Dwarf Hamster Cage Advice

spicymchaggis

Looking for advice on a cage that will hold 2,maybe 3 dwarf hamsters nicely . I read online that the habitrail stuff ain't great. Something that looks nice in a room would be a bonus.
Recommended anywhere in Dublin / Celbridge area to get dwarf hamsters?

spicymchaggis

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DBB

spicymchaggis wrote: »

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There are some people on this forum that are very knowledgeable about dwarf hamsters, so I'm sure if you wait it out for a few days, they'll be along to advise.

SingItOut

Hi I used to work in a MaxiZoo store and they had a lot of 3 story cages designed for multiple hamsters, they all came with accessories too. I can't remember the brand name though. There's are maxi zoo stores in Liffey valley and leopards town might be worth a luck

snoman

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056654221/1/#post78918486

The person who posted this is knowledge about hamsters, but I think they're on hols.

Knine

A good pet shop for Hamsters is Petstop in Blanchardstown Centre.

I have kept all sizes of hamsters. Be very careful with sexing them as otherwise you could end up with lots of very cute mini hamsters.

There are several types of dwarfs & they are very social if together from a young age. They tend to be more flighty then their much larger Syrian Cousins.

The dwarf hamsters should not be given food/fruit with high sugar content as they are prone to diabetes.

Hamsters are also nocturnal so they can be fairly noisy at night.

I have a lovely big cage & a large bag of hamster food that you are welcome to have. I am based in Dublin.

Zapperzy

Generally what they recommend with housing multiple dwarfs is avoiding compartmented cages such as those plastic type habitrail type ones with various add ons and tubes, while there not as territorial as syrians sometimes you can get unlucky and they fall out with each other when one claims stake in a certain area. Also those cages seem like a nightmare to clean properly, I'd be worried about ventilation too.

I'd go with a regular wire cage with plastic base type cage. I'v attached a photo of the setup I had for 2 dwarf brothers. I'v read to avoid leveled cage but I had no issues with this one. I'v never been able to find it again in any shop or online, can't even remember who made it but it's quite a big cage compared to others on the market, about 2ft long.

Personally I'd go with either of these, http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/hamster_cages/hamster_cages/197362 http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/hamster_cages/hamster_cages/201817

The hamster heaven is huge, there's loads of floor space to add your own toys and change them around every so often (they like variety). The cambridge is a decent enough sized cage in that price range. Both have deep bases too so you can add a good layer of substrate (avoid wood shavings, try and get a paper mulsh type stuff called carefresh and toilet or kitchen paper for a bed) without them kicking it over the edge and all over your floor. I'd save up and buy the biggest cage possible now, they'l be tiny when you buy them and it'l seem huge but they'l get bigger and it'l save you in the long run buying a bigger cage in a few months time. Bigger area would reduce the chances of territorial fights breaking out too.

Another option is building your own tank style cage. If you've the time and know how you can build a very elaborate setup, plenty of info online if you google it. A poster here built her own setup, she was mentioned above and I'm sure she'l be along shortly

spicymchaggis

Appreciate the replies. Will give me something to think about. Was in petstop in blanch the other day and most of the smaller breed hamster tanks were empty. I have an old habitrail safari cage from when I used to breed gerbils along with a box of attachments including maze nut prob not suitable. Might look at that heaven one

boomerang

IMO nothing smaller than a Savic Hamster Heaven Metro or a three to four foot adapted aquarium will do for dwarf hamsters. 99% of hamster cages sold in pet shops are ridiculously, inhumanely small. They are a cheap pet to acquire - the least we can do is splurge on the cage to give them the best environment possible.

Maxi Zoo do the Savic cage I mentioned and it has come down in price a LOT - I paid €120 for mine a few years ago!

Here's a vid I made a couple of years ago of my aquarium and cage set ups for dwarfs. Roly was a rescue Campbell that came in on his own so he was in a 2ft tank on his own. Ted (Syrian) had just come in as another rescue and was in the cage the owner had bought him - he was upgraded to the Savic a few days later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWvXe0k5odk

baby and crumble

How exciting, I'm apparently "knowledgeable about hamsters!"



I know relatively little about dwarves though, so take my advice as being from having Syrians and the bit of research I've done on possibly getting some dwarves.

Firstly you and other posters are right, the habitrail/ compartment style cages with tubes are really designed more for the owners pleaser than the hamsters. Plus as someone else said, one hammie can decide this "bit is mine" and the other one gets short shrift.

Dwarves are generally diggers and tunnellers, so you want a cage with a nice deep solid walled base, so you can have loads of substrate in there. I think there are certain types that hold their shape better for tunnels, but I'm not too sure.

Honestly, op, if I were you I'd look into getting a Perspex or glass fishtank for them. Obviously it doesn't have to be watertight, so you can pick up bargains on the likes of eBay and adverts. If you get creative you can make fantastic cages out of some of the cheaper ikea stuff (I know someone already posted the link to te cage I made for our Syrian). To buy a similar sized cage for us would have been easily €150-€200!

Also not to be sniffed at are what are known as 'bin' cages. You can get massive clear packing boxes in ikea and particularly for dwarves they make great cages. There's another hamster specific forum I post on but I'm not sure if we can link to it... Anyway they have great tutorials and cage tours so you can see what size is best.

Also, when it comes to wheels etc if recommend 'sizing up' from what thy tell you it's for. The wheel we have for Twitch is actually sized for rats. The one for Syrians would be about right for dwarves. The flat "UFO" style ones are great for dwarves too, plus they can take up less room if you have platforms.

And definitely make sure you get the right food, dwarves are super susceptible to diabetes as someone already said.

Oh, and be aware that you will need to have a second cage available in case there's fisticuffs at any stage. They might need to be separated, especially if there's an odd number and 2 gang up on 1.

snoman

baby and crumble wrote: »

How exciting, I'm apparently "knowledgeable about hamsters!"

Eeeek! I hope you didn't think I was being condescending!! Meant only well. ;-)

baby and crumble

snoman wrote: »

Eeeek! I hope you didn't think I was being condescending!! Meant only well. ;-)

Oh no it kinda made my day!