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Pebbles82 · 09-03-2020, 09:16 AM

Quite a few people do start them off in a smaller cage, for taming and the Hamster Heaven would be good for that. And yes you can upgrade later when you see how he goes. I found the height of some cages freaks a nervous hamster out (even with lots of enrichment and things above etc to give overhead cover). Upgrading can be done carefully if he later seems to need more space. The Hamster Heaven is quite low so not so intimidating (although you really need to start with an empty cage and get rid of the tubes and penthouse so he can have normal behaviours). It is a bit restricting on what you can fit in for a Syrian - an 11" wheel takes up almost a third of the cage width wise due to the sloping base - so you then need a more space savng house to allow for enough floor space. ie a house that is longer and less deep rather than a squarer one that sticks out more. But there are a number of houses that would do nicely. The Ferplast Sin guinea pig house or Rodipet do a nice two room house that fits well.

It depends how nervous he is. Newt used to hide away a lot in the 100cm Barney but gained in confidence as he got older. Pickle, couldn't get on with the Barney at all and was very jumpy every time the top door was opened. I ended up downgrading him to something the size of the Hamster Heaven! He was much happier and is now more confident and laid back. I'm about to upgrade him again now to another cage with a front opening door. So he is a hamster who would have benefitted from starting in a smaller cage. Sometimes it is access as much as size as well - a front opening cage is easier for interaction and taming and no hands coming from above.

What is he in at the moment? It could be the set up needs adjusting.

09-03-2020, 09:16 AM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: Nervous syrian, smaller cage? Quite a few people do start them off in a smaller cage, for taming and the Hamster Heaven would be good for that. And yes you can upgrade later when you see how he goes. I found the height of some cages freaks a nervous hamster out (even with lots of enrichment and things above etc to give overhead cover). Upgrading can be done carefully if he later seems to need more space. The Hamster Heaven is quite low so not so intimidating (although you really need to start with an empty cage and get rid of the tubes and penthouse so he can have normal behaviours). It is a bit restricting on what you can fit in for a Syrian - an 11" wheel takes up almost a third of the cage width wise due to the sloping base - so you then need a more space savng house to allow for enough floor space. ie a house that is longer and less deep rather than a squarer one that sticks out more. But there are a number of houses that would do nicely. The Ferplast Sin guinea pig house or Rodipet do a nice two room house that fits well. It depends how nervous he is. Newt used to hide away a lot in the 100cm Barney but gained in confidence as he got older. Pickle, couldn't get on with the Barney at all and was very jumpy every time the top door was opened. I ended up downgrading him to something the size of the Hamster Heaven! He was much happier and is now more confident and laid back. I'm about to upgrade him again now to another cage with a front opening door. So he is a hamster who would have benefitted from starting in a smaller cage. Sometimes it is access as much as size as well - a front opening cage is easier for interaction and taming and no hands coming from above. What is he in at the moment? It could be the set up needs adjusting.