Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000
How small is the cage? Some people start off a hamster in a smaller cage while settling/taming and then upgrade them. But smaller doesn’t mean “small” as such! If it’s for a Syrian and the cage is too small you could start out with problems like bar biting and other stress behaviour such as cage aggression. It would be better to have something like the Hamster Heaven or Alaska cage from Zooplus. If it’s for a dwarf hamster and no less than 60 x 40 it might be fine as a starter cage as long as it’s not a high cage.
If the cage isn’t suitable it would be better to get one that is and keep the one your friend is giving you as a “play cage “ - eg somewhere to put the hamster when you’re doing a cage clean.
Wood items will need to be disinfected thoroughly if used by another hamster and those kind of items can transfer disease- depending what your friend’s hamster died of - but sometimes it’s unknown if there was disease. Bark wood items are not easy to disinfect - some people say to bake them. Personally I wouldn’t use the wood items. You can make a lot if hamster stuff from cardboard - a shoebox makes a good house and a tissue box a good hide. Pringles tubes make good tunnels. Any plastic or ceramic items are ok as they can be washed in washing up liquid and be fine.
The Johnson’s clean and safe could be handy but normally you don’t need it for a cage clean - warm soapy water is fine. Disinfectant just needed for disease but the donated cage would need fully disinfecting before use. Give it a rinse and good airing afterwards as hamsters can be overpowered by scents.
Re the hemp - I have asthma and anything grassy sets me off .
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Thank you! I think the cage is too small although when I asked her initially for advice she said you have to have a large cage. I’m pretty sure hers was less than 450sq inches though she seemed apprehensive to show me. I’m going to make Lyn own cage with my dad, hopefully out of melamine and glass.
I might decide not to borrow the stuff from her as there isn’t a lot and now I’m unsure of what her hamster died of — I think it was diabetes.
I don’t think I’ll be using hemp as even waking in the forest makes me sneezy.