Coated wooden boards can't be chewed through because hamsters can only chew on a border and not on a smooth "wall". From the inside of the habitat, the edges are not accessible.
This is what I mean, just normal veneered chipboard (
Nagerhütten are built from this too, if you know them):
So far I haven't heard of any hamster ever chewing through the
Ebay Wooden Cage either.
I know lots of people who use it and the wood will be no problem if it's properly varnished from the inside, but building a cage from veneered (coated) wood makes more sense because that's definitely cheaper and you don't have to varnish it at all. If you look at DIY hamster homes, most of these are made from coated chipboard (the same type that, for example, most IKEA furniture is made of).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000
Thanks for that! Yes that's the information I read. It does make my cage seem small at 80 x 50. What does Randalweib translate as please?!
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Yeah, 80x50 is really small. Many years ago, this was the minimum for dwarf hamsters in Germany but today that information is outdated here as well.
If possible, maybe you could extend your cage to give your hamster more space. If it's a barred cage, though, then the actual floor-space is even less than 80x50 and unfortunately you couldn't extend that, so if that's the case you could look for an aquarium or maybe actually order the Ebay cage. It's really not bad. I used to have it about 4 years ago for my Hybrid.
Good luck, I hope you find a solution.
Ps: Randaleweib is what we call very active female Syrians, they're usually quite destructive if they're kept in too small cages.