Most hamsters spend nearly all of their time of their cages, in order that they want a cage that may permit them to precise their pure behaviors. Within the wild, hamsters create advanced burrow methods underground, so that you need your cage to have the ability to mimic that. Their enclosure ought to permit them to dig and burrow whereas being spacious sufficient so it may well maintain all the mandatory provides and toys and have some room to run round too.
Carry on studying to search out out how one can select the most effective hamster cage to your pet and what are among the belongings you shouldn’t compromise on.
Hamster Cage Necessities
Selecting the most effective hamster cage is far more work than merely popping into the closest pet store and getting that cute colourful cage on sale that your child loves. Doing that may seemingly end in an sad and stressed-out hamster. There may be far more to it than that. Very first thing first, you’ll want to ensure your new hamster cage meets the next standards for the moral housing of your new pet.
Cage Dimension
Hamster cage dimension has been an object of debate for a very long time. Totally different animal welfare organizations level out different cage size requirements.
RSPCA used to have minimal necessities of 430 sq. inches for dwarf hamsters and 620 sq. inches (4000 sq. centimeters) for Syrian, however they’ve since stopped recommending the minimal on account of a scarcity of proof on what hamsters desire. However they level out that it is best to make the cage as giant as attainable.
I like to stay with their earlier necessities and go together with 620 sq. inches for all hamsters as an moral minimal. The more room they’ve, the extra enrichment their cage can present, making for a cheerful and wholesome hamster.
So the moral minimal steady uninterrupted footprint of the cage I like to recommend is 620 sq. inches (4000 sq. centimeters), which equates to 31.5 x 20 inches (80 x 50 cm) or an extended, thinner 4ft tank. Many hamster cages bought as modular methods of interconnected smaller areas don’t present such a steady footprint, making them a foul alternative for hamsters.
If you happen to don’t need to accept a naked minimal to your hamster, a cage of a minimum of 775 sq. inches or extra can be a fair higher choice. This minimal cage dimension is really helpful by German animal welfare organizations, which have greater requirements than the remainder of the world.
Bar Spacing
If you happen to determine to go together with a wire cage, be conscious of the bar spacing so your hamster can’t escape. The bar spacing of your cage will rely upon the kind of hamster you could have:
- Syrian hamsters will do superb with a bar spacing of 1⁄2 inches or much less.
- Smaller dwarf species want a bar spacing of most 1⁄4 inches as they will squeeze by something greater.
A Deep Base
One other necessary factor to contemplate when shopping for a hamster cage is how deep the cage base is. You’ll need a minimum of 6 inches (15 cm) of bedding the place your hamster can dig and construct burrows. Ideally, it is best to have 10 inches (25 cm) or extra bedding, which can present much more burrowing enjoyable to your hamster. Syrian hamsters are bigger, in order that they want deeper bedding. Intention for a minimum of 12 inches (30 cm) of bedding for Syrians.
A Giant Wheel
Within the wild, hamsters can run as much as 9km per evening. And whereas a hamster wheel will permit your pet to run as a lot as he desires, a big cage will higher resemble his pure habitat within the wild and permit for all types of enrichment. Small hamster cages bought as modular methods of interconnected smaller areas can’t normally match a large enough hamster wheel. Sadly, most of these small cages embrace a wheel smaller than the minimal a hamster wants, which is over 8″ in diameter for dwarfs and 12″ for Syrians (20 cm for dwarfs and 30 cm for Syrians).
Small wheels trigger your hamster to curve his again whereas he’s operating, which can seemingly end in again ache and again points, contemplating the period of time spent on that wheel.
When shopping for a hamster cage, understand that it ought to be excessive sufficient to suit a big wheel and a deep base for substrate.
Cage Enrichment
A giant cage doesn’t imply a lot to a hamster if it doesn’t present sufficient enrichment. Each cage wants a wheel, a sand tub, a deep substrate for digging and burrowing, a home, plenty of toys, tunnels, a water bowl/bottle. A meals bowl is optionally available as some folks desire scatter feeding their hamsters for enrichment whereas some do a mix of placing meals in a bowl and scatter feeding. A large enough cage will match all of those essential provides and supply additional room for operating round.
Examples of the Greatest Hamster Cages on the Market
Now that what to search for, I’ll checklist a couple of cages that match these necessities. Sadly, discovering an appropriate hamster cage will be fairly a job, with so lots of the cages bought being far too small and insufficient for our pets.
Hamster cages which might be large enough are usually costlier than the common small cages bought in most pet shops, which is comprehensible contemplating they’re much greater. However having a pet hamster comes with its justifiable share of accountability, and shopping for an appropriate cage that may permit your hamster to get pleasure from, run round, discover, and specific their pure behaviors will guarantee a cheerful and wholesome hamster. So, in my view, cash shouldn’t be a very powerful factor to contemplate in the case of the standard of lifetime of a dwelling creature that is dependent upon you.
