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Old 09-07-2021, 06:10 AM   #1
HammyJo
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Join Date: Sep 2021
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Default Hamster cage advice

Hi all,

My eldest daughter recently bought me a female Syrian hamster to keep me company as I often don’t sleep! I’ve had Syrians in the past and whilst they all lived long lives information in the 80s and 90s when I last owned them meant that obviously they lived in less than ideal cages. So I’m looking for some advice.

Harriet is 10 weeks old and is currently living in a Savic Hamster Heaven. I’ve rejigged the cage to include a proper 12inch wheel and have stuffed the other half of the cage full of katee cosy, paper pellets and aspen as deep as the base allows. The pink shelf is above the green one but I don’t really like them (she no longer accesses the top shelf now I’ve done this and hasn’t touched her tunnel at all) and I’m wondering if anyone had any ideas on one bigger shelf or some wizardry that will allow her more second level space and access to the tubes.

Long term I’m concerned this cage won’t be big enough for her so I’m also looking for either extension set up ideas. I did consider a detolf but I’m not at all handy and I know I’d need a raised/domed roof to get a really good layer of substrate in plus the giant wheel but can’t seem to find anyone who makes anything bu flat ones.

Any and all advice very gratefully received - I’m going mad googling!
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Old 09-10-2021, 06:00 AM   #2
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Hamster cage advice

Hello. Assume you're in the Uk? What I did with that cage (it wasn't the hamster heaven but identical cage with narrow bar spacing - savic mickey 2xl). Was didn't use the plastic shelves (I found them such a fiddle and our hamster's stuff kept sliding down the solid shelf!). I used a large- ish flat roofed house - they like a good sized house to build a really cosy nest - and the flat roof doubled up as a level. As well as that I had a couple of really small shelves over it at the sides (they like sitting under a shelf). And utilised the roof to make a roof run. For that I use the large rat sputnik hanging at one side ( and a rat tube tied to the roof bars, leading from the sputnik to a shelf).

First photo is before I added the roof tunnel.

Once you get Syrian sized things in the cage it can get a bit cramped - but can work if set up carefully and still leave enough floor space. I now find a longer slightly narrower house at one end works better. But a good house is one of the best investments (or you can make one from a shoebox but that might fill the cage a bit).

When they have a larger house, they can have their instinctive habits to nest, hoard and pee in separate areas and are quite tidy. If the house is big enough to fit a litter tray. If not then they'll probably use a corner of the cage as a toilet so you can put a corner litter tray there.

Now I did end up upgrading our syrian at the time wanting him to have more space. I'm on our fourth syrian now - and their personalities vary. For some syrians they hide away more in a bigger cage and don't want to come out as much as have such a good environment. For others, no cage is big enough!.

And that also depends on how much time you have to give them out of cage time, if you can set up a playpen area or section off a part of the room or house for free roaming. A hamster who likes to come out every night and free roam would be perfectly fine in that cage (unless they are the type for whom no cage is big enough!).

It's always a tricky one. And again a bigger cage needs setting up carefully so there's not too much open space or overhead space which can make them nervous.

In terms of upgrading the cage though at some point, the Savic Plaza is probably the best option. It's basically a 100cm Hamster Heaven - still has the large front opening door (that to me is a really important part of a cage - front access - good for interaction with the hamster and you're not coming at them from above). It is quite a bit taller so needs loads of substrate or it can be a bit too tall for dropping from a height.

I had one Syrian very happy and contented in that and still wanted to come out regularly - but I did have a large shelf and a very large labyrinth house in it. In fact partly I got the bigger cage to fit a large labyrinth house! Which they love and is great but also expensive.

Our current syrian has always seemed better in the HH size cage and interacts a lot more. He'll come to the open door and give you whisker kisses and happily sit in the open in the cage. In the larger cage I never saw him! He has always been a bit shy.

The difficulty is if you're going to get a good house that can be money spent and might not work as well in a different cage. Although could be made to work.

So in my view I'd either get a good house that fits well in that cage leaving plenty of floorspace. Or decide to upgrade the cage and get a large house (which is all quite expensive).

A middle ground would be get a good house that fits that cage, then if you decide to upgrade later, Use the same house but have a lot more items in the cage to fill some of the floor space.

The other thing is the current cage is probably better for taming for now, until your hamster is really used to you and tame. Not sure how long you've had the hamster but taming can take a few weeks or more.

