Hamster Central - View Single Post - Recommended minimum habitat size for dwarf hamster

Fluffagrams · 05-25-2021, 11:27 AM

I am a strong believer in an individual approach and what would be my minimum for one hamster may be vastly different from the minimum I would deem to be acceptable for another. I had one Chinese Hamster who lived in a n 80x50 cm cage for most of her life and for a hamster like her, I wouldn't have considered anything smaller than 60x40 but I had another Chinese Hamster who was a bag of nerves and found that even the 60x40cm cage was too intimidating for him at times so I had to go a bit smaller. I'm fortunate I suppose in the fact that I do have cages of varying sizes and types so that I can choose the most appropriate cage for that hamster's needs as opposed to them having to live in a particualr cage because that is all I have.

I currently have five hamsters (3 Robos and 2 Chinese) and at present they are all living in cages that are 60x40cm and although that might not seem particularly big to some people it seems to suit the needs of my current hamsters well.

I have used cages smaller than this on a temporary basis as hospital cages or as cages for very young dwarf hamsters but then I find that the reason that they need such cages usually means that they don't want to be out playing or running on wheels anyway... usually if they start to show signs of wanting to spend more time out of the nest, I will be looking to upgrade them into something larger.

05-25-2021, 11:27 AM
Fluffagrams Moderator Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Bath, UK Posts: 3,640	Re: Recommended minimum habitat size for dwarf hamster I am a strong believer in an individual approach and what would be my minimum for one hamster may be vastly different from the minimum I would deem to be acceptable for another. I had one Chinese Hamster who lived in a n 80x50 cm cage for most of her life and for a hamster like her, I wouldn't have considered anything smaller than 60x40 but I had another Chinese Hamster who was a bag of nerves and found that even the 60x40cm cage was too intimidating for him at times so I had to go a bit smaller. I'm fortunate I suppose in the fact that I do have cages of varying sizes and types so that I can choose the most appropriate cage for that hamster's needs as opposed to them having to live in a particualr cage because that is all I have. I currently have five hamsters (3 Robos and 2 Chinese) and at present they are all living in cages that are 60x40cm and although that might not seem particularly big to some people it seems to suit the needs of my current hamsters well. I have used cages smaller than this on a temporary basis as hospital cages or as cages for very young dwarf hamsters but then I find that the reason that they need such cages usually means that they don't want to be out playing or running on wheels anyway... usually if they start to show signs of wanting to spend more time out of the nest, I will be looking to upgrade them into something larger.