If you wish to present your hamster with a spacious and enriching dwelling however can’t spend an excessive amount of cash on the cage, then I counsel you check out the IKEA hacks on the backside of this publish. You may make a fantastic hamster enclosure for a fraction of the value with IKEA merchandise!
Listed below are among the greatest hamster cages to contemplate…
Wooden & Glass Cages
Niteangel Vista Hamster Cage: Sizes M & L
Niteangel makes among the greatest hamster cages in the marketplace. Their cages are normally very spacious, which is a rarity. This cage is available in 3 sizes. Medium and enormous would make a fantastic and spacious dwelling for a hamster.
- Dimensions dimension M: 40.7 x 22.7 x 22.9 inches (LxWxH) (923 sq. inches)
- Dimensions dimension L: 47.1 x 22.7 x 26.9 inches (1069 sq. inches)
- Bought on: Amazon.com and Niteangelpet.com
Niteangel Greater World: Sizes M & L
One other spacious hamster cage cherished by many hamster homeowners. If you wish to go together with this cage, I counsel sizes M or L as they’ve greater than the minimal 620 sq. inches.
- Internal dimensions dimension M: 39.4 x 19.7 x 19.7 inches (776 sq. inches)
- Internal dimensions dimension L: 47.2 x 19.7 x 23.6 inches (930 sq. inches)
- Supplies: wooden and glass, PVC board on the ground to forestall water and pee from soaking into the wooden
- Bought on: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Niteangelpet.com
There’s a fantastic video on arrange this cage here.
Niteangel Glass Cage for Hamsters
One other Niteangel cage (or better-said terrarium), this one is all glass (besides the highest for air circulation in fact) and has sliding glass doorways on the entrance. The bottom just isn’t additional deep (round 7 inches), however you’ll be able to put extra of the substrate on one aspect and as much as 7 inches of the substrate on the aspect the place you’re opening the door.
- Dimensions: 39.2 x 22.3 x 13.2 inches (874 sq. inches)
- Base depth: round 7 inches
- Bought on: Amazon.com
PawHut Suitable Wood 3-Tier Hamster Cage
One other specious hamster cage with 1063 sq. inches. It has doorways on the backside, however I wouldn’t use them as I might fill the underside with 20 – 30 cm of bedding. The highest can even open, so you should use that to open the cage.
- Dimensions: 45.25 x 23.5 x 21.75 inches (1063 sq. inches)
- Supplies: wooden and glass, mashed wire prime for air flow
- Bought on: Aosom.com
Residing World Hamster Cage
Wire Cages
Savic Hamster Plaza
This is likely one of the greater hamster cages bought in pet shops. However in case you determine to go together with this cage, understand that the wheel on this cage is simply 7” which is simply too small for hamsters so that you’ll have to exchange it with an even bigger wheel.
- Dimensions: 39.37 x 19.69 x 19.69 inches (775 sq. inches)
- Bar spacing: 9.5mm / 0.37 inches
- Base depth: 6.5 inches (not very best however may work)
- Bought on: Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Savic Mickey 2 XL
- Dimensions: 31.5 x 20 x 20 inches (630 sq. inches)
- Base depth: 6.5 inches
- Bar spacing: the width just isn’t specified, however in accordance with opinions, it ought to have ¼ bar spacing
- Bought on: Amazon.com
Marchioro Goran 82
- Dimensions: 32.25 x 20 x 16.5 inches (645 sq. inches)
- Bought on: Amazon.com
Aquariums
Aquariums can even make a great hamster dwelling, however not all sizes are appropriate. Needless to say even when a tank can maintain extra gallons, it doesn’t essentially imply that it gives extra flooring house. For instance, the 55-gallon tank has much less flooring house than the 40-gallon breeder tank and is simply too small to make use of. The 40-gallon breeder tank (36″ x 18″ x 16″) is the smallest applicable aquarium for hamsters.
Let’s have a look at the variations and which of them can be utilized.
| Tank dimension | LxWxH | Flooring house (sq. in.) | Is it appropriate? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-gallon (breeder) | 36″ x 18″ x 12″ | 648 sq. in. | No (Not tall sufficient) |
| 40-gallon (breeder) | 36″ x 18″ x 16″ | 648 sq. in. | Sure |
| 40-gallon (lengthy) | 48″ x 12″ x 16″ | 576 sq. in. | No (Too small) |
| 50-gallon | 36″ x 18″ x 19″ | 648 sq. in. | Sure |
| 55-gallon | 48″ x 13″ x 21″ | 624 sq. in. | No (Too slender) |
| 65-gallon | 36″ x 18″ x 24″ | 648 sq. in. | Sure |
| 75-gallon | 48″ x 18″ x 21″ | 864 sq. in. | Sure |
| 90-gallon | 48″ x 18″ x 24″ | 864 sq. in. | Sure |
If you happen to determine to make use of an aquarium to your hamster, you’ll additionally want a lid such because the Zilla Reptile Terrarium Cover. If you happen to go for a deep aquarium, you won’t even want a lid.
