Taken ownership of a hamster... what do I need?!

[Msbgs]

So as the title suggests, I have recently took ownership of a Syrian hamster that belonged to a friend of mine, but due to personal circumstances she is unable to look after him anymore.

He's about 5 months old, and she had him in a picoXL cage (which was meant to be temporary measure) so he needs a new one, what do you recommend? I have a large amount of habotrail cages and tunnels from when I was a child, which I will be able to get from my parents over Christmas - are these suitable for a Syrian?

Is there anything else that you would suggest I get for him? He has a ball, but doesn't like to run around very much. In fact, he is sat by my feet in his ball washing himself as I type this.

Thanks in advance!

[chesca_27]

Hi! Welcome to the forum!

Habitrail Ovo cages are only ever suitable for play time or as an add on to a large cage (if the hamster enjoys them and doesn't spend all time in there).

Because you have a Pico XL, I am assuming you are in the U.K.?

There are a few good wire cages available online from Zooplus. There's also glass tanks but they are very pricey. The cheapest is the Ikea Detolf, which is a converted glass display cabinet, but required very little DIY. It is very long and narrow though. Another option is a DIY cage, but you'd need the tools and materials for that. One of the easiest cages is a bin cage, which consists of buying a large storage box or bin and meshing the lid/sides.

The best wire cages would be the Alexander, Alaska, Barney or Hamster Heaven which are all available from Zooplus at different prices. They all meet the RSPCA minimum space requirements for a hamster.

Just make sure that any cage you buy has 1cm bar spacing or less and has a single area meeting 80cm by 50cm excluding levels or add ons. Modular cages aren't recommended for hamsters, so avoid those. They are expensive and impractical.

As for things I'd recommend; a good sized wheel, plenty of toys and a good diet.

A wheel should have a solid flood so no barred or meshed wheels. For a Syrian, you'd need a 10-12inch wheel depending on how big the hamster is. Their back should not arch when they run on it. The Silent Runner, Comfort Wheel and Karlie wooden wheel are all good.

You can use cardboard boxes, lolly sticks and kitchen roll tubes to make toys for your hamster. As for commercial toys, avoid anything too small to fit through, metal and rope/string. Most hamster toys are too small for Syrians, so I would look for rat toys. I can't advise much on specific toys, as I have a dwarf hamster.

One of the best mixes is Harry/Hazel Hamster which only need slight protein supplements. You can feed plain boiled chicken or turkey, freeze dried chicken, scrambled eggs or mealworms to boost protein.

Other than that, just don't use wood shavings.

If you have any other questions, let us know.

[Penguin]

Hi and welcome to HamsterCentral and congrats with your new girl (:

It would be nice to know your location. That way we will be able to guide you to a suitable cage, wheel, mix etc. much easier.

I'm sorry to tell you, but habitrail cages are in no way suitable for a hamster of any species. The knowledge about hamster care has grown and changed a lot during the past decade and the "new" standards can be a bit of a surprise.

As for a cage, the RSPCA recommends a continuous floor spacing of 70x40 or bigger as the hamsters main cage. The bigger is, of course, always better.
The reason for this is that hamsters get quite active at night and even though they run in their wheel they still need space to explore and play on.

If you are on a tight budget, you could stop by IKEA and pick up a large 130L SALMA bin. This will give you more than enough space for a good layer of substrate, wheel, toys, houses and anything else you can come up with. Do note that you need a lid as well to prevent the hamster from escaping, and you might need to mesh it to make sure the bin cage has a proper airflow. It means that you need some basic DIY skills, but if you get a bit creative you can make a quite amazing home for your girl!

Wheels:
When it comes to hamster wheels, the wheel needs to be big enough for the hamster to be able to run with a straight back. If the hamster is forced to run with a bend back it will lead to spinal problems later on. Another big no-no are wheels with a mesh or grid running tracks. The running track must be solid. Mesh or grid wheels can cause injury if a leg gets stuck. It can also lead a deformity called bumble foot.
So what to look for is a 28 cm wheel with a solid running track.
Again, knowing where you live would make it easier to suggest a wheel for you (:


Substrate:
When it comes to what goes in the bottom of the cage, there are a few things to look out for as well. I will just list the safe and unsafe ones below. If you would like a more detailed explanation on any of the unsafe ones feel free to ask (:

UNSAFE:

• Cedar shavings
• Pine Shavings
• "softwood" bedding
• Scented bedding
• corn cob

SAFE:

• Aspen wood shavings
• Hemp bedding
• unscented paper bedding such as:

• carefresh, kaytee clean & cozy, boxo

Now that we are on the topic of bedding, I would like to warn about a nesting material called fluffy bedding. You might see it under other names such as cotton bedding, fluffy bedding, hamster fluff, cotton fluff.
In case you don't know about it, fluffy bedding is known to tangle itself around limbs and can cut off the blood circulation. Hamsters are also unable to digest it, so should the hamster decide to eat it, it could end in a disaster. A great alternative is plain unscented toilet paper, which seems to be preferred to any other nesting material by most hamsters.

Houses/hideaways:
You are going to need a few hideaways for your ham. You want them to be a nice size so that your hamster has a bit of space to move around and save their stash. In a lot of cases you want rat sized hideaways for your syrian over the ones that are sold as 'hamster sized', as most 'hamster sized' fit a dwarf way better than a syrian. You don't need to spend a ton of money on them either though. A cardboard box with a door cut into it will make a cozy and dark hideaway for your hamster to make her nest in. And it can easily be replaced if it gets chewed away.

When it comes to toys and other fun things to put in the cage, i will have to give the word to someone else who actually owns a syrian. My guess is that you could give her a sandbath with chinchilla sand (not chinchilla dust!) but i have heard that a lot of syrians arent overly excited about sandbaths. A few chewtoys would be nice as well as they need to chew in order to keep their teeth short.
Someone else will probably be able to guide you to a suitable foodmix as well

I hoped this helped a little! There's probably more to add, but I'm sure that someone else will if I forgot anything (: