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HOUSING/BEDDING
Housing/Bedding
 		  

  The main rule is that any cage or tank you have for your hamster must be large enough and suitable.
   

Syrians like cages so they can climb the bars. The cage must also be big enough for a jumbo wheel to be fitted.  Most cages that come with wheels and houses included in them are too small to fit jumbo wheels.  Whilst the smaller wheels are fine for baby hamsters, when they are full grown they will not be able to run in it as it will hurt their backs too much and they will tend to climb round the outside of it - of course hamsters often climb round the outside of their wheel even when it is big enough.  Don't fit wheels that have bars as they can get their feet caught and therefore injure themselves.

 

Tanks made up of tubes look fun, but make sure your hamster can get through the tubes without any real difficulty.  Also consider the placing of food if they are ill or when they get older and find it difficult to climb up the tube to a feeding platform.  This type of cage is especially unsuitable for a mother and her babies as she can become separated from them.
   

Plastic houses are often unsuitable for Syrians.  As they spend so much time sleeping, these attract condensation and if your hamster stores its food in their bed the food will go mouldy quickly and start to smell. 

   

Robos and Russians tend to be better off in glass/plastic tanks - partly for the owner's enjoyment so you can watch them running around playing.  Single tier tanks are best, but if there is a ladder leading to a second level make sure they climb it.  Remember these are only very small animals and some ladders can be quite steep for them.  They love having obstacle courses - e.g. tubes and other hollow objects that they can run through.  They also like to have a wheel - this can either be on a stand in their tank or suctioned to the side.  If you only have a wire cage for them, you will notice them having difficulty walking as their legs will keep slipping between the metal bars - insert pieces of cardboard to give them a solid base to walk on.
   

Bedding:  fluffy bedding looks very comfortable, but unfortunately can cause all sorts of problems for your hamster - often it is made from man made fibres which can easily get twisted round their legs and cause serious damage - read the story on Tripod who lost a leg due to this type of bedding.  Basically, if you can't tear the bedding, neither will your hamster be able to if they get tangled up in it.  The best bedding to give them is either the shredded 'cloth' type or the white shredded paper bedding.  If you have several hamsters, you can buy the white shredded paper bedding in large sacks which saves you money.
    Cleaning out:  they should be cleaned out weekly, and a pet disinfectant used in the cage.  Syrians are particularly clean and tend to use one corner as their toilet, therefore this corner can be cleaned out daily if necessary.  This will reduce the likelihood of any smells in the room.

If their food hoard is clean and not mouldy you might want to return this to them.  Also, some hamsters get very traumatised when they've been cleaned out as they can't smell their own scent, therefore in these cases it is a good idea to give them back some of their old bedding if it is clean and mix it in with new bedding.  Make sure you give them plenty of food when you've cleaned them out so they can start hoarding food again.