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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Not to get a new hamster cage?

219 replies

hollyfrost · 21/09/2019 18:16

Hi, I'd be really grateful for some advice from any hamster owners out there.
My DD begged me for weeks about getting a hamster, and I finally gave in after she showed me a hamster up for adoption - we didn't have a cage, so we bought the largest one our pet store had (this one - www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/pets-at-home-wire-grey-hamster-home-extra-large ).
Fast forward a few weeks - DD absolutely adores the hamster- she spent nearly £50 on buying the hamster a 'better' wheel (apparently the old one was too small Hmm ) and overpriced toys. Fine, it's her money, I didn't stop her.
But now DD is obsessed with getting her hamster a new bigger cage - I keep telling her that the one we have right now is perfectly fine (it is) and that the hamster sleeps all the time anyway (it does), but she just starts yelling at me for being 'cruel'.
I'm not cruel at all, I just don't think it's worth spending £££ on a hamster which already has everything it needs. Is DD being unreasonable, or am I?

(In case anyone's wondering she wants to get this one - www.zooplus.com/customerpicturedisplay/shop/rodents/cages/rabbit_cage/120_cm_cages/348157 . WAY too expensive for a hamster IMO)

OP posts:
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6
Stefoscope · 22/09/2019 10:08

If you're wanting to keep a pet, it's always best to seek out species specific website forums and get advice from experienced keepers and cross reference this against any research you do. Don't just go with whatever the pet shop tells you (especially Pets at Home). PAH will happily sell an overpriced too small cage, as they know a percentage of people will return to buy a larger one a few weeks down the line.

I've kept small mammals and reptiles all my life and most of the housing pet shops sell is overpriced and suboptimal. You're often best making something yourself as it works out cheaper and is better for the animal.

blighter · 22/09/2019 10:09

Get a bigger cage ffs. Poor bloody creatures shouldn't be in cages I get so upset and angry I cant even bring myself to click on the picture of your cage 😡😡😡😡😡😡 really cruel

Original poster
hollyfrost · 22/09/2019 10:12

The Alaska looks like a good option, thank you.
As for the guinea pigs / rabbits, I honestly don't see the issue in having a slightly smaller cage. They can still run around, there'll be just a bit less space to do so. I would (and do) absolutely pay for any vet bills, but buying a huge cage seems a bit overboard if the animals aren't showing signs of stress. DD seems to be happy with the hamster, so I'll put off getting any more pets and just buy a new cage.

OP posts:
blighter · 22/09/2019 10:12

Btw hamsters climb the bars and chew them because THEY ARE TRYING TO ESCAPE not because they are having a jolly good time 😐

Proseccoinamug · 22/09/2019 10:15

Rabbits are one of the most neglected pets :-( they need space to run, dig, twist and jump. They also need a lot of exercise and are social animals. Keeping a rabbit alone is cruel. Please, please look into the needs of a rabbit before you buy one. They’re more work than cats and dogs.

blighter · 22/09/2019 10:16

Having read your comment above ffs DONT get a rabbit. They need SPACE AND COMPANY not a 'smaller space'. You should not own these type of pets 😡😡😡 i used to volunteer at a rabbit sanctuary. You would not have been able to have rehomed one.

blighter · 22/09/2019 10:18

prose here here. You put it a lot better than me 😊😊

MyIncapableOne · 22/09/2019 10:19

Rabbits are really not suitable for children. That aren’t generally cuddly, you need at least two, they live for years and cost a fortune in vets bills. If you are reluctant to spend on a new hamster cage, the last thing you should be contemplating is shelling out for a couple of rabbits that could live 12 years.

And hamsters only really climb and chew the bars if they are trying to get out. If they are happy in their cage they won’t do this. Therefore the bigger the cage, the better.

And please don’t forget, you can take the cage back to PetsatHome even if it has been used and you don’t have the original packaging and you will get a full refund. You were wrongly advised. Perhaps if more people did this, they would start selling a £30 Alaska cage.

Proseccoinamug · 22/09/2019 10:20

Small furries mask stress and pain, OP. It’s an evolutionary thing because they can’t afford to show weakness to predators or to their own group.
You won’t see ‘signs of stress’ and when you do you probably won’t recognise them as such. You’ll see displacement behaviours such as grooming and rearranging bedding.

Iaseol · 22/09/2019 10:20

I honestly don't see the issue in having a slightly smaller cage. They can still run around, there'll be just a bit less space to do so.

Don't buy anymore animals. If you don't get the very basics, keeping pets is not for you.

