Hamster Central - View Single Post - Cage change

Pebbles82 · 06-09-2021, 12:32 PM

You could look out for a second hand hamster heaven on ebay or gumtree as well

To save some money.

With the hamster Sky, the best thing really is to remove the external tubes. Yes some are a bit narrow in places, but also they're an escape route and hamsters can nest in them and block them up - and then they have to be removed!

What you can do instead is use some of the lengths of tube that aren't so narrow, as separate floor toys. Hamsters do like tubes but those long continuous ones do cause issues. I have a big rat tube tied to the roof inside the cage in mine

No way they can get stuck in that.

So the big tube is tied to the roof with sisal string - one end sits on a platform and the other end leads into a rat sputnik. So he has a "roof run" as well as floor area and loves sitting in the sputnik.

Rat sized toys and tubes tend to be better for Syrians than ones sold for hamsters. It depends how big your Syrian hamster is as well. A smaller or average syrian could be fine with the savic hamster tubes. The length of the tube run is the concern though. When hamsters have full pouches they can be up to 7cm wide! And the hamster tubes are only 6cm wide. Rat tubes are usually about 7cm wide.

I'll go and take a photo of my cage to show you what I mean. I have the Savic Mickey 2XL - it's the identical cage to the Hamster Heaven and Hamster Sky, except it has mouse bar spacing.

Not great photos as it's a bit dark. I also wouldn't normally have a fleece hammock in a cage for a hamster either (they can chew them), but our Syrian is getting quite old now and doesn't chew it.

So this is like starting with an empty cage without all the items the cage comes with.

He has the 28cm wheel back left. A long house on the right side with a little shelf over it at the back. The rat sputnik almost in front of the door. The savic rat tube tied to the roof with sisal string (it rests on the little platform at one end).

And a few floor toys - a little ceramic hide and a couple of bendy stick bridges.

The string on top only looks messy because I didn't snip the long ends off! Sisal string is safe if chewed.

Attachment 52372

Attachment 52373

06-09-2021, 12:32 PM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: Cage change - should I and how should I! You could look out for a second hand hamster heaven on ebay or gumtree as well To save some money. With the hamster Sky, the best thing really is to remove the external tubes. Yes some are a bit narrow in places, but also they're an escape route and hamsters can nest in them and block them up - and then they have to be removed! What you can do instead is use some of the lengths of tube that aren't so narrow, as separate floor toys. Hamsters do like tubes but those long continuous ones do cause issues. I have a big rat tube tied to the roof inside the cage in mine No way they can get stuck in that. So the big tube is tied to the roof with sisal string - one end sits on a platform and the other end leads into a rat sputnik. So he has a "roof run" as well as floor area and loves sitting in the sputnik. Rat sized toys and tubes tend to be better for Syrians than ones sold for hamsters. It depends how big your Syrian hamster is as well. A smaller or average syrian could be fine with the savic hamster tubes. The length of the tube run is the concern though. When hamsters have full pouches they can be up to 7cm wide! And the hamster tubes are only 6cm wide. Rat tubes are usually about 7cm wide. I'll go and take a photo of my cage to show you what I mean. I have the Savic Mickey 2XL - it's the identical cage to the Hamster Heaven and Hamster Sky, except it has mouse bar spacing. Not great photos as it's a bit dark. I also wouldn't normally have a fleece hammock in a cage for a hamster either (they can chew them), but our Syrian is getting quite old now and doesn't chew it. So this is like starting with an empty cage without all the items the cage comes with. He has the 28cm wheel back left. A long house on the right side with a little shelf over it at the back. The rat sputnik almost in front of the door. The savic rat tube tied to the roof with sisal string (it rests on the little platform at one end). And a few floor toys - a little ceramic hide and a couple of bendy stick bridges. The string on top only looks messy because I didn't snip the long ends off! Sisal string is safe if chewed. Attachment 52372 Attachment 52373 Last edited by Pebbles82; 11-27-2022 at 06:57 PM.