It's still not a bad size - considering 80 x 50 cages slope in at the bottom. I think it could be fine if the set up is right - but large toys etc would fill it up rather. So you might need to think about the accessories and placement of them to get the best use of the space. One thing can be that it isn't particularly tall. (36cm?) so if you have a large wheel, you need the substrate quite low in the wheel area which can affect the depth of the substrate available in the tank elsewhere. I used to have my substrate sloping up away from the wheel when I had this issue, but one way of doing it could be to have the wheel at one end sideways on so it doesn't take up too much floorspace lengthwise. Some people use bendy stick bridges on their side to then fence off the wheel area and have sand around the wheel area with deeper substrate the other side of the fence.
Like in this tank (which is 100cm so you'd want less space at the wheel end).
Obi's natural set up is complete!
Some kind of free-standing platform would help so you can keep the floorspace available by having some items on the shelf. But a very large house, for example, and a large wheel, could fill it up.
Did it come with any houses? I seem to remember some in the photos. If the houses are a bit big and take up too much space you could swap them for a different one maybe. I think something that might work well for space saving would be a longer narrow one - a bit like the long house in the Alexander cage. I had a house like that in quite a small cage (smaller than the Kerry - it was a holiday cage) and there still seemed to be plenty of floorspace. With the length they don't need the width - they nest at one end/one side of the door, toilet at the other end/other side of the door and hoard wherever.
Trouble is I could never find one to buy! Rodipet sell one but it only has a top entrance - which is fine for a younger fit hamster really - it's only if your hamster got old and struggled it would need replacing - but when they are old all kinds of things need changing anyway.
There's a video that shows how it works further down the page.
https://www.rodipet.de/shop/haeuser/...u-talalin.html
Or you could maybe make one out of cardboard
I made a cardboard house yesterday - couldn't find any boxes or corrugated cardboard so I cut up this castle playpen - which already has doors in! Sometimes too many doors so I used a plain panel with the picture of the door and cut the door out of that. It was a bit of a fiddle though and meant some glueing needed. I am not good at crafts and diy - if you are it might be fun. I think mine may have fallen apart quite quickly (I didn't need it in the end).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supreme-Car...cardboard+fort
I think I would go with having the wheel along one end, bendy bridges fencing it off about 12cm in from the side. Fill the wheel area with sand (saves on finding space for a sand bath). But if your hamster isn't fussed on sand you could replace that with a low level of substrate or a different substrate to the main part of the cage (our Syrian hates sand!). Then have the substrate quite deep in the rest of the cage. The advantage of a tank is you can have it deep enough to burrow in. So maybe 20cm (any more and you'd be a bit near the roof - a platform that sits just above that (just enough space that they can go under it) along the back maybe and the long house at the other end opposite the wheel. This should leave floor space for digging and toys and you could have food bowl and other toys on the platform. This one is quite popular in tanks and would be a good height for sitting above substrate.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb...=2HYH9KQE68SGX
Having said all that - if you feel it isn't quite big enough then I can see why - a water bottle stand can take up a bit of floor space too. And I agree it is easier to set up a 90cm tank. But it could work.
It's very hard to find a glass tank bigger than the Kerry and they're expensive. The Exo Terra Terrarium is about 90cm and has front opening doors. It's a nice option but costs about £160 and upwards. Other than that, fish tanks cost the earth, custom made tanks cost about the same as the Exo Terra. A detolf is a cheaper option but you'd need space for it.
Pets at home are selling the 90 x 45 x 60 for £150
http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pe...lected-stores)
But then if you're spending that much you might as well get a 100cm Falco (zooplus sell it) and just use the tank base and make a lid (100 x 50) - it's a fiddle trying to get it to work with the barred top and avoid fall risks.
If you have space for a detolf they cost £40 - need a lid making and something to stand on. But if she's a chewer they have wood end panels that could be chewed and then you'd be needing to mesh them or something.
These things do take some thinking about! Do you spend money on accessories to fit or put it towards something bigger and sell the kerry. Unless you have a particularly large or hyper Syrian I think you could have a good set up in the Kerry with best use of space
Is my hamster cage suitable?
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