Cages...
Many people think that because a hamster is a small animal it needs a small cage - this IS NOT the case. Please do not be misled by the pet shop cages, they by no means are adequate for your hamster's needs. I have to admit that at first I was very sceptical about hamsters needing a "big" cage. However, my mind was quickly changed as I settled into hours and hours of research, I then found that there were actually minimum requirements for hamsters. The UK minimum is 80 by 50 cm, however if you really cannot meet this requirement then it must be AT LEAST 360 square inches (sorry but I don't know what that is in cm!). I know how hard it is for some people to meet this, but if you feel that if you couldn't support even a 360 square inch cage then maybe you should think about waiting a while until you can! I know this may sound harsh but all we want is for the best for hamsters everywhere.
Bin Cages...
The cage is probably THE MOST important thing that you will have to buy for your hamster, they will be living in it after all! In the UK the minimum size is 50 by 80 cm, please try your hardest to find a cage that fits these requirement. The easiest way to do this is to make your own cage, the best of these is the bin cage:
<--------- This is an example of Youtubes Sparklegurl00's bin cage!
You will need:
>Plastic bin
>Chicken wire
>Stanley knife/hot knife
>Zip ties/wire
>Marker pen
>Wire cutters
>Drill
Method:
1. Firstly, with your marker pen mark out on your plastic bin where you want the windows to be,
2. Using your stanley knife/hot knife cut out the marked area - it is very hard not to crack the plastic of the bin so be very careful and take your time,
3. Measure out how much chicken wire you will need and cut it with your wire cutters,
4. With your drill, drill wholes around the chicken wire,
5. Using your zip ties/wire thread it through the whole and chicken wire - if you are using wire then twist it round and trim with the wire cutters - if you are using zip ties then you can just trim them with scissors if you want,
6. Now give the new cage a quick clean,
7. Assemble the cage with bedding, wheel etc.,
8. Introduce your hamster into it's new cage :)
Top tip: to avoid cutting yourself on the sharp edges of the chicken wire why not stick some colourful duct tape on it? You can see and example of this at the top of the page!
Here is an excellent video by a hamster Youtuber Chocolatecolors26:
>Plastic bin
>Chicken wire
>Stanley knife/hot knife
>Zip ties/wire
>Marker pen
>Wire cutters
>Drill
Method:
1. Firstly, with your marker pen mark out on your plastic bin where you want the windows to be,
2. Using your stanley knife/hot knife cut out the marked area - it is very hard not to crack the plastic of the bin so be very careful and take your time,
3. Measure out how much chicken wire you will need and cut it with your wire cutters,
4. With your drill, drill wholes around the chicken wire,
5. Using your zip ties/wire thread it through the whole and chicken wire - if you are using wire then twist it round and trim with the wire cutters - if you are using zip ties then you can just trim them with scissors if you want,
6. Now give the new cage a quick clean,
7. Assemble the cage with bedding, wheel etc.,
8. Introduce your hamster into it's new cage :)
Top tip: to avoid cutting yourself on the sharp edges of the chicken wire why not stick some colourful duct tape on it? You can see and example of this at the top of the page!
Here is an excellent video by a hamster Youtuber Chocolatecolors26:
Good & Bad Cages...
As I said before there are a lot of cages on the market that are not adequate for your hamster's needs. An example of this is the Habitrail and Ovo cages. These mainly consist of extravagant tube systems. They are fun to put together and make creative designs but they have very poor ventilation and even though you may have lots of different pods a hamster likes to be able to run freely without interruptions. Both Habitrail and Ovo cages are a great add on to the standard aquarium/bin cage and are a big fun factor. It can also be quite confusing when buying these setups as different species of hamsters have different sized tubes.
Many hamster owners fall into the trap of the wire cages. Many of these cages ARE suitable but many are not. For example the one we have here to the left. The multiple levels look like great fun but imagine if your hamster fell off the top level? It could be fatal. We're not saying that levels aren't good but just keep them at a sensible height. Besides, you can easily make your own.
So, one of the best possible cages you could get is the SavicHamster Heaven Cage. It is 80 by 50 cm, has lots of tubes, a special Pent House and detachable levels. It is very customizable and is just £60 in the Pets At Home website. I know the picture is very bad quality but, oh well!!!