Thoughts on this cage?

[Baileyq]

Hello everyone! I am in the process of doing some intense research before I adopt a hamster. I have found a cage that seems to be large enough and safe, yet I want to reach out to you all and see what you think. It is called the Iris Small Wire Animal House.

Here is a link to the cage: https://www.chewy.com/iris-small-wir...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thank you!

[Razor]

Hello! Great to hear that you're going to give a little one a new home.
The cage looks good in terms of floor space, although I'm not sure about the space between the wires. Do you have any a how wide it is? I've read that dwarfs should not have wire space larger than 0.8cm and syrians 1cm. At least I know my dwarf can easily squeeze through gaps that are 1.4cm So you might have to wrap a mesh around it.

[cypher]

It's great that you're doing some research & asking questions before you get your ham, it can be hard to find good cages in the US I know.
This cage looks as though the base is too shallow for enough substrate (you want at least 15-20 cm if possible in the base of the cage) it does say the cage is suitable for hamsters & mice but the bar spacing looks as though it may be too big, it shouldn't be more than 1cm between the bars, it's quite a tall cage, hamsters will climb the bars so you have to be careful there are no fall risks when you set up your cage.
If you're having difficulty finding a good cage then you might want to think about making a bin cage.

[Pebbles82]

Hi - the cage size is fine - you wouldn't want to go any smaller. It works out about 70cm by 45 cm floorspace. However the bar spacing is too large for a hamster - it's probably 2cm for a rabbit. Also it is quite tall for a hamster and with quite a shallow base, so there would risk of injuries from falling. But you could get round all that by meshing the cage and sticking cardboard round the inside of the bars so you can put about 6 inches of substrate in without it falling out. That way there is no fall risk and the hamster has the benefit of deeper substrate for burrowing and building mountains and just messing about with it

Meshing a cage can be fiddly especially to get it done safely. I'm not sure what your budget is but there is a very good cage available for Syrian (Teddy bear) hamsters, but it costs about double. It is slightly bigger but has the correct bar spacing, very good access with a large front opening door, and a good deep base.

It's the Marchioro Goran 82 (not the 72 that's too small). Costs $117 dollars though but it's an excellent cage and comes with a very nice large rat tunnel as a toy. The floor size is just right for a hamster, with plenty of space for toys accessories, wheel etc. It has half inch (1cm) bar spacing which is fine for a Syrian hamster.

https://www.petmountain.com/product/...-rat-cage.html

If it's for a dwarf hamster they also do the Marchioro Kevin which is basically the same cage but with narrow 7mm bar spacing. In fact although it costs a bit more $126 it's actually the better buy as it's futureproof and could be used for any size of hamster - dwarf or Syrian. However the tubes would need removing if it's for a syrian as they're too small and a hamster could get trapped and a syrian sized wheel would be needed for any cage (10" to 12" diameter ideally). For a dwarf hamster 6" to 8" is fine.

https://www.petmountain.com/product/...-pet-cage.html

The only other suitable hamster cage I know of in the US is the Lixit Mickey 2XL which is sold on Amazon and costs even more - the Goran is a better size for a Syrian also.

On the other hand if it's for a dwarf hamster you could make a bin cage which would work out cheaper, or if you have the space you could get a detolf. ikea detiolf glass cabinet tipped on its back with the door left off - costs about $60 but you need to make a lid out of strips of wood and mesh (which is probably easier than meshing a whole cage).

Another popular alternative in the US is a 40 gallon breeder tank which you can sometimes get for $40 in a dollar per gallon sale (can't remember if it's petco or petsmart that do the sale but they do them quite regularly). Again it would need a lid making or buying to fit.

DETOLF Glass-door cabinet - white - IKEA

DETOLF Glass-door cabinet - white - IKEA

One other option for a dwarf hamster is this perspex tank - the top one on this page - Fop Tamburino. I'd say it's the smallest you'd want to go for a dwarf hamster and not big enough for a Syrian or tall enough to fit a Syrian wheel. But no diy. Costs $60 and in my opinion a better buy than the cage you linked - for a dwarf hamster anyway.

HAMSTER CAGES

[Pebbles82]

Double posted

[cypher]

For some reason I thought the Goran & Kevin were no longer available, good to see they are, I can certainly vouch for the Kevin, best cage of that size I ever bought & I would imagine the Goran would be just as good quality.