New owner and seeing a new behavior in my Syrian

[AmityvilleHams]

Sadly the product is no longer available

[Piebald]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

Sadly the product is no longer available

Well that sucks. I think there are some more suggestions in the thread though.

[AmityvilleHams]

There are quite a few suggestions already.I would just recommend keeping in mind that Syrian hamsters need at least 12 inches of substrate for proper burrowing but 36 inches is ideal while most dwarf hamsters need 8 inches for proper burrowing.

[Nickycaly]

Thank you, I definitely know I need an upgrade, and it's sad as this is his 2nd cage since I bought him in February The first was for dwarf size. The pet stores and their knowledge omg I feel so frustrated, like a bad mommy right now. I have looked at Amazon, Walmart, Dr. Foster, you name it, I thought for sure I had found the right one with that link I posted.
I'm really not a fan at all of the aquarium set up. I loved the one posted and now seeing no longer available. Also, thank you AmityVilleHams for the substrate info, very much appreciated. I'll keep looking and try to be patient as to not make any mistakes again.
His playpen is about 4 inches longer in length.
Thanks again everyone for your feedback and time

[Pebbles82]

That Savic Mickey Xtra large link is fine! It's 80cm x 50cm - the measurements are further down the page in inches - it's my old cage. It's a great cage for a Syrian hamster (unless you have an enormous one like we do). Yes the metal shelf needs to come out. I bought a new shelf for our cage at first, but it was rubbish and the ladder broke so then I got a large wood house with a flat top and that doubled up as a shelf. This is our Syrian's set up in it before he got upgraded recently.

The cage has a lovely big front opening door, so access is easy both for you and the hamster. I miss that door a bit now Charlie is in his bigger cage.

Yes it is very annoying when pet shops sell you cages that are too small. And it hurts your bank balance too. It's even more annoying when you do what I did which was just buy one that was too small without even being able to blame the pet shop lol. We upgraded Charlie to the Savic Mickey 2XL (same as the extra large on your link) when we had had him for 3 weeks. Just make sure you move all his substrate over. You'll need extra substrate in the bigger cage, so maybe 2/3 fill the base of the new cage with new substrate and then spread the old substrate on top - it helps them settle in if it smells familiar. Then no cage cleans for two weeks - apart from a bit of spot cleaning.

[Nickycaly]

Thank you so so much Serendipity!!! I thought on the reviews it met the standard measurements by what I read. I definitely will take all the info you said, about the substrate, etc., and use this. YOU JUST MADE MY DAY
Would it be okay to use his large igloo as his home still rather than a wood house/shelf?

[Pebbles82]

You can use all your current toys, I think your hammy would like that The igloo would still make a kind of shelf. I also had a small lava ledge at the back, beyond the house, so you could maybe get a small shelf as well or a couple of lava ledges next to each other make a small shelf.

Actually the lava ledges seem a bit expensive in the US! A shelf could be cheaper.

You can set it up how you want really - that was just to give an idea of what you can do with no shelves in it

Amazon.com: Kaytee Lava Ledge for Small Animals Colors may vary: Pet Supplies

I think the photo makes the cage look smaller on Amazon somehow, but it's the 80cm x 50cm one.

[Pebbles82]

One of these smaller shelves could be good for one corner maybe

Amazon.com : FACILLA® Small Pet Toy Wood Cage Platform Shelf Board for Chinchilla Hamster Rat : Pet Supplies

Amazon.com : FACILLA Small Pet Wooden Cage Platform Shelf Board for Chinchilla Hamster Rat : Pet Supplies

[Pebbles82]

I can recommend the rat sized sputnik (big pink thing hanging from the roof) - our hamster loves sitting in that if you put some bedding in it. If I come down in the night he is all curled up in it. The good thing about that cage is there is no door on the top so you can fix all kinds of things to the roof. I had a cardboard tube tied to the roof later, to lead from his house roof to his sputnik, so he could get into it (and out of it without jumping out and landing on something hard). They need a way into it although when the substrate is deep enough, ours could just climb into it because it hangs quite low. The cage comes with a smaller one which is a bit small for a Syrian but I put Charlie's veggies in it so he pops in there each day to get his veg. The smaller one hangs quite high up though so needs to be over a shelf or the house/igloo really so they can get up there.

This is the US version of the rat sputnik

Amazon.com : Lixit Critter Space Pod 2 Large : Small Animal Cage : Pet Supplies

Sorry, I've given you a bit of a shopping list there

Just looking for the photo when the tube was tied to the roof .....

There's Charlie in the Sputnik



Here's the one with the tube. It's just a 10cm diameter cardboard tube with some holes punched in the top and tied up with sisal string (sisal is safe for them to chew). He could run through it from his house roof and into the sputnik. I have a plastic rat tube on the roof now in his new cage - that was a bit easier to fasten up. You can just see the smaller sputnik that comes with the cage over his house roof near the back (the blue one).

[Piebald]

Thanks Serendipity to the rescue! Great news and a shopping list!