A Brand New Beginning For A Rehabilitated Hamster Carer

[ADdage13]

Hi there! I'm ADdage13, 22yo and I'm setting up to adopt a rescue Russian Campbell's named Brian from my local RSPCA. I hope with my new research I can truly give him a good home.

But first, a confession. Unfortunately this is not the first time I have been responsible for a hamster. I had a sweet little Campbell's dwarf (named John) when I was 8 and boy did I do everything wrong(pet store bought, tiny habitrail cage, poor cleaning & nutrition, the works). He was not given a good quality of life and as I've grown up I've determined I will never put a pet through that again. 14 years later I've done months of research and I'm determined to do better.

I wont post pictures just yet, but I've purchased an approximately 1000sqr inch wooden cage that I'm currently sealing with Plastikote. It is multilevel, but I wanted to make sure it had enough height for 8-10 inches of my paper bedding.

I've gotten multiple hides(wooden & paper), an 8inch wheel(wooden), sandbath (with reptile sand) and some wooden seesaws. I'm currently working on a DIY wooden forrage mat base that I can insert sprigs & hay into and hide food among the hay. I know he needs more enrichment, but I'm getting some more toilet roll innards for DIY and waiting to hear which chewing toys he prefers.

I have also ordered Getzoo Dwarf Hamster Food and I'd love to hear your guys reviews. It seems to have a nice variation and low sugar for Campbells and their propensity for diabetes, but I can't find many reviews on it(in english).

I'd love to hear any advice you guys have to make my little guy's cage as perfect as possible both before and after he arrives. Hopefully this can be a great new start for both him and me.

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to HC

You’re certainly not alone having made mistakes in the past, hamster care. has changed so much over the years too so it’s great to hear how you’ve been doing your research & making the best home you can for your new ham.
It all sounds really good, just a couple of things though, not all reptile sand is safe for hams so either chinchilla sand or play sand is best, take care with hay too, best to freeze it for a week just in case of mites & then remove any sharp bits that might damage pouches.

[Ria P]

Hello and welcome to HC!

We've all made mistakes in the past and learnt from them. Your next hamster will have the best life possible and i'm really looking forward to see his habitat once completed.

There's a thread called "Let's see your cages" on the Forum under Housing to browse through if you like.

[ADdage13]

Originally Posted by cypher

Hi & welcome to HC

You’re certainly not alone having made mistakes in the past, hamster care. has changed so much over the years too so it’s great to hear how you’ve been doing your research & making the best home you can for your new ham.
It all sounds really good, just a couple of things though, not all reptile sand is safe for hams so either chinchilla sand or play sand is best, take care with hay too, best to freeze it for a week just in case of mites & then remove any sharp bits that might damage pouches.

Thank you so much for your support and warm welcome! I know not all reptile sand is safe, but due to my limited storage space (play sand) and the fact that not all chinchilla sand is safe either(I've heard most unsafe is called dust though) I have decided to use the same reptile brand that Victoria Rachael uses as she seems to know her stuff.