Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher
I haven't read everything here but I think the alaska you already have would be just fine for a syrian emma, it's a good size & high enough to fit a nice big wheel in, cage sizes etc can start to sound really complicated but you have a good cage so really you just need to think about a larger wheel & house or just use a nice big cardboard box & maybe some tubes or other toys that are more rat or guinea pig size than the ones you see sold for hamsters & that's all you need to begin with anyway.
I doubt many wooden hamster toys or ladders & things would survive boiling tbh, unless it's something you really want to keep it's best to start with new wooden things if you get another ham.
You're right about hay, it can damage their pouches so you have to pick through it carefully to remove any sharp bits & freeze it for at least 48 hrs in case of mites so it's quite a lot of bother & they don't really need it, many hams will just ignore it.
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Ditto! You have a good Syrian cage already - no need to buy another one. It'll be fine and has a nice big front door for access. It'll need disinfecting before use, with a petsafe disinfectant and then a good rinse to get rid of the smell. I wouldn't keep any wood items. Good toys for Syrians are rat tubes or rat sputniks. Another idea for a shoebox house is to keep the lid as a lift-off roof and cut out the bottom, and cut a hole in one side for a door
That way you don't have to take the house out when you want to check inside - just lift the lid/roof off.
My tip would definitely be: potty litter tray - Syrians usually use them. If you fill the base as deep as you can with substrate and a box house on top, you might not even need a shelf, but a smaller corner shelf might be good. You can also tie a rat boredom breaker tube to the side of the cage or the roof as an acess tunnel to the sputnik from a shelf or house roof. I also like Clumsy Pianists set up with one large home made platform on legs, that makes like a second level (check the "show us your cages" thread). The rat sputniks are quite popular with Syrians though - especially if you put some bedding in it.