Hamsters (merged)

cinderellacomplex

Personally I would look on your local freecycle or on ebay for local pick-up auctions for a nice sized fish tank. That way you minimize any sawdust getting onto the floor while giving the hamster enough to burrow in and run around. That cage just looks quite small. The other thing you need to consider is that a lot of hamsters are now sold in pairs, I'm sure someone else will know more about that but you need to be prepared for the possibility that you'll need room for two?

Primmer

The cage does look at little small as hamsters do love to run around and have space for their bed.
Maybe have a look on ebay and see if you can find a bigger one.

needanewjob

I can't find anything on ebay/freecycle/preloved. Do you think it's worth going to a carboot?

Tropez

Personally, I'm not a fan of those type of cages.

Firstly, hamsters will gnaw at the bars. While most of the time this isn't a problem except for the noise it creates there is a possibility of the hamster slipping while he/she is doing it. I had a hamster that slipped while gnawing at the bars and did quite a bit of damage to his teeth.

Secondly, there will be a lot of mess around the area. Hamsters are forever messing about with bedding and the sawdust in their cage and given that you want to provide an adequate amount of both there will be mess (which may or may not include feces) around the outside of the cage.

Thirdly, there's no (easy) way to expand the cage in future. I understand you're looking for a cost effective solution right now, but there's every chance in six months time you'll want to add another area for your hamster to explore so getting a cage designed to have further compartments and cages added on to it is what I would recommend, even if this costs an extra £10 or so.

ClareEmily

I second a glass tank, much easier to clean, we actually paid about £50 for ours, proper rodent one with 3 levels, not very money savings I know.

BTW Syrian hamsters will never be sold in pairs, so don't worry about that.

be ready for tears in about 2 (3 at the most) years time though, hamsters do not live long.

chocdonuty

Glass tanks are ok but I had a problem when cleaning them as getting all of the sawdust out of the bottom of the tank was rather difficult! They are heavy to lift up to enable the last bit of sawdust to be removed, I did try hoovering it but please ensure the hamster is out of it first:p
The best cages I have come across are the plastic tray types, lots of running about space, room for toys and plastic sides mean theres less mess too, do a seach for gabber rex on google, I think they are hard to find now but there are a few similar types about

chelle230

our hamster had a 3 tiered metal cage until recently, it drove me mad, forever hoovering up the mess he kicked out when moving his bed around....then we went to a car boot and came across a creepy castle rotastak for £8! bargain price, and both me and the hamster are much happier now.
you can pick up some good buys, but have to really look around, even shop windows/free-ad papers, etc.

samboette

Hi there

Firstly what sort of hamster are you planning on getting?? I'm presuming it will be a Syrian as Dwarf Hamsters are totally unsuitable as pets for children.?!

Presuming it's a Syrian you're getting then the cage you have shown here is not suitable, very small and cramped. You also have to take into consideration the size of the wheel inside the cage. ALL wheels that come with cages are too small, for a full grown syrian you'll need a wheel with a diameter of at least 8". You'll also need a cage big enough for toys, their food bowls and sand bath!

We have hamsters in both wired surround cages and glass tanks and the hamsters chew both regardless, the more you have them out the less they chew, hamsters love to be out mooching around. Ours come to the doors or to the top of their tanks to come out.

We have the Imac Fantasy cage which is in my opinion one of the better cages out there but it's not widely available, you might be able to pick one up on ebay. You can buy extra levels to add on to this cage, so you can have as many floors as you like. Our Syrians have 4 levels and our dwarves just have the 2. I'd also recommend the Savic Peggy cages too!

The starter kits for hamsters are never suitable I honestly don't know why they sell them. Also Syrians should never be sold in pairs, Dwarf Hamsters are usually sold in pairs but again they are not really suitable for children.

lola34

Our hamsters home is about that size and she seems fine, we let her out and she has a run around the room freely, plus she has a car and a bal to run around in.

faded_flowers

I don't think I've ever been to a carboot that didn't have several hamster cages - the last big one i saw about 4 different ones

Cage doesn't look too bad, though if you've got a Home Bargains nearby they were doing a bigger one for £15 (my sister has it). Most likely you will have to buy a larger wheel as the standard ones always seem too small for a full-grown syrian