Winnie!! +new cage

[Sharkie]

Hello! A couple of months ago I posted a question about cages after i found out that the one I had wasn't suitable. Eventually, I decided to get the Savic hamster heaven metro cage instead of making a new diy cage, because it seemed like the best option for me. It's absolutely massive!
I do have a question for anyone else with the cage: Can hamsters have trouble getting up the ladders to the platforms? They seem a bit steep.

A few days ago, I got a new hamster! I was missing my last hamster very much so it's nice to have a furry friend again She's a golden Syrian. I got her from Pets at Home and they said she's about 11 weeks. She seemed the friendliest one there.

I named her Winnie! Right now she is in a smaller travel cage that I have (rotastak natro) before I move her into the (MUCH bigger!) new cage :^) I am trying to tame her at the moment. She did bite after I tried gently scooping her up, but she does seem quite lively and will come out after hearing me, so I think she should come around soon with a bit of patience.

I will try to post pictures soon!

[CMB]

I don't have the same cage, but you could try putting deeper substrate in and it should help the ladder be less steep. Or have something under the end of the ladder to also make it less steep.

As your hamster grows you may need to remove the ladder as the hole in the platform may be too small for the hamster to get through and it could get stuck.

The tubes are often not used by some people with this cage as the hamster may pee/hoard food/sleep in them. It can make taming harder to as the hamster can just stay in a tube and avoid contact.

[cypher]

Congrats on your new ham!
I have the HH but never used the shelves or accessories as I prefer to do my own set ups but the lower shelf should be fine as the base needs to be pretty much filled with substrate, the higher shelf may be a problem but you could just not use it, by the time you have a big wheel, a house (no base, on the substrate) & some toys in there it would be a bit cramped with the two shelves imo, I would most definitely advise against using the tubes & pent house especially with a new ham, just use the bits that come with the cage to block off the holes.

[Pebbles82]

The hamster heaven is a great cage with a lovely big front opening door. I had one of the same platforms/ladders in my Savic cage - it was the slide type ladder. They don't have problems using it, but our Syrian was a bit scared of it at first and used to climb up the bars to the platform instead Once he got a bit more confidence he happily used it to go up and down - and then the blooming thing broke so I just took the shelf out and put a large flat roofed house in instead.

Anyway. How long has she been in the Natro? If it's more than 3 weeks you could move her over gradually. I moved our Syrian into a similar sized cage after 3 weeks and did it cold turkey - which stressed him out a lot - I felt terrible. So I think it can be a good idea to put substrate in it and let her play in it for a while - one day play, one day off, one day play in it. Then move her over. That way she's had chance to explore it and scent it a bit so it won't be so strange.

The large front door should help with taming. I would think about set up before you move her as well. As CMB says - the cage works best with the tubes and penthouse removed and the tube holes blocked off. The shelves and little pod houses are ok, but the little houses aren't very big to nest in, so you could have one of the shelves higher up and a house under it, or take one of them out completely to make space for a house and larger wheel (I think that's what I'd do).

I'll post a photo below of what our Savic Mickey 2XL (same cage basically - same size) looked like with one shelf in. You could make a house/nesting box out of a shoebox with a hole cut in for a door so she has somewhere dark to retreat to and plenty of space to build a nest in it. The wheel in the hamster heaven is too small as well. Syrians usually need an 11" wheel, but an 8" would do while she's young until you see how big she grows (although if you need to get a wheel I'd get an 11" anyway - they run better in them).

So I reckon with one shelf, a house, 11" wheel and about 5 inches of substrate, plus a few toys (hidey places the odd tube) you'd be set to go.
But if you want to leave both the shelves etc in that's fine too - I'm sure she'll enjoy it - might be tricky to fit a wheel in though. To be honest the plastic contents aren't that important - the cage itself is great on its own - well made, not too big, not too small and really good front access. Our hammy liked to step out of the front door onto a big cushion

Also Syrians are usually better with rat sized toys - the sputnik and pod houses in the HH are nice but a bit cramped for a Syrian. Rat sized sputniks are popular.

Here's what it might look like with one shelf in (our old Savic cage). Note I took the hanging ladder out shortly after that - it's dangerous!



