cages

[Sabby]

Can i ask would any of you put a hamster in a gerbilarium

[cypher]

They do seem like a nice idea having a deep tank at the base with the cage part on top but most as far as I know anyway tend to have wire shelves which can seriously damage a hams feet.
Did you have any particular one in mind?

[Pebbles82]

As Cypher says :-) It also depends how big it is - some gerbilariums that are sold are so small. Hamsters need a cage or tank minimum 80cm by 50cm continuous floor area (RSPCA recommendations) bit that's a minimum and 100cm cage or 120cm tank is better as it can easily be filled up with toys, wheels, houses, and made into separate areas for digging, a sand bath and so on.

The other thing is, gerbils are climbers and hamsters aren't very good at climbing and tend to fall and injure themselves. They are naturally diggers, so a tank with deep substrate is a good idea, as if the substrate is deep enough they dig tunnels! So a very tall cage or gerbilarium isn't a good idea for a hamster, unless you fit a full level of shelves in that aren't wire shelves. Although wire shelves can be covered with something like cardboard or hemp mat, if they are flat. Access and fall risks can be tricky to sort out in a very tall cage (I'm thinking of the Falco which some people use as a gerbilarium - it's 75cm tall). But if you have a 100cm Falco it would be great for a hamster - except you'd need to fill the tank almost to the top with substrate and add some extra shelves, so then it would be basically a cage with a very deep base.

Hamster Cages: great selection at zooplus: Small Pet Cage Falco (http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/hamster_cages/hamster_cages/189556)

[Sabby]

I wouldnt use one myself for hammies just that someone was selling one and she said she had her hamster in it tried to help by saying that these are no good for hammies and all i got was abuse also she said she was a level 3 vet nurse

[Pebbles82]

It would need setting up carefully, but if she has done that it should be ok. Some people just don't want to know.

[CMB]

A hamster cage/tank on one level is better, long, not tall. You can add shelves if the cage/tank doesn't have them included, but be careful to arrange them to avoid gaps where a hamster could fall and keep hard toys etc under shelves to help prevent fall injuries from the hamster landing on them.