Origin Story
When researching for the guinea pigs and before buying the guinea pigs, I considered many other pet options first and in my research of care for different animals, I became obsessed with the idea of having a hamster. I adored the landscaping opportunities of their enclosure and how beautiful proper hamster care could look. Not to mention how adorable they are in general. The way they stand and look around reminds me of a squirrel which- prior to owning a hamster- was my favourite animal!
I knew this was something that would take a lot of planning and would be extremely expensive, much more so than the guinea pigs. To begin with, I joined a hamster group on Facebook which taught me all I could ever need to know and is the best animal care group I've come across.
I then built a to scale layout of how I wanted the cage and bought things according to that model layout. It took quite a while for everythign to arrive, at least a month. The whole set up in total must have come to around £400! One thing about me though, if I'm going to own an animal I am doing it properly.
The day that the final items arrived, my mum offered to take me to Pets at Home- not ideal, I know! BUTTTT... it was their adoption section. I planned to buy a Syrian all this time but there were none up for adoption- only for sale- so I went with this cute, grey little Russian Dwarf hamster who was 11 weeks old. I was sooo reluctant to get a dwarf as people tend to say they're not friendly but I cannot imagine a way in which this angel could be any friendlier. She is genuienly amazing! She was comfortable with me within the first week and has never once tried to bite me. I genuienly adore her and believe I will never find a hamster this well behaved again.
Cage Set-up
- Bucatstate Cages- Also sold on amazon but the ones on Temu are from the official brand and are cheaper. I bought two of the Bucatstate 2.0's and placed them side by side, creating a bigggg 200x50cm space (bare minimum is 100cmx50cm). With vouchers, I managed to get both for only £145.39 altogether!
- Chipsi Wood Shavings- The most cost effective and safe bedding out there. Most brands of wood shavings are not safe so be wary. Hamsters need AT LEAST 8 inches of beeding in order to burrow/create tunnels.
- Wooden Platforms & Multi-chamber- Platforms with stilts are essential for under any heavy items. Otherwise, theres the chance of a burrow falling through and the hamster being crushed by the items. This website does custom measurements.
- Spray Bouquet & Grassy Sprays Sprays are amazing for enrichment and coverage and honestly make the enclosure look 10 times prettier. I got both a boquet and a pack each of Delicha and Pagima. Both combined give an amazing amount.
- Wheel- Wheels have to be size appropriate and unfortunately people rarely consider this. Meadow has both the smaller and larger wheel from Pets at Home as linked. She uses the large one out of the cage and the smaller one in but both are size appropriate for her. For a Syrian however, only the larger wheel would be suitable.
- Seed Mix & Lab Block-Seed mix should be species specific- ie. if you have a dwarf, the food should be made for a dwarf, not a Syrian. People often opt for hamster, 'junk food' such as those found in Pets at Home. The one I've linked is an actually good one. I sprinkle her seed mix around the cage for her to hunt for and I put some lab block in a bowl so she gets all essential nutrition if she decided she didn't like and left out certain seeds from her seed mix.
- Forage Boxes/Sand Bath/Water Bowl- These all come from random places. I use two little Melissa and Doug wooden boxes which used to store my sons toys when he was little, a mini wooden bowl from a charity shop and some plastic containers from b&m. The water bowl is a tealight holder from b&m.
This hamster trio are here to warn you to never put your hamster in a hamster ball! They are unsafe for many reasons. Not only could their feet get stuck in the gaps, but it also arches their back which can cause injury and no matter how much they appear to 'love it', being in a ball is extremely stressful to them and the reason they are running and appear to be enjoying themselves is because they are trying to escape. Instead, opt for a play pen or hamste-proof your room so they can free roam it. Reminder- some hamsters simply don't like being out their cage and will not enjoy out of cage time.