Emergency Ikea Besta cage

[mdrnao]

Having promised myself I'd never have another hamster, I have recently adopted two dwarfs.

They were both housed together in a tiny cage, and I was told they made adorable "squeaking" noises all day and "play" fighting - sigh. Immediately took them home and separated! Poor hams had never had a sand bath nor a proper wheel.

Pandemic panic for a better cage and ended up DIY'ing instead. I chose my Ikea Besta unit to cannibalise but quickly realised that there was no examples of this on the internet so thought I'd throw it up here. Now, I think there are more suitable units than the one I had in stock but same principle applies - but I'm planning on attaching another on the front to make each floor a more suitable size (or buying another Ikea unit - I haven't decided!). But, in the meantime, I'm slowly modifying it to suit their personalities and they are so much happier!

I ended up cutting squares out the back panel at the top of each floor and attaching wire mesh for ventilation. Luckily I had the glass doors already! I attached some plexiglass via some brass U channels to hold all the substrate (ran out for the bottom shelf - improvised with some hideouts!). I then cut a hole the top floor of each hamster "unit" so they can get down and used some bed slats for a runway and staircase down.

Now, each hamster has two levels each to themselves (~350inches2 each level) instead of sharing one space which was <300in2. Top level has a sand bath and a wheel, bottom level has a few hides and ~10cm of bedding for a proper burrow. Improvised some enrichment with loo rolls and an egg carton. Water dish is on every floor (pack of tea light holders!).

We now have Rupert (white ham pic) in the bottom, who is a very friendly ham who loves a good burrow, stashing food (particularly mealworms!) and running about finding all the paper bedding! At the top is the more reserved Sebastian - I'm not sure he knows he can pouch and store food, his favourite activity is running between the wheels, and enjoys covering the entrances to every hide and sleeping in the corner instead.


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[Pebbles82]

Wow that is amazing. It doesn't look very wide but they do have two levels each.

[mdrnao]

Thank you! I think each shelf is just under 60x40. I'm looking forward to when I can add another unit to the front!

[Pebbles82]

It is bigger than it looks then . I am sure they are very happy in there.

[Charlie Dunn]

I am really impressed with your diy skills! The hams must love their new homes, the care you provide and their stress free lives. Another two saved! They do look very cute x

[mdrnao]

Thank you! It's honestly easier than you might think, couple of holes here and there with the jigsaw and some glue here and there. Much easier than a full build which I've previously done, if anyone would like any tips if they're doing similar please just shout!