Hi there. Unfortunately the information that they like cages connected by tubes was not quite right. As Alfie Ham says - they do much better with one big cage. Hamsters do like tubes and tunnels, but these can be as toys or accessories inside one big living area, which is more natural for them and allows them to have more freedom of movement and do normal hamstery things, like running around, digging, and even tunneling and burrowing.
The RSPCA used to recommend a minimum floorspace size of approximately 80cm by 50cm for a Syrian hamster. So that's one cage of that size approximately. It's ok to have add-on cages as long as one of them meets the minimum recommended. The German minimum recommended size is 100cm by 50cm. The Barney cage that Alfie Ham mentioned is 100cm by 50cm. It's a great cage - I have it for our Syrian. It would probably take up less space than the three connected ones you have.
You did right to upgrade your hammy from the teeny tiny circus tent!
If you think about it, a cage is their "environment" or world, for most of the time. Within that they need a house/nesting box - ideally dark inside and with enough space to build a big nest in winter to help them keep warm. Enrichment of that environment is what keeps them happy and able to have normal behaviours. So plenty of substrate, floor toys like tubes and tunnels (Syrians do better with rat sized toys really), hidey places, a shelf to sit under or climb on, and different places to go. I have a kind of roof run in my cage which almost gives another level of floorspace.
Zooplus has some excellent hamster cages and they are reasonably priced. As well as the Barney cage, the Alexander cage is good too but costs a bit more.
Great deals on small pet cages at zooplus: Alexander Small Pet Cage
They also sell the Hamster Heaven cheaper than most places. That's about the minimum size cage you'd be wanting for a Syrian.
Savic Hamster Heaven Metro Cage | Great deals at zooplus!
The Hamster Heaven is a fun looking cage, but in practice, many owners find the end up removing most of the colourful plastic bits and tubes. Hamsters can block off the tubes and it gets unhygienic and the plastic ladders have a habit of breaking.
I've learned a lot since being on here, and also since owning our Syrian. I had to get him a new house/nesting box at one time so got a big one that doubled up as a shelf - he loved it! He loved the space inside it and built an enormous nest and moved his toilet corner inside it. So I put his litter tray in it and life suddenly got much easier
He now has an even bigger house with space for his nest, potty, hoards, and it works really well. They need a dark place to retreat to, and the cage is where they come out at nigth and explore, forage, climb a bit, run in their wheel and so on.
The Germans actually go for huge, all natural cages to make a kind of realistic environment - like some of these detolf set ups (the detolf is an Ikea glass cabinet tipped on its side with the door left off, to make a large tank). They also suggest a minimum of 30cm depth of substrate so hamsters can dig their own tunnels! Most of us don't achieve this - but the more substrate the better. It doesn't end up costing more in substrate because most of it stays clean (especially underneath) and can be recycled.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ha...UIBigB#imgrc=_
Technically you could attach your two current cages to the hamster heaven, but it would not give the same benefit to the hamster as one larger cage like the Barney or Alexander, with everything inside one larger space.
The Barney comes with a good sized house for nesting (I'd recommend putting a bendy bridge tunnel over the door as that makes it nice and dark inside and also makes a ramp so they can climb on top of the house and it then makes another shelf.
A fairly sturdy shelf and ramp (most people paint the wood items with plastikote waterproof petsafe paint) - depending on the hamster. Our hamster only ever wees in his potty. If you give them a litter tray and put it where they have chosen a pee corner, then they tend to use it. Saves on a lot of cleaning! And cleaning stresses hamsters.
You could actually use some of the accessories from your current cages inside a bigger cage and one of them could be good as a play cage for when you're doing clean-outs.
It's good that you'd like to give him one enormous closure and if you have the space there are larger ones than the Barney and Alexander - there's the detolf option for starters! And in fact if your hamster has got used to perspex style cages, he might do better with a tank style.
There's also the living world green eco habitat - but it's expensive. Their largest one is 120cm by 75cm. The medium is a good size too - about 95cm x 55cm.
Living World Green Eco Habitat | Free P&P on orders £29+ at zooplus!
It has 2mm slots on top so the lid could do with meshing. The advantages of the tank styles as well is you can give lots of deep bedding. Some people section off one end of the detolf for digging.
If you don't mind diy there are various Ikea hacks and other diy cage tutorials around, and then you can build as big as you like
But it doesn't always work out cheaper.
Advice needed: Is it ok to change my Hamsters environment?
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