How to equip a cage for a hamster, accessories and home decoration for Djungarian and Syrian pets

The appearance of a new pet in the house is a troublesome and responsible business. Do not rush to buy fluffy, it is better to prepare well for this event and decide in advance how to equip a cage for a hamster with your own hands, what kind of food is best for a future pet and what to use as a bedding filler.

How to furnish a hamster cage

If we consider ready-made options, then they contain the necessary, but not always high-quality accessories for a hamster cage:

• house;
• running wheel;
• ladders;
• drinker;
• feeder.

Bedding and toys sold separately. Our recommendations will help to properly equip the cage.

House

Rodents use the house to hide from prying eyes, here they can store supplies and make a cozy nest, by nature, most hamsters are big dormice, so they spend most of their short lives in it. Ready-made cages are usually supplied with plastic small houses – minks, which are suitable for keeping medium-sized breeds or young animals.

It is worth preparing nesting material in one of the corners of the cage, these can be ordinary pieces of paper napkins, soft paper or special material from a pet store. It will be interesting to watch the pet when he will happily begin to equip his home in accordance with his own preferences. You should not offer a hamster wool or cotton wool as a nesting material. They split into separate threads, and the animal can get tangled in them or eat them.

Running wheel

We must remember that hamsters love to use their sports equipment exactly when you turn off the light and go to bed. That is why it is worth taking care that the running wheel rotates completely silently and does not disturb your peace.

Do not use wheels with mesh steps. A fluffy baby’s foot can fall through and get stuck in it.

Drinker

A drinker is always more hygienic and more practical than a regular saucer. It is attached to the cage wall from the outside, does not take up space and does not turn over. Do not be afraid that your pet does not know how to use a drinking bowl, rodents find its use very quickly on their own.

The classic drinking bottle with a metal tube and a plastic ball on the end works great, so you can buy and use it.

Feeding trough

A ceramic bowl is suitable as a feeder, it is more stable than plastic, and a hamster climbing inside will not be able to turn it over. The plastic hamster feeder that usually comes with the cage is not practical and easily flips over.

Toys

Toys are necessary for grinding teeth, they can be both purchased and from improvised materials. Hamsters love to play with toilet paper rolls and chew on cardboard. It is necessary to ensure that there are no drawings and inscriptions on such toys – the paint is harmful to the digestive system of the rodent.

From popsicle sticks you can make a ladder using non-toxic glue. It should be remembered that fluffy pets taste all new toys.

Hamster toilet

Special toilet corners are on sale. They are made of plastic, can be of different shapes and most often have special attachments to the corner of the cage. In the absence of a special device, for the first time, it is possible to adapt an ordinary metal lid from a can or a plastic tray with low sides from under the products as a toilet. For the toilet, it is preferable to use corn filler, which absorbs and retains odor well. With great care, pressed sawdust can be used for these purposes – some hamsters may develop an allergy to them.

It is strictly forbidden to use pine or cedar sawdust as a filler.

What do you need to put in a hamster cage at the bottom

It is most convenient to use wood shavings as bedding. She needs to be caged for two reasons:

• pet feces have an odor, so it is better to place a safe and highly absorbent filler on the bottom;
• Hamsters love to build their nest out of it.

What should be in a cage for a Djungarian hamster

Charming jungars attract attention even in the store. Of all the breeds of hamsters, they are the most popular and interesting. These curious and mobile creatures can constantly move around their territory, equip it and make supplies. You need to understand that for each species of rodents for their comfortable existence, it is necessary to create their own conditions. It’s great if a hamster dzhungarik has a multi-tiered dwelling. All kinds of ladders and passages, tunnels, grottoes and bridges will create not only a pleasant picture for the observer, but will also become excellent simulators for the fluffy guest. What must be in a jungarik’s cage is a running wheel. Physical exercise will help to avoid obesity, and strengthen the psyche.

