[Ria P]

I think it looks a bit bare at the moment but then again my partner says that my cage set ups are too crowded.

Here's an example photo of my spare Hamster Heaven set up for a rescue dwarf but i could easily adjust it for a Syrian by removing the two wheels and adding one big one.
The house is the Ferplast guinea pig house and a Syrian needs a proper house to build a big nest in and keep a hoard in. Hamsters like a big heap of torn up strips of plain white toilet paper left outside for nesting material.

I always get rid of all the plastic shelves, tubes and penthouse of a HH and start off with an empty cage then add a platform or Trixie corner shelves, bendy ladders etc. which i buy on Amazon or The Range mainly but we all have different ideas about set ups.
A lot depends on the hamster and sometimes i have to adjust the set up after a month or so to tailor it more towards the hamster's preferences.

As for sand, i've always used the Tiny Friends Farm bathing sand and never had any issues.

Whimzee dog chews are well liked by hamsters and usually disappear into their nests.