Ghjbd · 22/09/2019 10:21

So there is a YouTuber called Victoria Rachel she does really google hamster videos.The best cheap cage is a bin box which are amazing 1m for 10quid

LookingForward2020 · 22/09/2019 10:22

Keeping animals in cages like this seems cruel. They should out in their natural habitats

migmogmash · 22/09/2019 10:22

'Don't see the issue of a smaller cage'

Oh FFS...I give up. This is a living, breathing creature you're talking about, rabbits and guinea pigs may not appear stressed to you in their tiny box cages, but they are. And if you could see the difference in natural behaviour more space and enrichment makes then you would hopefully understand. Would you like to live in a cupboard your whole life? Sad

FamilyOfAliens · 22/09/2019 10:23

Btw hamsters climb the bars and chew them because THEY ARE TRYING TO ESCAPE not because they are having a jolly good time

They climb because they are curious, because they are mimicking their behaviour in the wild, and to make it easier to get to the different levels in their cages.

CloudyVanilla · 22/09/2019 10:24

Haven’t read the comments yet but hope everyone has pointed out that YABVVU.

If you are set on a traditional barred wire cage (not really recommended) then the minimum you should be buying is the Barney cage from Zooplus, preferably the Alexander cage.

If the hamster sleeps all the time then it is a sign the cage is far too small - ALL pets at home cages marketed at hamsters are way too small, even the “Extra large” one.

In future - get a dwarf hamster. If you do get a barred cage ofadequate size, they will still be way more happy in it that the much larger Syrian hamster. They are also very sweet and tameable (if you get a winter white, robo hamsters not so much).

Don’t say no to a child wanting to provide adequate care for a living creature. Hamsters are actually really great little pets if they are taken care of, their reputation for being grumpy/lazy/slow comes pretty much entirely from inadequate housing and unsuitable enrichment.

Stefoscope · 22/09/2019 10:24

Animals low down in the food chain often won't show stress in a way humans will easily recognise though. In the wild if they show weakness they will be preyed on. People often interpret animal behaviours through a human perspective. As a pp said when a hamster is chewing the bars of it's cage it is trying to escape, not because it finds the act of chewing soothing as a human baby would.

I took one of my pets for her annual health check a few weeks back. Outwardly she seemed in very good health, but on closer inspection, she had fairly advanced staged egg binding and needed life saving (and expensive) surgery. The severity of it even surprised the very experienced vet who treated her.

CloudyVanilla · 22/09/2019 10:28

FWIW I have a dwarf hamster with an enormous cage, access to my room and lots of species appropriate enrichment.

It’s also not true about hamsters climbing and bar biting for fun:to satisfy their need to chew. A hamster provided with a proper environment will rarely bar chew and will not monkey bar repetitively.

They may climb stuff to get to other part so of their cage, but repetitive pacing, digging in the corners, bar chewing and bar climbing are called stereotypies and they are a sign of boredom and stress.

Just because they are common behaviours in hamsters does not mean they are normal and healthy - it just means that the majority of hamsters are inadequately housed.

TheFairyCaravan · 22/09/2019 10:31

As for the guinea pigs / rabbits, I honestly don't see the issue in having a slightly smaller cage. They can still run around

Jesus Christ! Perhaps some one could lock you in a small shed all day and see how you like it!

SilentAlarm · 22/09/2019 10:34

Jesus Christ I’ve just read your updates. Please don’t get any more pets without doing some serious research first. People always think of rabbits as easy pets for their children but they are definitely not. They’re a massive commitment.

Organisedchaosalways · 22/09/2019 10:34

We've got the same cage (the pets at home one) and it's perfectly sufficient for our Syrian hammy....she's probably seen all the fancy ones on Instagram and wants a bigger one.
If it's her money then hey ho let her spend it.

QueefLatifah · 22/09/2019 10:35

Your don’t sound like you should have pets to be honest and your daughter sounds awesome
You really aren’t taking things on board here

Shakennotshook · 22/09/2019 10:37

Most rabbit cages at the pet store are small

Yes they are and its downright cruel. Rabbits and pigs need room to run around - having "a bit less room" is so unfair on the wee things. Would you like to be stuck on a Ryanair plane for the rest of your life?

Yup135466 · 22/09/2019 10:40

I'd suggest getting this one, it's a good size and quite cheap. www.zooplus.com/shop/rodents/cages/hamster_mouse_cages/hamster_cages/284289

MiddleClassProblem · 22/09/2019 10:41

Equally you can run around your own bedroom, over the bed etc. I don’t think you’d like being locked in there.

You do understand that pets are still animals?