Cage advice for new owner (hopefully)

[Alio]

Hi everyone

After a number of years of asking we have agreed that my daughter can now have a hamster. We have looked at loads of websites and have decided that we would prefer a male Syrian. We have been to Pets at Home and they have hamsters there that we can have now but we don’t have a cage and are really struggling. I can see that the hamster needs lots of space but unfortunately we don’t have the space that some of the cages require. We have found the Qute hamster and gerbil cage online. This has a really deep bottom which I can see is important but just not sure about it overall and any comments would be very much appreciated.

The dimensions are 48cm wide / 37cm deep and 67cm high. For some reason I can’t upload a photo of this.

Thanks for your help.

[LunaTheHamster1]

Hi, unfortunately that cage is not really big enough, it is also quite expensive for something that is not really in the best interests of the hamster.

I know you said you are having problems fitting a bigger cage in your home, but are you able to rearrange something? Cages can also fit on a table or a shelf and it would still work if the cage over lapped a bit.

About the absolute minimum for a syrian I would say is 80cm x 50cm which would be the Alaska (currently unavailable).
Personally I wouldn't go anything smaller than 100cm x 50cm, so you would be looking at something like the Savic Plaza or Barney cage.

Due to brexit and covid there seems to be a shortage of suitable cages around at the moment, have you looked on 2nd hand websites near where you live?

[Pebbles82]

The Qute is a terrible cage unfortunately- sorry! It looks lovely and a nice piece of design but not suitable for hamsters. It has that vertical tube which is not easy for hamsters for access to the top half, and when they get older wouldn’t be able to manage it at all. Part of the top floor is mesh which can cause foot problems, it is notorious for escapes (the hamster pushes out the bottom bin and gets out that way) but it’s also the wrong dimensions. They need more floor area and less height, as ground dwellers. They also need an 11” wheel which, if it fitted, would fill most of the space.

I had the same problem when we got our first hamster and bought a totally unsuitable cage to fit the only space we had. Very quickly there were problems- the hamster had cage aggression and a bit depressed sometimes then got stuck in a tube (some Syrians grow quite large and need rat sized toys and houses). I did a bit of googling and found the minimum size for a Syrian was 80cm x 50cm floor area and not too tall. And found HC as well (a few years ago now).

I did some creative thinking in our living room and rejigged it to fit the cage. This meant moving a piece of furniture to an upstairs bedroom and swapping it out with a tall bookcase - it was great actually - I ended up with a lot more storage and a lot more floor space. Our cage lived on the floor tucked into a bay window area so it didn’t get kicked. And I then wished I had bought a 100cm cage!

It’s true it’s hard to get cages at the moment but one thing that is available and is a good size for a Syrian is the maxi duna multy on Amazon. It’s 100cm tank style Perspex cage - looks very nice, easy to lift if needed. It would sit nicely on top of a chest of drawers. Doesn’t matter if there’s a bit of overhang at the sides. Or a coffee table. It’s the width you need to find space for. It can be better to spend the money on a table or piece of furniture and get a cheaper cage, so as to rejig the living room if that is where the cage would go.

Another option, if you don’t mind a minor bit of diy- is a detolf - IKEA glass cabinet turned on its side and the door left off. You need to make two lift off lids out of strips of wood with mesh staples to them.

A lot of people have these stood on top of kallax units so you have lots of storage underneath and it makes a very attractive focal point for the room - the cage looks like furniture.

If you Google “hamster detolf “ and click on images you will see some examples. It also gives plenty of space for a hamster so you don’t end up needing to upgrade later. If the first cage is too small the hamster is likely to develop stress behaviours such as bar chewing (and they can even chew through a plastic cage base. And then it gets stressful and means buying another cage.

Have a think about it. I found it turned a problem into a better looking living room!

This is the maxi duna multy

Ferplast Large Plastic Cage for Rabbits and Guinea Pigs MAXI Duna Multi House for Dwarf Rabbits, Small Animals , Ventilation Grid, Transparent Roof, Grill and Plastic Bottom, 99 x 51,5 x h 36 cm: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

There’s a review of it here

Maxi Duna Multy Has Arrived!

Also have a think about which room would be best for the cage.

[Pebbles82]

Pets at home also have the hamster heaven and the Ferplast cricketi 15. Those two are the minimum size for a Syrian really. And you do need a Syrian sized wheel. The trixie 28cm wheel is popular - but doesn’t leave a lot of space on those cages once it’s in there- for a house and toys etc. Of the two the hamster heaven is better as it has a big front opening door (the criceti is top access only). The big front door makes for much better interaction with the hamster and can make taming easier. But the colourful plastic contents are no good and the cage works much better with most of them removed except for the solid shelf. The tubes and penthouse need to go or the hamster will just stuff up the tubes with bedding and pee in them. If you just keep the one solid shelf you have space for a 28cm wheel and a decent sized house/nesting box (a child’s shoe box makes a good house). The little pod houses are too small.

It helps to understand the hamsters behaviours to get a set up right. With the right set up the are very clean tidy little things. Their basic needs are - a house or nesting box big enough to build a large cosy nest. With the house open underneath and sat on top of substrate so they can bury their hoards under their nest. And they will use a litter tray so the cage stays mostly clean and dry and you just empty the litter tray once or twice a week. At least 4” depth of substrate/litter (also helps keep the cage clean and you can just spot clean mainly. Full cleanouts aren’t recommended. Spot cleaning is better as and when necsessary and not cleaning everything at the same time or they can get a lot of stress and develop abnormal behaviours of all their familiar scent is removed.

It might seem a lot of substrate but it works out cheaper as you change it much less often. I only change it about every 3 months with a litter tray and even then I leave about half of it in (the bottom clean half) and mix it in with the new - so it still smells familiar- they don’t see well and use scent to find their way around and claim their territory. We can’t smell their scent trails but they can.

They visibly have much more confident happy behaviour of the cage is the right size. And are then easier to hand tame.

[Alio]

Thank you LunaTheHamster1 and Serendipity7000. Really helpful. We’ve decided to go for the Savic Plaza. We’ll get it all set up and ensure all works prior to getting the hamster.

I’m sure we’ll have more questions but can see that the forum is a great source of information.

[LunaTheHamster1]

Alio, that is a good cage, hope your hamster likes it.