I ended up having the large rat sputnik where the hanging ladder was and tying a cardboard rat tube inside the roof between the sputnik and a house roof (after the ladder broke and I took the shelf out) and it ended up looking like this





The rat sputniks are good in this cage because they hang quite low and our hammy could climb up/pull himself up from the substrate level

Anyway - when you move her, keep ALL her current substrate from the smaller cage - don't be tempted to clean - it's important to move her familiarity and scent with her so she settles into the new cage better. If you put about 5" of new substrate in the Hamster Heaven, you can spread the old substrate out on top of it. Also don't clean any toys etc before moving them and try and put them in similar places as before. Try and keep her nest in tact and move some of that across too, under a shelf maybe - she might abandon it or she might move it somewhere. And put a big pile of torn up strips of white toilet paper in a pile on top of the substrate somewhere so she can pouch it to rebuild the nest and make it bigger or whatever.

[Sharkie]

Thank you very much for your replies! I appreciate it.
Unfortunately, I moved Winnie into the HH before I checked this thread again. I'm afraid I didn't introduce it to her gradually. I don't think there's a lot i can do about it now . I did at least move some of the old substrate in, though. She seems content enough but I did replace the steep plastic ladders with some wooden toys I already had, since she was having trouble with them.

I might consider taking out the higher platform to replace it with a bigger wooden house, because I think she might outgrow the current hidey holes I have. She is quite a big hamster (compared to my last one, Tango). It does seem a bit of a shame to block off the tube, though.
Tomorrow I'll add some more substrate as I didn't realise you should add that much. I'll also try and find a box for a darker place for her.

[chesca_27]

I love the HH cage. I don't have it, but built one for my best friend's Syrian hamster. She is absolutely massive, yet fits into all the shelf hideys.

There's not much to do about the sudden move now although adding back some of the things she had pre-cage move might comfort her, otherwise leave her to settle in.

The green level thing is greatly enjoyed by my friend's hamster as well.

Roof hanging toys might be nice, like a Sputnik or hanging tubes as Serendipity demonstrated. You could certainly replace a shelf for a labyrinth house. If you haven't already, add a sand bath as Winnie will probably like it and potty train herself.

The best thing to do is to take inspiration from the "Let's see your cages" thread.

[Sharkie]

thanks for the advice chesca_27! I'll have a good look for hanging toys because there is certainly a lot of room for those in the cage.

The cage comes with a potty and I managed to potty train my hamster before so hopefully Winnie will get used to using that.
I do have bathing sand but I wasn't sure how best to use it? I tried putting some a few inches deep in a steep container but my last hamster Tango wasn't too enamoured. Is that the right way to do it?

[AmityvilleHams]

If you use hanging toys just be careful not to use anything with gaps in it that can lead to falls(mostly bird ladders as mentioned but there are tons of small pet marketed toys that are very dangerous with gaps)and also avoid chain as chain can cause injury due to catching toes,teeth,claws,etc.I'd also recommend avoiding bells too,but these can generally be removed from toys You can also remake toys into new ones using hamster safe string(sisal/hemp/jute would be perfect)and just be creative with different chews etc.

A few cm of sand in a species appropriate container based on size is all you need.Inches of sand can be problematic as it'll create more dust,which you always want to keep at a minimal level when dealing with delicate respiratory systems.Cereal bowls,some terracotta plant trays,properly sized jars,etc can make great sand baths and it doesn't have to be anything expensive either!

[Sharkie]

Thanks AmityvilleHams, I'll keep that in mind when I look for hanging toys :^) Remaking toys sounds like a useful idea.
I'll try out a sand bath with Winnie once she's more confident with being handled I think she's still quite apprehensive of me.

I also found a box for her to nest in today. I realised that she's outgrown some of the old toys I had already! The tip about rat toys will probably come in really useful in future

[Sharkie]

Winnie came out onto my hand today!! She seemed much more comfortable than the first time I tried holding her- she bit. She still mouthed my fingers a little bit but she probably just smelled treats. She is VERY fast! but she still sat still in my hands for a while.
Hopefully I'll be able to take a picture soon!