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General Hamster.. Questions, etc.

Shannon563

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Okay guys, I need help.. I'm planning on getting another Hamster..(no I'm not a first time hamster owner).. It's my first time gonna do this, but anyways.. I have a Guinea Pig cage that I want to turn into a hamster cage, but the problem is the wires are too wide an the hamster could escape.. I've watched YouTube videos where people has used chicken wire, I'm wanting to know if that's a good idea or if anyone else has done something like this, please give me some advice. Thanks!

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sallyvh

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If you're looking for a hamster forum, hamsterhideout will probably be one of the best ones out theres. However, I have a syrian hamster and her cage is made out of an old guinea pig cage.

I really like it and it's a solid cage, but it isn't the most visually appealing. It also isn't too fun to make. For me, the main benefit of having a cage like this over a tank or bin, is the ventilation it offers.

I wouldn't use chicken wire. You want to find wire mesh (usually in the garden section of a hardware store). It should be at the largest half inch spacing, you can also do it with quarter inch wire.

The wire can be very sharp and isn't easy to work with. You need something very strong to cut it with and tons of little zip ties. Mine is zip tied every few inches. You want the wire tight to the cage everywhere so a hamster can't squeeze out.

Sharp edges can be covered with duct tape if your hamster isn't a chewer. The entire door of my cage is taped on the front and back so she can't climb it because there's a little space where you open the door and I obviously didn't want her escaping. There's also tape around the door to cover any sharp edges.

Here's a picture of my girls cage. It is a smidge under 540 square inches.

20180710_213643.jpg
 

Shannon563

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I thank you for your advice.. I can't seem to find that forum you told me about..
If you're looking for a hamster forum, hamsterhideout will probably be one of the best ones out theres. However, I have a syrian hamster and her cage is made out of an old guinea pig cage.

I really like it and it's a solid cage, but it isn't the most visually appealing. It also isn't too fun to make. For me, the main benefit of having a cage like this over a tank or bin, is the ventilation it offers.

I wouldn't use chicken wire. You want to find wire mesh (usually in the garden section of a hardware store). It should be at the largest half inch spacing, you can also do it with quarter inch wire.

The wire can be very sharp and isn't easy to work with. You need something very strong to cut it with and tons of little zip ties. Mine is zip tied every few inches. You want the wire tight to the cage everywhere so a hamster can't squeeze out.

Sharp edges can be covered with duct tape if your hamster isn't a chewer. The entire door of my cage is taped on the front and back so she can't climb it because there's a little space where you open the door and I obviously didn't want her escaping. There's also tape around the door to cover any sharp edges.

Here's a picture of my girls cage. It is a smidge under 540 square inches.

View attachment 85003
 

sallyvh

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(broken link removed)
 

Shannon563

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So I know this forum is for Guinea Pigs.. But I use the Tapatalk app an can't find a Hamster forum.. The one provided above just goes to a website.. But my main question is.. I've used pine bedding for my Hamsters before.. Got told it was good for their upper respiratory.. So because I plan on getting another Hamster, I want to know what y'all think is best bedding! Thanks!
 

sallyvh

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Just search up the hamster hideout forum outside of the app. There's also hamster central which is a good one. Both of these will be some of the top google hits if you search hamster forum.

My preferred bedding is boxo. It's very similar to carefresh, but is cheaper. But really any recycled paper bedding is good. It's soft and allows them to nest and create some little burrows if they want.
 
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