Choosing the Best Dwarf Hamster Cages
Hamsters are fun animals that can entertain and comfort pet owners. Dwarf hamster are especially playful and clever. Keeping them in a nice cage is one of the ways of expressing how much you love them. With a myriad of dwarf hamster cages, you need to know the factors to consider when buying one so that you buy the best dwarf hamster cages that will make the animal to stay comfortable and safe. Get all the information that you will need to make the best selection. Consider the comfort of your hamster, the longevity of the cage and the safety that the cage is going to provide to the hamster.
Materials Used in Making the Cage
This is very important because it not only determines the safety of the hamster but also the longevity of the cage. If it is made up of metal, it should be well coated to prevent it from rusting. Rusting might ruin the color of the hamster especially when it is white in color. People should understand that plastic dwarf hamster cages are safe to the hamster, but the only problem is that the hamster can start chewing the cage making it to degrade in quality very quickly than anticipated.
How Easy Is It to Clean
Cleaning is something that you will be doing on a daily basis, and you need to ensure that you choose a cage that it will be easy for you to clean. Some cages are designed in a way that the feces of the hamster are going to drop on to the ground. This will make it easy for people to clean the cage without interfering with the comfort of the hamster. Choose a cage that is excellent in quality so that you don’t need to replace any parts regularly.
Ventilation and Size of the Cage
The aquarium is known to be easy to clean and maintain which is why many people go for them. Ventilation is important for your hamster because it will not suffocate nor get tired living in its place. You need to ensure that you get the best cage that will always make them the hamster to feel comfortable. Sicknesses might come along if you don’t provide the best cage for your hamster which is why you must always find a spacious cage. Big size cage provides a sufficient playing place for your hamster which is why you need to ensure that you make the best selection.
Make sure that you make the best selection of the cage for better living of your hamster. You will always need to ensure that you clean the cage to add comfort to your hamster and prevent it from contacting diseases. This is the best way to ensure that you promote an excellent living for your hamster. Choose a material that the hamster will not chew because wood dwarf hamster cages can be destroyed the moment you start using them through chewing. The coated metal ones are nice not only because they are durable but because they can’t be chewed by hamster which is why many people love them.
Safety
Yes you want your pet to be happy, but most importantly you want them to be safe. This is where you have to make the choice between a plastic cage, a wire cage or a glass cage. Wire cages are probably not the safest bet for dwarf hamsters because the spaces between the bars might be large enough for them to crawl through and escape. Plastic cages are great options, but you must ensure that they can’t fall from the tubes and hurt themselves. The advantage in choosing a glass cage or aquarium is that hamsters can’t chew their way out of this option.
Bedding
Hamsters need adequate bedding so that they can burrow, so no matter what size hamster cage you choose just make sure that it is deep enough for a thick layer of bedding. You must also keep in mind that wire cages can get a bit messy as hamsters have a tendency to kick their bedding through the bars of the cage while burrowing. So if you don’t want to be cleaning up hamster bedding every day this option is not for you.
Comfort
At the end of it all just make sure that whatever option you choose your dwarf hamster is comfortable and happy. The cage should be large enough for your pet to run round and play. Most importantly the hamster cage should have all the necessary toys such as wheels, water bottles, food bowls and all the other necessary items to keep your furry friend healthy, safe and happy.
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This article was actually really helpful. I do have some questions, though. For instance, if you could only pick one thing to keep your hamsters in, which type of habitat would you pick? Also, which habitat would generally be cheapest? You mentioned that the plastic cage type often needs to have parts replaced, but other than that, would it be cheaper or more expensive than an aquarium? Also, is there a habitat that you suggest getting as a first and then upgrading? What habitat is the best for someone who doesn’t have much spare time? One last question, the information I’ve found on the web about whether or not two hamsters can live together is kind of contradictory. Does it change depending on the size of the habitat? (For instance, if it’s small they prefer to be alone, but if it’s a big habitat they’re fine)
Hi Aibgail!
Really good questions. There a hundreds of pictures on the internet on elaborate hamster habitats. The guys that build them must have much more disposable income than I. It’s been awhile since I’ve had hamster but I kept it really simple. I made sure they had fresh wood chips (I think I used cedar), food, water dropper, a hamster wheel, and maybe a couple of other things in their aquarium and called it good. Hamsters have to be some of the more economical pets out there but they’re definitely not free.
I had a friend the had a really expensive plastic cage. It looked really neat and was probably better than my cheap little aquarium. But the aquarium worked fine. My suggestion is to start with an aquarium and work up from there. If you have multiple hamsters you will need separate hamster habitats anyway.
I’ve seen the debate on the forums about keeping hamsters together. No breed of hamsters shouldn’t be housed together UNLESS they’re winter white hamsters of the same litter. (2 sisters, 2 brothers)
So many hamster owners think they’re beating hamsters natural inclination to burrow separately. And the hamsters will coexist peacefully for weeks or even months at a time. But I’ve never seen an instance of them going more than a few months without one hamster killing the other. It’s really quite tragic.