Not to get a new hamster cage?

[hollyfrost]

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 ) 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)

@BigSandyBalls2015

I might be wrong (sorry if I am) but I think that hamsters generally sleep for much of the daytime so maybe little one is just snoozing a lot of the time and is more active at night when you're sleeping?

I’m with @DifficultSituation19
For anyone wanting a hamster, please look into adopting a rescue rather than supporting the rodent mills used by PetsatHome etc.

@BigSandyBalls2015 Syrian hamsters need as much floor space as you can give them. They aren’t really climbers by nature so don’t need the height. If it is tall, you could add some wooden levels to break it up. Hamsters don’t have height awareness/perception and could hurt themselves if they fall from a height. It does a while for them to settle in a new home because the smell will be unfamiliar & they are virtually blind so they need to scent mark to feel safe.

Yes, they can only see about 4 inches in front of them and cannot see colour. Those horrible plastic balls people put them in so they crash into walls are cruel.

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.

ARAGH don't even know where to
start with that.

Please don't get more pets. One of my rabbits lived for 15 years. You would need to be able to commit to looking after it PROPERLY for a long time, long after DD has lost interest when she is a teenager. Rabbits and guineas are a lot of work.

Your original cage is far too small. Your daughter is right her hamster needs far more room for a better quality of life.

@timshelthechoice any pets at home store also has an adoption section for unwanted pets, that’s where mine have come from

DS and little friends spent many hours creating a tunnel city. Loo rolls, shoe boxes, cellotaped together with sunflower seeds as an incentive for the little guy to roam. It must have been about four foot square at the end. So many fun ideas online.

www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/509329039082953580/?lp=true

www.google.com/search?q=make+a+hamster+maze&oq=make+a+hamster&aqs=chrome.3.0j69i57j0l4.6319j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_EOOIXancD7Gp8gLn85fYAw23

It's still best to avoid doing anything that supports Pets at Home and their ilk. Plenty of animals rescues about that try to lessen animal suffering, rather than profit off it

DS and little friends spent many hours creating a tunnel city. Loo rolls, shoe boxes, cellotaped together with sunflower seeds as an incentive for the little guy to roam. It must have been about four foot square at the end. So many fun ideas online.
Great that your son did this but I'd steer him away from sellotape. I did similar as a kid and hammy got stuck to a bit of exposed tape - struggles made it even worse. Got a few bites freeing him, think it must have been very painfully.

Your dd is right. Zooplus sell far better cafes. Am I right in thinking German laws re cage size are more stringent? Really think there should be stricter controls in the UK.

We had this one and it was superb.

www.zooplus.com/shop/rodents/cages/hamster_mouse_cages/hamster_cages/126778

The layers meant there was so much space and many options.

This cage is also unacceptable it may have a lot of levels but hamsters need floor space not height and the base of that cage is way way to shallow to have enough bedding in there!

We got masses of bedding in there and he loved it.

Hammy bites hurt!

Ours bit the vet. The vet was not impressed

A pp on one of the first pages posted a great one £35 from amazon that had 4 stories. Much much better.

That cage does not have anywhere near enough unbroken floor space, it's the large floor space that they need not levels. In a taller cage a hamster should have various hammocks, bridges, etc to break their fall should they take a tumble because they're not really climbers and don't know how to land safely.

The minimum unbroken/continuous floor space needed by a hamster, as recommended by the RSPCA and PDSA, is 80cm x 50cm. More is better but this the very least they should have.

The levels can be the height you want and you can layer the bedding ie put springier type of bedding on top of the flatter type to create depth. Floor space does not have to all be on one level.

www.pdsa.org.uk/taking-care-of-your-pet/looking-after-your-pet/small-pets/the-ideal-home-for-your-hamster

@LayLar360 the adoption section at pets at home is separate from the shop itself. The small adoption fee paid goes towards caring for the other animals waiting to be adopted, not in the pockets of pets at home.

I did see one Syrian for adoption in our local PetsAtHome, she was cute, but very cheechy, IYKWIM. Unfortunately at the time we already had our lovely teddy bear hammy.

@DifficultSituation19
The adoption section is run by a charity, founded and funded by Pets at Home. Donating to them is helping fund PaH's PR.