Ex-owner looking for cage advice

[Pebbles82]

Brilliant! Including the hole blockers?!

[Zedrobber]

Yeah everything! In really good condition too. Thank you for all the help, now I can start planning and getting excited

[Pebbles82]

I can recommend getting it making a good house with a lift off roof. The idea being if and when you need to spot clean inside, their nest doesn’t fall apart because you don’t need to take the house out - just take the roof off. And the roof doubles up as a platform for a food bowl eg. If it’s a large enough house to fit a corner litter tray inside, they use it. Then you just take the roof off and empty the litter tray once or twice a week and the rest of the cage stays clean and dry. So you can go longer between clean outs and just spot clean as and when or do the odd things when necessary rather than clean everything all at once- avoids removing all their scent so they get less stressed.

Sorry you probably already know all that!

A shoebox house is a cheap option but might fill up the HH too much. The Ferplast sin guinea pig house is good (no nails or glue - it fits together like a jigsaw and the roof lifts off). It isn’t big enough for a litter tray but then they just choose a corner of the cage and you put the litter tray there instead. Rodipet make great houses with rooms and lift off roofs but they’re expensive. Or just make a long narrow house the width of the cage out of cardboard (like the long house in the Alexander). I find that gives a big house for nesting, a toilet fits inside but it doesn’t take up much floor space in the cage.

[Pebbles82]

This is the Ferplast house. It works well sort of sat on the cage base with substrate inside and piled round the outside as it’s quite tall and has a large door (makes the door a bit smaller and supports it underneath). I put a bendy bridge over the door too so it makes it dark inside and has a tunnel entrance.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ferplast-Gu...2110570&sr=8-3

This Rodipet house works well too - assume they are still shipping to the uk. But it’s not cheap. It has rough granite stone on the roof though to help keep nails roughened/short of the food bowl is on the granite and it’s a place to sit and cool off in summer.

Rodipet® +GRANiT House DALANi for Pet Rodents

But you can just use a terracotta plant pot base under a water bottle to help keep nails shorter.

[Pebbles82]

Water bottles. I tried loads and get these as they don’t drip or leak but also don’t seem to get blocked. The clip is good too so it stays attached to the bars and you just lift the bottle out of the clip. I get 2 or 3 to save on postage and have a spare. I sometimes put two bottles in if we’re away for a couple of days. (That hasn’t happened for a while!)

FPI 4660 Drinky75 Drinky B. | Welcome to Porton Garden Aquatic & Pets

[Zedrobber]

Honestly, I'm completely willing to take any and all advice! I know I've kept hamsters before, and I know the basics still, but practices change and new products come out and things move on - and obviously the most important thing is the wellbeing of the hamster, so all help and advice is appreciated. I think the cage is coming with a couple of water bottles, so I'll check those out before buying more, but I will absolutely go looking at the house options! I really appreciate all of the help, genuinely - I don't think you ever stop learning in terms of pets, you just do the best you can with the information you have.

[Zedrobber]

Also, I'm looking to use Kaytee clean and cosy as substrate I think since that seems to be pretty popular here - do you have any idea how much the HH takes in terms of litres per cleanout? Debating how much to order!

[Pebbles82]

The big one will easily do a HH with left over I think. I use Fitch which is £22 for a 10kg bag. The 10kg bag lasts me over 6 months with a 100cm cage. It’s recycled food grade paper. No dust. Hamsters like it too. Kaytee clean and cosy is very similar but my last bag was dusty so I’ve gone back to Fitch. It’s only available online from Fitch pet bedding but free postage.

Fitch First - Fitch Paper 10kg Single Bale Bedding For Smaller Critters - Pet Bedding in Bulk - Pet Store

[Zedrobber]

I've ordered the C&C for now (already had, haha) - but if I don't like it I'll try the Fitch next time Thanks for the link
I found a few toys left from the last times I had hamsters so I'm going to clean those and put them towards the new setup!

[Zedrobber]

I've ordered the C&C for now (already had, haha) - but if I don't like it I'll try the Fitch next time Thanks for the link
I found a few toys left from the last times I had hamsters so I'm going to clean those and put them towards the new setup!