Hi Everyone.

I've got 2 Syrian Hamsters, I rescued the 2nd one a few weeks ago because his environment was horrible, he had a tiny travel size cage, and a wheel that was way too small for him and nothing else to do.

Both my Syrians now have 3 of the Duna Ferplast cages connected together (They of course live separately, so I have a total of 6 of these cages)

These the ones specifically:

http://www.cagesworld.co.uk/p/Ferpla...mster_Cage.htm

They also both have sand pits, large wheels and other Hamster based entertainment

I just get worried that it's not enough.

Honest opinions welcome

In my opinion, those style of cages are a liitle too small height-wise and I personally don't like all the plastic. It's an unnatural substance for a rodent and can get quite hot in summer. However, it's good that you have 3 linked together per hamster.

I have this cage for my hammy ( it's also by Ferplast):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ferplast-Ka...ter+cage+karat

I don't use the plastic items provided with it though ( the wheel and the houses are much too small for a Syrian). I bought a larger wooden wheel and wooden house.

In the glass base there is bedding to a depth of about 4", together with soft straw and hazel tunnels, a large wooden house and a wooden platform for her food and water dish ( both ceramic). I also put a tupperware dish (the only plastic item in her cage) with chinchilla sand for 'bathing' and playing. On her wooden shelves she has a free- standing wooden wheel, and on the top shelf she also has a large ceramic dish with maize pellets for playing.

I do prefer wooden shelves and straw tunnels as they provided not only a natural substance for playing but also serve as excellent nibble items!

I'm so glad you decided to rescue the poor hamster with the travel cage. I'm sure he is much happier with you! Regarding your cage set up, obviously you don't want to buy new cages as you already have 6 of the existing ones. I. would just recommend to put lots of natural items in their cages (straw tunnels, wooden fences, cardboard to chew up) and consider a bowl of maize pellets ( my hammy loves hers even more than the sandpit).

Do your hamsters have time outside their cages?

Hi Solare,

To be honest I didn't really think about all the plastic being an issue .

My 2 have the large 11 inch plastic trixie wheels, thinking about replacing them with wooden now you've pointed it out.

They also each have a digging tower:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-Larg.../dp/B000RZHQGE

And wooden houses (as well as the plastic ones) I also give them cardboard tubes (large ones they can fit through). Which straw tunnels would you recommend?

I currently use Megazorb for the flooring and digging towers and shredded tissue for their beds. I've heard sawdust is dangerous for them so stopped using it.

Ideally I'd love them to have something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wooden-XXL...-/231479335874

Most of the hamster products I buy are made by a company called Copocobana, but I don't think these are available in the UK.

Here's the straw tunnel:
https://www.qualipet.ch/p-g6618178-c...er-grastunnel/

They also have similar straw products which are great for hiding titbits in:
https://www.qualipet.ch/p-g1887699-c...ager-grashaus/
https://www.qualipet.ch/p-400867-cop...s-grasvilla-s/

I tried to find something similar on Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosewood-Ac...amster+tunnels

Also, I use these - you can bend them into tunnels, bridges, ramps, fences:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-Liv...amster+tunnels

For the wheel, the closest I could find on Amazon is this one (Syrian hamsters need the middle size - 22cm).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wooden-Exer...r+wooden+wheel
Some reviewers have commented that the wood is rough but the Copocobana one I have, which looks the same, is very smooth.

The digging tower you have is perfect. I would also recommend to have a good deep layer of bedding in the cages and top that with some hay. In my local pet shop, they sell bags of dried leaves, with twigs, seeds, dried mushrooms and dried apples. I sprinkle plenty of that in the cage and my hamster loves it. She selects her favourite leaves and puts them in her 'larder'.

Before I got my hamster, I looked on the internet for some 'furnishing' ideas and basically tried to recreate the kind of environment in some of these photos:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=go...ter+cage+setup


I agree, that's a lovely cage! It would also be good for hamsters who tend to nibble incessantly on cage bars. It might be a bit difficult to clean, if urine soaks into the wooden base. (My hamster likes to wee in her sandpit though).

Good luck with your hammys! They really are the sweetest little creatures!

RSPCA guidelines for hamster cages are 31" x 19" ( 80 x 50 cm) for syrians and 29" x 15" ( 75 x 40cm) for dwarves, so ideally you need something within that range. One large level cages are better for hamsters than taller ones with lots of mini levels as they offer more running space. Wild hamsters travel around 6 miles a night and their home range is up to 12 miles across, they are a lot more active than people think.

As for a wheel, for a syrian you want one that's 11/12". Pet shop syrians can often get away with an 8" wheel but hamsters from show stock tend to be much bigger. Which of the two sizes your hamster needs depends on where you got him from, but as a guide, the hamster's back should be flat when it is running. If it's curved in any way, it's too small and will cause pain and problems. You won't get a proper sized wheel in a shop as their far too small, you need to look online. The best ones are the Wodent Wheel (good but quite pricey), the Trixie wheel (basically a cheaper version of a Wodent wheel but equally as good and very quiet) and the Karlie Wonderland wooden wheel (silent running, but not that cheap, some hamsters chew them and they need painting with plastikote to stop pee soaking in) .

One of those Duna Fun cages would be too small for a syrian, but if you've got three that a pretty big space. Have to say though, if it was me I'd sell them and get two single level cages like the Savic Hamster Heaven or Zooplus Alaska instead, as I couldn't be doing with all that cleaning! Having been there and done that many, many times over, you soon start looking for ways to simplify.