Any cage change is also a major thing for them and can be stressful - but not if done properly - more about that at the time. I'll link a couple of good houses (that aren't cheap) that would fit will in the HH and your hamster would enjoy. There's also a slightly smaller one room one that won't fit a toilet in.

Be warned, once you look at the Rodipet site it's quite addictive! Also once you have a hamster you find you sometimes need a small saw and some sanding paper to adapt the odd thing!

Rodipet® +GRANiT House DALANi for Pet Rodents

I had this one in the HH size cage and it fits well - almost full width but not too much depth so doesn't take up a lot of cage space.

Rodipet® +GRANiT House TALALiN for Pet Rodents

They even sell legs/stilts for these houses - so they sit at substrate level without sinking - so the hamster can tunnel underneath without getting squashed. Although I find the legs make the house sit too high - so sawed a bit off the bottom of the legs. Or you can just make legs with wood dowels glued on.

It's not essential - you can have the house directly on the floor of the cage instead so it's more of a subterranean house with substrate almost up to the roof.

But they do like to bury hoards under their nest so like substrate under a house that's open underneath (also good for ventilation).

They have lift off roofs - so you can empty a litter tray or check inside without having to take the house out - so their nest doesn't fall apart. And one part is a piece of rough granite - which saves having to have stones etc in the cage. If you put a food bowl on it or a water bottle over it, they hamsters nails get roughened every time they go to eat or drink, which helps keep their nails from getting overgrown. It's also a cool place to sit in hot weather.

Getzoo make a similar one. No granite but you can use a terracotta plant pot base for roughening nails.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Getzoo-Gold...6&rdc=1&sr=8-3

In the bigger cage I had this house - which is really big! And would half fill a Hamster Heaven. But it's not necessary.

Rodipet® Hamster House Maze DaVinci 41x26 cm, Ø 7cm

Personally I'd get this house which will fit well at one end of the Hamster Heaven (the other end from the wheel perhaps).

Rodipet® +GRANiT House TALALiN for Pet Rodents

Your hamster will love it. You can pop his existing nest in one of the rooms and a litter tray in the other room. I used to have a mouse sized water bottle attached to the bars over the granite bit (soaks up the drips so the substrate doesn't get wet).

If you had it higher up on top of the substrate it would double up as a shelf. If you have it on the floor of the cage like a subterranean house, you can put some smaller shelves etc over it.

Definitely recommend the rat sputniks though. If they have a tube leading to them they use them and our hamster sits in his washing at night.

So first two photos are years ago when we had our first hamster and the house is a bit big for the cage.

The last two are the same cage set up for our current syrian with the long rodipet house in and another shelf over it at the back. I actually cut another door in the front on that house and put a bendy bridge tunnel entrance over it. But he loved using the top roof hole!

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Last edited by Pebbles82; 11-27-2022 at 06:58 PM.
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Old 09-10-2021, 06:08 AM   #3
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Hamster cage advice

On the last two photos, the clear rat tube is tied to the roof and leads to the sputnik (like on the first two photos) but goes across to the shelf at the back where it rests. The clear tubes are nicer because you can see them. My first tube was a bright cardboard one!

The house is at floor level to fit the other longer narrow shelf over it at the back. But tbh they prefer having more substrate underneath and the house gets less messy. So if it's higher up it makes a shelf anyway and you can just put a small shelf or level over it at the back.

So I've always had - wheel back left, sputnik front left (they can actually climb out onto the open door when it's there) and house on the right hand end. Floor space in the middle. But I'm sure there are other arrangements possible!
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Old 09-10-2021, 06:16 AM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Hamster cage advice

This is our first hamster Charlie climbing out of his sputnik. It was the way he liked to get in and out of the cage. Putting some bedding in it makes it less large.

But basically it's easier to just ignore all the plastic tubes and shelves that come with the cage! And start with an empty cage. Everything I learned, I learned on here! Plus some trial and error.

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Last edited by Pebbles82; 11-27-2022 at 06:58 PM.
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Old 09-10-2021, 06:24 AM   #5
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Hamster cage advice

Just to add. As Harriet is female - what is her personality? Some of them are highly active! And may need more space. If she's happy in that cage though and gets plenthy of out of cage time it should be fine - or you may decide to wait till she's really tame before upgrading.

This is the Savic Plaza I had set up for one of our Syrians. Again didn't use anything it came with because the plastic shelf and ladder it came with didn't leave much room for anything else.

So in this I made it cosier with the large labyrinth house (on legs) and a wood shelf got on ebay (had to cut an inch off and cut the corners off so it fitted).

