Help me chose a toy?

Perhappiness · 03-30-2019, 10:26 PM

Hello again fellow hamster lovers!
I would like to know your opinion on hamster toys. You see, I live in Brazil and there are very few options of national hamster toys for me to buy. I checked on american amazon and the shipping expenses were a NO NO (for example, the toy was 10$ but the shipping was 40$!!!!! Can you believe those abusive taxes?)
I thought of ordering from Chinese websites but the items might arrive in 4 months, and I don't even know if my hamster will be alive by then...
I want to know if there's anyone in the same situation as me, and what you did to buy your pet some toys?
So, below are my only options from national stores. Could you give your opinion on which one is better?

This one was my favourite so far. It's small and looks fun. I need small toys because my house has no space. The price is $55. Do you think it's worth it?

This one is actually a cage, but it has toys in it. The price is 35$. The cage seems to be too big for my house though

Same price, 35$, but I can barely see what's inside. The seller just had this picture. Reviews are 2 five stars and one 1 star.

Which one should I pick?

cypher · 03-31-2019, 12:31 AM

Do you mean toys for out of cage time or something in the cage?
I wouldn't use any of those, for toys you can make some things for free just using things like cardboard tubes & boxes, you can make a playpen, even cardboard is ok for a temporary one although you would have to watch carefully for chewing a way out! If you can get something like correx you can make a more permanent one with that or use a large storage bin which works well as you can put plenty of substrate in for foraging, foraging & exploring plus a good wheel to run in are the main things your ham will enjoy, plastic tubes, levels etc really aren't suitable.

Have a look here for toy ideas.
Hamster toys and accessories from recycled household items thread
And here for simple fun things made from toilet tissue tubes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuPeyD6w-CI

Ria P · 03-31-2019, 02:54 AM

I don't think that my hamster actually "plays" with toys and only shows an interest when there's food hidden somewhere. I also make stuff from cardboard boxes and toilet roll tubes etc. He runs through tubes I made from plastic water bottles (I cover edges with tape before joining them) and climbs up connecting boxes. I'm working on a cardboard hamster maze at the moment. I left a raisin in one of these small boxes and put the slightly opened box in his cage. He could smell the raisin but couldn't see it. He fiddled about for ages till he got to the raisin. Just an example of how to entertain my hamster without bought toys. Must go and check out the links cypher sent you.

alpacassei · 03-31-2019, 04:34 AM

https://youtu.be/NuPeyD6w-CI This video has lots of good ideas for DIY toys using toilet roll tubes!

Pebbles82 · 03-31-2019, 05:45 AM

Agree - none of them! They just need a good sized cage, that isn't too tall and has plenty of floor area - about 80cm by 50cm floor area and you're right, they're not interested in toys really - unless they have food attached or provide a hidey place - like a tunnel or a hideout.

However - enrichment is the key word. They do need variety in the cage and places to go, places to sit and things to do, different levels and somewhere dark to retreat to.

So the best things you can give the hammy are - plenty of substrate/litter on the floor of the cage - at least 4" deep, so they can burrow down and mess about with it. A house that is dark inside and big enough to build a big cosy nest - that is open underneath and sat on top of the substrate - so they can bury hoards under their nest. Never remove all of their hoard as this makes them very upset and they start peeing on it. If it is pee'd on and has to be removed, put new food back in exactly the same place and try and leave a little bit of old dry hoard behind. Same with the nest - only remove it if it's soiled and leave alittle bit of old nest behind and put new nesting material out so they can rebuild it.

A cardboard shoe box makes a good house! Cut the base out, a hole in one side for a door and use the lid as a lift off roof - so you can check inside the house without removing it and then their nest doesn't fall apart. IF you put a bendy bridge tunnel over the door it makes it dark inside. And the tunnel entrance makes a ramp onto the flat house roof.

So plenty of floor toys like tunnels and hidey places, so they don't feel too exposed. Cardboard boxes and cardboard tunnels are fine! IF you do get plastic ones, then a single tunnel is better than the long runs which can get blocked up and are an escape route - but rat sized ones are best. A hamster with full pouches, or a large hamster, can get stuck in those smaller plastic ones, and die.

