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Pebbles82 · 07-01-2020, 07:21 AM

Just give your hammy loads of substrate and a nice big house that's dark inside and they'll be happy. Plus a wheel and toys of course. You also need to suss out their personality - some are very shy and retiring - some a lot more active and gregarious. A shy hamster can feel a bit nervous with space so then you need plenty of overhead cover - as in plenty of floor toys and tunnels - larger ones are good too - so they feel safe moving around the cage. Generally you don't want too much open floor space anyway or they'll just stick to the edges - so plenty of things to fill up the cage. Things like cardboard egg boxes and tissue boxes make good extra hidey places and cardboard toilet roll or kitchen roll tubes.

A good house/nesting box can be made from a shoe box. For a dwarf maybe a child's size shoe box or smaller shoe box. You cut the base out and keep the lid as a lift off roof and the house sits on top of the substrate, open underneath. Cut a hole for a door at one end of the one of the long sides (this makes the other end darker and they tend to nest at the darkest end). If you put a litter tray inside as well - opposite the entrance - they may even use it!

A lift off roof is good on a house/nesting box as it means you can check inside/empty the litter tray without having to remove the house so it means their nest doesn't fall apart. They are very precious about their nests - and you can leave the nest alone for a very long time as long as it isn't pee'd in. Which sometimes happens at first when they're new.

Assume you know about substrate/litter and nesting material? For nesting material,plain white toilet paper is best - it's safe and they like it. You just tear a few sheets into strips and put a pile of it in the cage on top of the substrate - but not actually inside the house. They choose where to nest, and pouch or carry the paper to where they decide to build their nest. This is why it's good to provide a good house or they can nest somewhere inconvenient! But they will almost always choose a good sized house that's dark inside, for nesting - it mimics a burrow.

For substrate there is a lot of choice. Most people go with paper based these days. Any wood shavings need to be labelled as kiln dried pine and dust extracted but there are a lot better alternatives including Hemp and Kaytee Clean and Cosy. Hemp is a bulk substrate so can be cheaper - or you can use a bit of both for variety.

07-01-2020, 07:21 AM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: Help with wood cages? Just give your hammy loads of substrate and a nice big house that's dark inside and they'll be happy. Plus a wheel and toys of course. You also need to suss out their personality - some are very shy and retiring - some a lot more active and gregarious. A shy hamster can feel a bit nervous with space so then you need plenty of overhead cover - as in plenty of floor toys and tunnels - larger ones are good too - so they feel safe moving around the cage. Generally you don't want too much open floor space anyway or they'll just stick to the edges - so plenty of things to fill up the cage. Things like cardboard egg boxes and tissue boxes make good extra hidey places and cardboard toilet roll or kitchen roll tubes. A good house/nesting box can be made from a shoe box. For a dwarf maybe a child's size shoe box or smaller shoe box. You cut the base out and keep the lid as a lift off roof and the house sits on top of the substrate, open underneath. Cut a hole for a door at one end of the one of the long sides (this makes the other end darker and they tend to nest at the darkest end). If you put a litter tray inside as well - opposite the entrance - they may even use it! A lift off roof is good on a house/nesting box as it means you can check inside/empty the litter tray without having to remove the house so it means their nest doesn't fall apart. They are very precious about their nests - and you can leave the nest alone for a very long time as long as it isn't pee'd in. Which sometimes happens at first when they're new. Assume you know about substrate/litter and nesting material? For nesting material,plain white toilet paper is best - it's safe and they like it. You just tear a few sheets into strips and put a pile of it in the cage on top of the substrate - but not actually inside the house. They choose where to nest, and pouch or carry the paper to where they decide to build their nest. This is why it's good to provide a good house or they can nest somewhere inconvenient! But they will almost always choose a good sized house that's dark inside, for nesting - it mimics a burrow. For substrate there is a lot of choice. Most people go with paper based these days. Any wood shavings need to be labelled as kiln dried pine and dust extracted but there are a lot better alternatives including Hemp and Kaytee Clean and Cosy. Hemp is a bulk substrate so can be cheaper - or you can use a bit of both for variety.