You can see how much bigger and taller the cage is But you can fit bigger things in. The height can slightly be an issue. It can be made safe but they need a lot of overhead stuff so they don't feel nervous about the overhead space. Although a female may be more maverick!

This is the labyrinth house in it. Made another large shelf and big nesting box.

Rodipet® Hamster House Maze DaVinci 41x26 cm, Ø 7cm

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Last edited by Pebbles82; 11-27-2022 at 06:58 PM.
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Old 09-12-2021, 05:44 AM   #6
HammyJo
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Smile Re: Hamster cage advice

[QUOTE=Serendipity7000;955056]Just to add. As Harriet is female - what is her personality? Some of them are highly active! And may need more space. If she's happy in that cage though and gets plenthy of out of cage time it should be fine - or you may decide to wait till she's really tame before upgrading.


Thanks so much for the advice! Sorry for the late reply I’m stuck in hospital for a week 🙄 so no hamster taming for me. I’d only had Harriet for a week so she still skittish but will let me stroke her and eats from my hand. She’ll come out of I put a k towel tube by the entrance to the penthouse (rejigged the cage and now she uses it) and then I transfer her into a large box with some treats on my lap so pet her for a few mins. Hopefully she won’t have forgotten me by the time I get home because all animals adore my OH and I bet they are best buddies. My last Syrian used to like sitting on his shoulder to watch tv 😄

I think you make some good points te keeping her in this smaller cage whilst I tame her. I have managed to get hold of a detolf with a raised lid which I’m currently storing in my art shed for now - I may not need it but it’s a good spare.

Love all the houses - it’s so hard to find good ones for Syrians - the amount of dangerous or too small stuff out there marketed stuff them is frightening.
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Old 09-12-2021, 08:07 AM   #7
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Hamster cage advice

So sorry you're in hospital - take care. I'm sure she'll be fine - they take a couple of weeks to settle into a cage anyway so she may not be that interested in anyone taming her before you get back . Detolf sounds great! I think that would be a really good upgrade with the HH as a starter/taming cage for a few weeks until she's more tame/settled.

With upgrading, cages it can be really stressful for them - but there are ways of making it a much less stressful process (if you didn't know already). Main thing is to move everything over without cleaning anything at all - even if it's a bit smelly. Taking all the old substrate from the old cage and spreading it on top of the new substrate in the detolf eg. And having house/wheel in similar locations as before (although not quite the same with a detolf maybe). I also transfer the nest and hoard across and put it back in the house as before (leaving the whole hoard unless some is going a bit funny, then pruning some out).

What helps even more is if you give them a "transition day". I find they settle in a few days doing that, as opposed to a week or two. So basically that's setting up the new cage with substrate and a few toys - maybe some new items - a few tunnels etc - and maybe an old toy from the old cage temporarily, that's familiar.

And the day before moving - let the hamster have a play/explore in it. Then pop them back in their old cage overnight. Then next day, transfer everything over and move them into it in the early evening (after a day's sleep).
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Old 09-13-2021, 01:12 AM   #8
HammyJo
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Default Re: Hamster cage advice

[QUOTE=Serendipity7000;955098]So sorry you're in hospital - take care. I'm sure she'll be fine - they take a couple of weeks to settle into a cage anyway so she may not be that interested in anyone taming her before you get back . Detolf sounds great! I think that would be a really good upgrade with the HH as a starter/taming cage for a few weeks until she's more tame/settled.

Yep will definitely do that - I’d already upgraded her wheel and put a sandbath pit and little natural Hidey in HH so will pop those across with the new stuff when I do move her but I think I’ll probably leave it another two or three weeks before I transition her. She’s already using her toilet and we spot clean the cage so she’s a tidy girl so I reckon most of it could still be moved. Not like my last Syrian - a boy and oh my days was he messy and stinky! Tame as anything, never peed or did a poo when holding him even if he was out for ages but in his cage every corner was pee corner. Except the one with the toilet 🤣
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Old 09-13-2021, 04:36 AM   #9
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Hamster cage advice

Lol. I've only had male syrians. All of ours except one used their toilet. But yes they are very funny about where the toilet is! They won't use it unless it's in the place they decide to pee! With our first one I had to move the toilet a few times before he used it. When they use it there's no smell or mess! I don't worry about poops unless they start taking over a bit They're not smelly or dirty really - the eat them sometimes as well.

Hope you're ok if in hospital!
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