Have a look at the "lets see your cages" thread for some ideas

But you don't need to spent a lot of money to have a happy hamster. I think a shelf in acage is essential though - thye like to sit under it and it's somewhere to go and a good place to put a food bowl so it doesn't get substrate in it.

I am assuming it's a syrian/teddy bear hamster? If it's a dwarf hamster, you don't need rat sized toys

Although they still like those sometimes! I have large tunnels and rat sized hides for our roborovski hamster and he loves them.

The wheels in those ones you linked above are teeny tiny. Safety is the main thing - a wheel for a dwarf hamster needs to be at least 6" in diameter and for a Syrian hamster, at least 8" in diameter - ideally 10" to 11" in diameter. Otherwise they can get spinal problems and be in pain. Wire mesh wheels are dangerous too. The wheel needs to have a solid running surface and nowhere the hamster could get a foot or a leg trapped.

And a cage shouldn't be too tall, so they can't fall more than 30 cm (Syrian) or 20cm (dwarf) if they climb to the top.

Pebbles82 · 03-31-2019, 05:51 AM

IF you're looking for a cage then making one out of a plastic storage bin is best so it's big enough - all the ones above would be cruel to keep a hamster in - they are more like a pet carrier or house size. No room to move or run around in. They need a lot of exercise in their cage, especially at night when we're asleep.

You can make it look fun and colourful in other ways

Pebbles82 · 03-31-2019, 05:52 AM

This kind of thing

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ha...w=1252&bih=554

Perhappiness · 04-03-2019, 09:52 PM

Thank you everyone for the replies

So the secret is to have a big Cage?
The cage my hamster came in is tiny, sadly (at least it's made of bars, so air can circulate through the cage during the tropical temperatures). We bought him at a local pet shop that was not luxurious at all! It was a popular low class pet store XD
My hamster is a Campbell dwarf, argente with red eyes.
I thought of buying Rasputin some toys because he looks so bored during the day

I intend to build him a play pen! His cage might be tiny, but I want to buy a foldable fence and spread out some toys over the floor for play time.
I appreciate all the diy ideas, but I'm TERRIBLE at crafts like this XD
I have no time and no material for that either, cardboard and wood sticks are cheap, but I would have to buy several of those. I might as well buy a premade toy. But if there is no solution, I'll have to do it myself...

Thanks for the ideas Anyways, I'm going to check them out!

alpacassei · 04-04-2019, 03:05 AM

Russian dwarfs (yours will be a hybrid not a pure Campbells) need atleast 70 x 40cm of continuous floor space. I’m not sure what cage are available in Brazil but you should be able to find a storage bin large enough that you could convert into a cage. Unfortunately even with a playpen, being in a small cage causes serious stress and cage aggression.

For actual toys, I recommend bendy bridges, cork tunnels, and Apple wood chews but without a large enough cage, its difficult to add enough toys and hides to create a stimulating environment

Perhappiness · 04-04-2019, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alpacassei

Russian dwarfs (yours will be a hybrid not a pure Campbells) need atleast 70 x 40cm of continuous floor space. I’m not sure what cage are available in Brazil but you should be able to find a storage bin large enough that you could convert into a cage. Unfortunately even with a playpen, being in a small cage causes serious stress and cage aggression.

For actual toys, I recommend bendy bridges, cork tunnels, and Apple wood chews but without a large enough cage, its difficult to add enough toys and hides to create a stimulating environment

Hello! Yeah, he might be a hybrid because he come from a pet shop!
I talked with my mom about toys and play pens and she's searching for things she can convert into a big cage. We're currently searching for something like a cradle but with narrow grid gap. We are probably going to convert it into the hamster full time cage, or at least most of the time (because we will need a lot of bedding XD). I'm excited to see Rasputin running around, though he is very lazy when I'm awake.

Thank you for taking the time for answering