Though aquariums will be pricy, you’ll be able to usually discover them second-hand for a fraction of the value on locations comparable to Fb Market.
Good Cages Bought within the UK & Europe
Accessible cages differ considerably primarily based on the a part of the world or a rustic you reside in. Listed below are among the cages bought in UK and European shops.
PawHut Hamster Cage
- Model 1 (Amazon.co.uk) – Dimensions: 115 x 60 x 55 centimeters (6900 sq. cm)
- Model 2 (Amazon.co.uk) – Dimensions: 115 x 57 x 55 centimeters (6555 sq. cm)
Ferplast Criceti 100
Skyline Small Pet – Dimension 100
A big model of this cage (dimension 100) is an efficient choice with sufficient room.
- Internal dimensions: 92.5 x 44 x 35 cm (4070 sq. cm)
- Bought on: Zooplus.com
Sadly, many of those cages will be unavailable or out of inventory for longer durations. So that you may even have extra luck with IKEA hacks. What’s that you simply’re questioning? It’s making a hamster cage from IKEA merchandise. Imagine it or not, IKEA’s cupboards make higher hamster cages than many actual cages made by pet product firms.
IKEA Hamster Cage Hacks
For these keen to go one step additional for his or her hamsters, some IKEA merchandise will be transformed into great hamster houses. This additionally finally ends up less expensive than giant hamster cages.
IKEA Detolf
Detolf is an IKEA cupboard that’s generally used as a hamster cage. It’s fairly straightforward to arrange and convert right into a cage. With its flooring house of 1074 sq. inches, it makes for an superior hamster dwelling with loads of room to do all of the issues that come naturally to hamsters. If you happen to determine to make use of this cupboard as a hamster cage, you’ll have to do some easy updates, as the cupboard will want a prime lid (that gives sufficient air flow) to forestall your hamster from escaping. See how you are able to do this in this video.
Since this cupboard just isn’t too deep, I like to recommend having one aspect of it full of the bedding materials nearly to the highest, in order that they have sufficient to burrow.
The scale of the IKEA Detolf cage are: 64.12″ L x 16.88″ W x 14.62″ H inches (163 L x 43 W x 37 H cm).
You may see how this hack seems to be in motion here.
IKEA Pax
One other nice IKEA hack is utilizing their Pax wardrobe body for a hamster cage. It is available in many various sizes, comparable to this one with the size of 39.3″ L x 22.8″ W x 79.1″ H (100 L x 58 W x 201 H cm) which equates to 2803 sq. inches of flooring house. While you lay it down on the ground or a desk, it makes for a VERY spacious and comfy hamster enclosure (or higher stated a mansion). Its depth of 58 cm permits you to put a deep layer of bedding to your pet to burrow.
IKEA Linnmon
This one requires a bit extra work as you’ll should drill and lower the supplies in half. The tip outcomes is a stupendous hamster dwelling with 858 sq. inches. You may see the tutorial for this cage here.
What Form of Cages to Keep away from
These small colourful hamster cages with modular methods are extremely popular amongst children, so they’re normally the primary go-to alternative for fogeys. But when we take a hamster’s viewpoint, these cages don’t present almost sufficient house or enrichment that each one hamsters want and deserve.
Cages with wire flooring will not be a great choice as a result of hamsters want a deep substrate the place they will dig and burrow, and a cage with a wire flooring just isn’t appropriate for holding the substrate until you cowl it with a deep tray that may hold the bedding in. One other factor is that strolling on wires on a regular basis could cause points together with your hamster’s ft, referred to as bumblefoot. Contemplating all of this, it’s best to keep away from these kind of cages.
Is Your Present Cage Too Small?
In case your hamster is careworn in his cage, some indicators will inform you how he feels. A careworn hamster will attempt to chew his means out of the cage. You’ll usually see him chewing on the bars when you have a steel cage. Hamsters which might be content material don’t are likely to chew the bars an excessive amount of so this can be a positive strategy to know in case your hamster doesn’t like his habitat.
Hamsters who’re very careworn on account of their dwelling situations may even get a psychological dysfunction referred to as cage rage. This normally occurs when a hamster is stored in a cage that’s too small for them, which causes them day by day stress.
In case your present cage is smaller than the really helpful minimal of 620 sq. inches, I might severely take into account getting an even bigger one to your hamster’s welfare.
