Hi all!

[jesshammie]

Hi all!

I just thought I would say hello and introduce me and my little guy before I get around the forum a bit more :)

My names Jess, I'm 22 and live in the U.K. This is my little guy RuPaul (poor little thing was named by me and one of my friends after our favourite drag queen!).

He's also the little one in my Avatar. I bought him from Pets at Home on Thursday and after one day of watching him in the torturously small cage they sold me, I decided to convert him a 4ft x 2ft rabbit hutch, added smaller mesh over the bars to prevent him from getting out and the cats from getting in - even painting it purple to match our living room furniture! He's got a little saucer wheel, a wooden bridge leading to a big wooden table/second level in there, and he is now on carefresh and has a five inch digging pit of paper and shredded kitchen towel at the one end after reading up on bits and pieces!

So that's us! I'm still a bit new to hammies and he is yet to be tamed (giving him a few days to settle after moving to his new hutch), so any and all advice on that and everything else would be gladly appreciated!

Jess :)

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to you & RuPaul Jess :)
Look forward to hearing more about him once he's settled in.

If you have cats it's really best to keep the hamster cage in a room where you can shut them out at all times, even if they can't get into the cage just their presence can be extremely stressful for a ham.

[jesshammie]

Just added a pic of Ru's newly converted hutch - he now has a much deeper bed of carefresh and PAH paper bedding/shredded kitchen towel for his digging pit :)

http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y341/jesspaddychance/IMG_1488_zpsbuixnw6n.jpg (http://s1028.photobucket.com/user/jesspaddychance/media/IMG_1488_zpsbuixnw6n.jpg.html)

[jesshammie]

Hi & welcome to you & RuPaul Jess :)
Look forward to hearing more about him once he's settled in.

If you have cats it's really best to keep the hamster cage in a room where you can shut them out at all times, even if they can't get into the cage just their presence can be extremely stressful for a ham.

Thank you :)

The cats are allowed nowhere near him and when we are asleep/out of the house they are shut out the room completely :)

[BorisPasha]

Hi Jess and RuPaul, welcome to HC :)

[SKB_Hamsters]

Hello and Welcome to Hamster Central.
RuPaul looks adorable. His cage looks really good I'm sure he must love his new cage.

[AmityvilleHams]

Overall it doesn't look bad,except the wheel.An upright wheel is definitely a must,as flying saucer type wheels don't allow for the natural running position plus you can never be sure that the running space will actually be appropriate whereas a properly sized upright wheel keeps the same amount of running space.

I'd definitely aim for a Silent Runner above all wheels though,being the highest quality and safest on the market even though it is an investment and can only be purchased online.

I would not use paper towels though,as they don't break apart in water as easily as toilet roll(which is much more suitable and safer to use than any other product,plus it's cheaper than what pet stores sell).Anything with dyes that are unspecified or artificial would be bad as well,which kitchen roll type products often do have.

[cypher]

Good to hear about the cats being kept away, hope you didn't mind me saying.
His cage looks good & he looks really sweet in there :)

Toilet tissue is generally safer than kitchen towels so better to use just that along with the normal substrate.

[jesshammie]

Good to hear about the cats being kept away, hope you didn't mind me saying.
His cage looks good & he looks really sweet in there :)

Toilet tissue is generally safer than kitchen towels so better to use just that along with the normal substrate.

Not at all! I appreciate that some people wouldn't realise how distressing it would be for a little hammie to have predators in view 24/7! Always better to say so people hopefully realise! :)

I'll swap out his kitchen roll for toilet roll. Was just going off what I'd read online but I did think toilet roll would be nice and much softer for him!

[jesshammie]

Hi Jess and RuPaul, welcome to HC :)

Thanks very much! :)

[jesshammie]

Hello and Welcome to Hamster Central.
RuPaul looks adorable. His cage looks really good I'm sure he must love his new cage.

Thanks! I initially thought he would look like a little dot in there but quickly saw how he uses all of the space and I'd love to extend for him in the future :)

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi Jess and welcome to the forum.
What a cracking name for your ham - RuPaul. He's so very cute.