry about it! The more depth of substrate you have, the better this works. Because I couldn't tell where our robo pee'd I got in the habit of only cleaning one half of the cage at a time rather than spot cleaning. Hence him moving between nests. I'd change about half the substrate at one end of the cage. Then 2 or 3 weeks later do the other half. So one half is always famiiar for them.

If you have plenty of ventilation in the bin cage it should be fine. Cut out a large panel to mesh on the two long sides and the lid as well.

It's the diy that puts me off bin cages! But I'm sure you'll get some good tips on here. A hot knife seems to be the key to cutting the plastic without it cracking.

[Yanathehammie]

I made a ‘labyrinth’ house for my Syrian and she loves it so far. It kinda simulates their burrows in the wild. She pees in one, has a food stash in one, and the other one is where her burrow starts. I would recommend making a cardboard one, instead of buying the wood ones online. I have made them twice now, due to pee soaking in to the cardboard and smelling. Also I wanted to have bigger holes for my Syrian to fit through comfortably, although, that won’t apply to your dwarf.

The cardboard version does take sometime to make and is less sturdy than a wooden one, but i would recommend it!