Register FAQ Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Navigation
Front Page
Forum
Gallery
Wiki

Ads by Google


Go Back   Hamster Central > Hamster Central Forum Topics > Introductions

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-25-2020, 08:50 PM   #1
mikityp
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 6
Default Hamster cage location

Hello everybody,

I was really hoping you could help me with a query about cage location within a house. We are due to get two dwarf hamsters tomorrow and we have everything set up. However, I have just realised that the cage is possibly too close to the TV. One part is about 1 m away. So we could put the cage on the other side of the living room, but this would mean that the cage is about 0.75 m away from a radiator. We could put the cage downstairs in the dining room, but with COVID my wife is working there and the room is therefore fairly noisy on most days including the weekends. The living room is the quietest room in the house when the kids are at school. The only other possibility is on the landing, but we may bump into the cage accidentally on our way past as it would be in the way. Which location do you think is the best one? Thanks so much for your help!
mikityp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-26-2020, 04:46 AM   #2
cypher
Dwarf whisperer
 
cypher's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Wales UK
Posts: 24,789
Default Re: Hamster cage location

About 1 metre from the tv should be fine, as long as it’s not overly loud, they soon adjust to normal household noises & it shouldn’t be a problem, better than being too close to a radiator & I definitely wouldn’t put them on a landing, a room where you can be around them & interact with them is best.
Are you planning on keeping two together? If that is the case do be aware that almost all pairs fall out once they reach maturity, all ham species are actually solitary & should be housed alone, if you do get two you will almost certainly need another cage set up & ready as they can fall out & fight at any time so have a think about that before bringing them home.
__________________
Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri
❤️
cypher is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-26-2020, 06:03 AM   #3
Pebbles82
Hamster Antics
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Hamster cage location

Do you need that radiator on? That might sound silly but we have our living room radiator turned off and have a Dragon oil filled heater instead And the fire. And put the heater where we want it in the room. It is actually not that far from the hamster cage, but it's on a thermostat, so it only comes on when the temperature gets below a certain level and is much more adjustable than the standard radiator. Personally I'd go with the far end of the living room but ensure the radiator is set on low. And have another heat source elsewhere.

As Cypher said, pairs need a careful set up. Which cage do you have.

No levels. Two of everything (houses, wheels, water bottles), scatter feeding is better than using bowls but if you use bowls you want two of those as well. They may only use one but need another one to retreat to if they need space from each other.

Even tunnels etc need to be big enough that they can both fit inside or one can guard the entrance. All the above is to prevent one becoming territorial about the cage or an area of the cage - as that can lead to them falling out.

Even to the point of only taking them both out at the same time. If you take one out for playtime and leave the other one in the cage, the one in the cage can quickly become territorial and not accept the second one returning.

Houses need more than one entrance - two or multiple entrances. So if one blocks an entrance or exit, the other one can still get out. Easiest option is a shoe box or tissue box with holes cut in

If you haven't got all this for tomorrow - the two wheels etc (houses you can make easily enough). Then don't worry - you can add the odd thing afterwards. The main thing is no levels. So no shelves or platforms.

Any change of environment can cause them to start squabbling - eg the move to your house. So once they are in their cage you need to carefully follow settling in needs and keep an eye on things. Settling in needs are basically - leave them alone for a couple of days, then for the next two weeks don't clean out or change things/move things around. This allows them to scent mark and become familiar with the cage set up and develop habits. Spot cleaning mostly is better ongoing anyway so you won't need to do a full clean out too often. Providing you have enough depth of substrate (at least 4" but 6" is better). They may use a sand bath for a toilet but will still pee in various places. The pee is the only thing that needs spot cleaning really and if you can't find it, don't worry about it!

But yes you will need a spare cage in case they start fighting. Squabbles can quickly lead to a fight to the death. If you haven't got a spare cage, then a plastic storage box would do as an emergency cage (at least 60 x 40cm size).
Pebbles82 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-26-2020, 06:14 PM   #4
mikityp
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 6
Default Re: Hamster cage location

Thank you both for your wonderful replies. I used to have a Syrian hamster, but this is the first time with dwarf hamsters. In terms of the housing, we managed to move the furniture around so that they are now both a couple of metres away from the TV and not along the same wall as the radiators, bit disappointed I didn't think of that before! You were both spot on with the fighting aspect. In the pet store, they were both in a roomy cage with about six others. These two seemed to be fairly close to each other, so we thought they might be OK and went for them. After a couple of minutes on the way home, we noticed that the larger one was just skulking in some of the tubes. Whenever the smaller one would come into the tube it would be aggressive. We thought they might be alright when they got home and we put them in the larger network that we had. However, the same thing was happening every time the smaller one came in the tube. So after a bit we had enough and separated them. The larger one remained in the tube for a few hours, but you could just feel her relief when she realised that the smaller one wasn't there any more. She is now happily going round her wheel at the moment! We knew they might not get on when they were mature, but we thought they would be OK with each other at first, especially as we made sure we got two wheels, two houses etc. Now one is under a network of tables that we set up and the other one is on top. We've gone for Ferplast cages and tubes and we have ordered some more today so that they will have a couple of cages each, a separate wheel, and a network of tubes that are on the same level. So hopefully everything will be OK when they come in the next couple of days.
mikityp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2020, 01:09 PM   #5
Engel
Hamster Addict
 
Engel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Shropshire, UK
Posts: 923
Default Re: Hamster cage location

Both my hamsters are in my bedroom about 1m away from the radiator and 2m from the tv, they do perfectly well. Especially when sharing a room with rats aswell (pet rats Ill add).

Maybe have a digital thermometer next to the cage so if it gets too hot, over 25C, or too cold, under 15C you'll know

The general rule with the dwarf hamsters is just because they COULD live together doesn't mean they SHOULD. You've done the most responsible thing and separated them! They'll be happier and it'll be easier for you.

Cant wait to see photos of the little ones
__________________
🐹Slave to Ares 🐹 - 🐶 2 dogs, 🐷 8 pigs. 🌈 Forever in my heart, 🐹 Lilith, Athena, Nikolai, Ghost & Mania 🐀 Inky & Splat 🐶 Beau ❤️
Engel is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
cage, room, location, put, living, house, school, possibility, kids, weekends, working, fairly, noisy, including, days, quietest, bump, wife, accidentally, past, landing, downstairs, possibly, due, realised

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.43 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Copyright © 2003-2022, Hobby Solutions
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 02:44 AM.