Choosing accessories in the cage of a Djungarian hamster, you can also prepare a chalk stone on which he will sharpen his teeth, and equip a sandbox with sand – it is in it that he will clean his fur coat.

It will not be superfluous to buy or make a labyrinth or a tunnel with your own hands from improvised material. It is important to remember that they must have ventilation holes, otherwise the rodent may have difficulty breathing in long areas.

The sand in the sandbox must be changed at least once every 1 days, otherwise the hamsters will turn the bath into a toilet.

What should be in a cage for a Syrian hamster

Syrian hamsters are twice the size of Dzungarian ones. They lead a more measured lifestyle and do not run long distances. They are much better at making contact with people and are not afraid of them. That is why experts recommend purchasing small cages for Syrians, but be sure to equip them with a running wheel. Dimensions 30×30 cm or 40×40 cm will be the best option for them.

The equipment of the Syrian cage includes the same elements as for all types of hamsters, only in larger sizes.

When equipping a cage, it is worth giving preference to a house of this size, where all entrances and exits, as well as windows, will be sufficient in width so that the hamster can easily overcome them.

When choosing a sports equipment for a Syrian, you should make sure that the running wheel is “fit in size” for him. The fact is that these fluffies grow larger than their fellow tribesmen, so a standard wheel may not suit them. The preferred wheel diameter for this breed is at least 20 cm.

How to furnish a small hamster cage

A small cage is suitable only for temporary keeping of a young animal. In this case, the arrangement of the cage will consist in arranging the most necessary elements, since the hamster needs free space.

A small house, an outdoor drinker and a small feeder should take up as little space as possible. If there is very little space, the feeder can be omitted: the innate instincts of hamsters to find food will be satisfied if they scatter food on the bottom of the cage.

The wheel, even in a small cage, must be of the correct size, it is not worth saving on this, but the sandbox can be neglected.

You can make a labyrinth out of improvised things, the route of which will pass outside the cage.

It must be remembered that for a full-fledged life and health of a fluffy pet, a certain space is needed, therefore, if possible, it is better to change a small cage for a more spacious one.

When all the preparations for arranging the home of a new resident are completed, you can safely go to the pet store for a pet and be sure that moving and housewarming for a fluffy baby will not be stressful.

Thematic cage decoration

It is common for a person to decorate his home, to subordinate everything that is in his field of vision to the general design, so sooner or later the question arises of decorating the home of a fluffy pet.

You can decorate the hamster cage in accordance with the general style of the room where it will be located.

If this is a children’s room, it would be appropriate to style the hamster’s house as a castle or a fortress, and various themed bridges and ladders will complete the picture.

In the kitchen, it will be interesting to look at a cage with a house made of real coconut peel or an inverted flower pot with a sawn-out entry hole and a reed bridge.

By placing a cage in a high-tech living room, you can arrange a whole spaceport for your pet. The house, smoothly turning into a vertical tunnel-rocket and climbing frames in the form of radars, a dressing nook and a feeder, veiled as storage facilities under certain lighting, will look very futuristic.

The cage designed “under the old water mill” looks original, where the running wheel becomes the central object, and the hamster’s house turns into a mill with blades.

New Year’s decoration

In no case should you put real spruce branches in a cage, a hamster will definitely try to gnaw it, and resinous substances are harmful to his body. Under the ban should be tinsel. If you wish, you can decorate the cage with edible and harmless things for the fluffy: a carrot decorated with raisins and dried apples, a “snowman” made of cottage cheese, is suitable as a Christmas tree.

Garlands can be cut from a cucumber or any other vegetable or fruit that is safe for a hamster with a special knife.

Valentine’S Day

For this holiday, you can pre-sprout oats in a separate pan until green shoots appear, place this grass in a cage, on top of which scatter hearts cut from carrots and decorate everything with apple flowers.

Do not forget that the decoration of the cage is, first of all, just a whim of the owner himself, only comfort and convenience are important for the animal, so you need to observe the measure in everything and remember that decorations must be safe for the rodent.