[Ria P]

Yes, the wooden corner shelves needed chopping to fit the corners of my Alaska cages as well.

I've never heard of waiting till 4 month old to give a hamster a wheel. Some of my Syrians were 8 weeks old when i got them and they always had a wheel.

Considering that my tiny Robos can run very comfortably and fast in the 28cm Trixie wheel, a young Syrian should be fine in the 33cm wheel.

If you think that it is too big for the cage then you can always use it in a playground and order the 28cm wheel. I think that it should fit though. It's handy to have a spare wheel though, in case one plays up.

Also, a pedigree hamster from a breeder is often bigger and chunkier than a petshop hamster.

Totally get what you mean by the big plastic shelf being in the way. First thing i do when setting up a new cage is to remove all the plastic shelves, ladders, tubes etc and then start off with a nice, empty and spacious cage.

Looking forward to see your set up and of course, meeting Shaun.