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hamster cage recommendations

sunflowerpiggies

sunflowerpiggies

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hello! can anyone recommend a cage for a pair of russian hybrid dwarf hamsters, they're currently in a mini duna (about 60x40cm) and I've only had them for one day, but I'm already looking to upgrade them to something bigger. I'm also looking on hamster central forum, however everyone on this forum has been so lovely and helpful with my guinea pigs, so I thought I would ask on here too!
Thank you!
 
Hello! Hamster owner here :)

I would start by suggesting to separate for hamsters. They often do not do well in pairs and will fall out in the end. This isn’t a guarantee in dwarfs but still a high risk (think of it like boar trios—yes, they can work, but at what cost?).

Over all, there are multiple good cages options off of ZooPlus. The Alexander and the Barney cages are great, but the Alaska is technically over the minimum. There’s also the Living World Green Eco cages; either size would work for dwarfs, but if you really want to keep the pair together I strongly suggest getting the large size as it provides the most space (about 1400sq in).

For forums, don’t hesitate to ask on Hamster Hideout, too! We don’t get a ton of EU traffic compared to NA but we do get plenty of cases from EU people and have a few UK members on :)
 
I have a barney cage for my dwarf. It's a 100cm cage. She loves it.
 
I have kept all of my recent hamsters in a tank and absolutely love them.
You get a great view of the whole habitat, and can add loads of substrate and levals.
My current girl Opal is a really digger and spend hours every day creating new tunnels - her substrate is up to 20cm deep in places.
Here the minimum cage size for a single dwarf hamster is 100cm x 50cm so that is the size of my tank.
 
thank you so much for your replies! I looked on zooplus, but a lot of their barred cages looked quite tall, and I heard that that can be a risk for dwarf hamsters if they try and climb? I'm considering the medium living world eco habitat, as I like that it is similar to a tank but as it is on wheels and more light-weight, it is more practical for cleaning and moving around. I think that it is around 100x50cm, but I'm not sure whether it is worth the money, when there are so many other great cages that cost so much less
 
I would keep them as they are, it is a perfectly good size and a change of cage could upset them.

It is quite unusual for pairs to stay happily together so keep a close eye on them. I have had to separate all my past pairs due to bullying.
 
sunflowerpiggies said:
thank you so much for your replies! I looked on zooplus, but a lot of their barred cages looked quite tall, and I heard that that can be a risk for dwarf hamsters if they try and climb? I'm considering the medium living world eco habitat, as I like that it is similar to a tank but as it is on wheels and more light-weight, it is more practical for cleaning and moving around. I think that it is around 100x50cm, but I'm not sure whether it is worth the money, when there are so many other great cages that cost so much less
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Bar climbing should only be an issue if your hamster gets bored, which I wouldn’t think would be an issue for a dwarf in that cage size :) Either way, provided you fill the bedding pan to the top as you should (for burrowing opportunities), not much would happen anyways as long as they land on the bedding.

The eco green definitely has its pluses, including no limit on bedding height, no risk of bar chewing (although low in the recommended cages, it’s still a risk), and those wheels! Plus more aesthetic things, like then plexiglass(?) front for easy viewing.

I think any one of those could work perfectly, though :)
 
Zoozone cages are great, you would have to mesh the lid though to ensure no escapees, either that or make sure there’s no high toys in the cage. I’ve had many hamsters over the years and would say the bigger the better regarding cage size, a 60cm cage is sadly too small. The barney cage from zooplus is a great size, only problem I found was the front doors were tiny so access was a problem if you didn’t want to go in from the top; the barney does have narrow enough bar spacing for dwarves, if you’re worried about the height I would break up the space with extra levels, bridges, hammocks etc.
 
I like the Zooplus Alexander cage for dwarfs as its huge but has lovely small bar spacing.
 
For cost-effective hammy cages, it's possible to make a home out of a large tupperware bin... it can be as big as you like and much cheaper than a tank!
 
Seriously consider Ikea DIY cages/enclosures. There's plenty of DIY's on YouTube and the amount of space you get is so cheap in comparison to for eg cages that size.

Here is an example of an Ikea cage

I have used this one and adapted it to fit my space better by cutting down the table tops slightly (still above the minimum)

Another popular one is the IKEA detolf, giving a very open look and long length of floor space for £50 (could probably get one cheaper on eBay)

As also mentioned, bin cages are a great option too, but I personally found it difficult to find a large enough box when I initially got my Syrian, and although I made one as an inbetween space, I wish I'd put the money toward her current set up
 
IMG_9882_Original.JPG
This is a photo of Nala's adapted Linnmon IKEA cage. With a very simple lid on top too.
 
sunflowerpiggies said:
thank you so much! That DIY cage is gorgeous! when you cut it down, how do you get the glass to fit?
Click to expand...
So I didn't use glass as I was conscious of attatching it to the table tops, so I used plexiglass/Perspex which I purchased from Homebase. The Perspex can be a little pricey, but just shop around :)
 
sunflowerpiggies said:
thank you so much! That DIY cage is gorgeous! when you cut it down, how do you get the glass to fit?
Click to expand...
If you did want less hassle in terms of measuring and cutting etc etc, I really like the detolf cage, but it's entirely what you're after in a cage really. Tbh with dwarfs, you ideally want floor space as they aren't huge climbers (not as much as Syrians) nor do they bury/did tunnels quite as much. It really depends what sort of environment you want for your new additions
 
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