Hi guys!
As some of you may know, I will be getting a Syrian hamster as a graduation gift to myself in a year! I'm very excited and I've already started preparing. I wasn't planning on beginning this process so early in advanced, BUT I came across an AMAZING Black Friday sale that I couldn't pass up... so I bought myself a tank! My boyfriend agreed that I could purchase it and make it wonderful throughout the year, as long as a live hamster doesn't find its way into it before graduation day, haha!!
So I thought it may be fun to share my progress
I plan on purchasing things for the tank every other week... so this thread won't update terribly fast, but I thought it would be cool to see the process start to finish anyway. I also want to keep track of how much I spend building the tank up.
So far, these two tanks are my inspiration.
Now, to get onto my actual tank...
Stage 1: Blank tank!
The measurements are 36.1L X 18.25H x 16.9H (in inches). It's a 40 gallon breeder. I believe this tank costs only $70... but it may have been even less.
(F.Y.I: The lid fits on much better than shown, I just had it lopsided and didn't want to retake the photo!)
Stage 2: The Start!
We have one 8.13 L condensed bag of Aspen wood shavings in there. I am pleasntly suprised with how much one bag gets you! I bought the smallest bag possible, and the substrate is already between 3-4 inches deep. I do plan on possibly adding another bag though, so there will be even more room for digging, and so that the shavings are higher up on the wall. I'm so willing to hear opinions on this though!
There is currently a wooden log house, two large bendy bridges used as a wall, and a small bendy bridge being used as a bridge between the sections.
Future Plans / To Do:
-The other section is going to be filled about 3 inches high with chinchilla sand (**not dust). I plan on putting a litter tray for a corner potty in this section, and also putting the wheel in this section. So it will be a sand bath-potty area- exercise area. I would have done that today too, but they were sold out of chinchilla sand.
Prices: $70 for tank + $49 for supplies, so far = $119
(Which is still cheaper than I would have been able to buy the tank alone for, on a normal day!!)