# Hamster Cage Question?



## xXHazelXx (Oct 7, 2010)

hiyaaaa ok have a question, my chinese dwarf currently has the habitrail ovo studio and I am waiting for his loft to arrive, but i was just wondering is this sufficient space for him, I mean its quite big altogether, but what do you guys think and if you have any recommendations please let me know


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

The Habitrail cages are not really recommended as they to not have enough ground space, and also, they have poor ventilation. Personally, I would get rid of it and buy a decent barred cage. The Habitrail does not nearly meet RSPCA guidlines.

Some great cages are: Ferplast Mini Duna, Ferplast Duna Fun, Savic Cambridge, IMAC Fantasy, Ferplast Multy, and any on this website - Hamster Cages: great selection at zooplus

The Savic Cambridge is on offer on there at the moment, plus you will get a discount on your first order - Hamster Cage Cambridge at zooplus


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

i echo everything Happysaz has said habitrails are extremely poorly designed.


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## Lady Sol (Aug 20, 2009)

xXHazelXx said:


> hiyaaaa ok have a question, my chinese dwarf currently has the habitrail ovo studio and I am waiting for his loft to arrive, but i was just wondering is this sufficient space for him, I mean its quite big altogether, but what do you guys think and if you have any recommendations please let me know


Is it the Habitrail Ovo Loft (long orange and while egg-ish shaped cage with wheel and buit in maze unit) or one of the small (2inch x 2inch x 4inch) old style lofts? If it's the Habitrail Ovo Loft then you are probably OK for a dwarf with the Studio as well (people generally have no idea that the new loft cage is not the same small size as the other units). If you look on Ebay you can usually pick up some of the extra round maze units for only a couple of pounds each (+postage) to add space cheaply. I usually go for a minimum size of 5 Ovo pods for dwarfs, but the new Ovo Loft is much bigger than a pod.



happysaz133 said:


> The Habitrail cages are not really recommended as they to not have enough ground space, and also, they have poor ventilation. Personally, I would get rid of it and buy a decent barred cage. The Habitrail does not nearly meet RSPCA guidlines.
> 
> Some great cages are: Ferplast Mini Duna, Ferplast Duna Fun, Savic Cambridge, IMAC Fantasy, Ferplast Multy, and any on this website - Hamster Cages: great selection at zooplus
> 
> The Savic Cambridge is on offer on there at the moment, plus you will get a discount on your first order - Hamster Cage Cambridge at zooplus


She has a chinese dwarf hamster, have you had a chinese dwarf hamster? As far as I am aware you cannot keep them in barred cages. Even the ones for dwarf hamsters. They aren't the same as roborovski dwarf hamsters and russian dwarf hamsters. Chinese dwarf hamsters can squeeze themselves flatter and can get out through the bars. Any barred cage is a big no-no with chinese dwarf hamsters. A mini Duna might be OK as the bars on on the top, but they'd need meshing very well. When I rescued Marvin (chinese dwarf) he was in a bin cage at first until I could get him something bigger. In the end he ended up in a Rotastak cage because it was the easiest thing to keep adding to with no bars anywhere (though even then you have to be careful, cos lots of the Rotastak/Habitrail/Crittertrail units have areas with bars). My syrian next to him had a lovely Imac/Cambridge setup, but Marvin would have been through the bars in seconds, so he had the biggest Rotastak setup I could afford for him with a ton of toys to climb over in it.

I agree all other hamsters can have the bars for ventilation and climbing (even my robos and russian dwarfs have barred units in their Habitrail palaces for ventilation), but chinese dwarfs cannot have bars anywhere on their cages (unless it's somewhere very hard to reach and they are meshed extremely well.)

For a chinese dwarf you either need a large glass tank setup, with excellent meshing on the roof, a large bin cage again with excellent meshing on the roof, or many many Habitrail or rotastak units joined together. You may be able to use a large Zoozone with meshing, but I've never seen one in real life, so I don't know for sure.



noushka05 said:


> i echo everything Happysaz has said habitrails are extremely poorly designed.


They have their uses. Some love them, some hate them. Lots of advice go round about them from people who have never used them - Previous thread on whether they are badly desgned or fit for purpose.


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

Lady Sol said:


> Is it the Habitrail Ovo Loft (long orange and while egg-ish shaped cage with wheel and buit in maze unit) or one of the small (2inch x 2inch x 4inch) old style lofts? If it's the Habitrail Ovo Loft then you are probably OK for a dwarf with the Studio as well (people generally have no idea that the new loft cage is not the same small size as the other units). If you look on Ebay you can usually pick up some of the extra round maze units for only a couple of pounds each (+postage) to add space cheaply. I usually go for a minimum size of 5 Ovo pods for dwarfs, but the new Ovo Loft is much bigger than a pod.
> 
> She has a chinese dwarf hamster, have you had a chinese dwarf hamster? As far as I am aware you cannot keep them in barred cages. Even the ones for dwarf hamsters. They aren't the same as roborovski dwarf hamsters and russian dwarf hamsters. Chinese dwarf hamsters can squeeze themselves flatter and can get out through the bars. Any barred cage is a big no-no with chinese dwarf hamsters. A mini Duna might be OK as the bars on on the top, but they'd need meshing very well. When I rescued Marvin (chinese dwarf) he was in a bin cage at first until I could get him something bigger. In the end he ended up in a Rotastak cage because it was the easiest thing to keep adding to with no bars anywhere (though even then you have to be careful, cos lots of the Rotastak/Habitrail/Crittertrail units have areas with bars). My syrian next to him had a lovely Imac/Cambridge setup, but Marvin would have been through the bars in seconds, so he had the biggest Rotastak setup I could afford for him with a ton of toys to climb over in it.
> 
> ...


oops i actually didnt read the op's post properly i didnt realise it was a chinese dwarf....we kept ours CD's in a large tank...but i really hate to see any animal in something so small and chlaustrophobic as an ovo, my neighbours daughter had a syrian hamster in one with a couple of ever tinier extensions it looked pitiful with no space to move around i felt so sorry for it...i agree with the rspca im afraid imo the more floor space the better whatever the species


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

Lady Sol said:


> Is it the Habitrail Ovo Loft (long orange and while egg-ish shaped cage with wheel and buit in maze unit) or one of the small (2inch x 2inch x 4inch) old style lofts? If it's the Habitrail Ovo Loft then you are probably OK for a dwarf with the Studio as well (people generally have no idea that the new loft cage is not the same small size as the other units). If you look on Ebay you can usually pick up some of the extra round maze units for only a couple of pounds each (+postage) to add space cheaply. I usually go for a minimum size of 5 Ovo pods for dwarfs, but the new Ovo Loft is much bigger than a pod.
> 
> She has a chinese dwarf hamster, have you had a chinese dwarf hamster? As far as I am aware you cannot keep them in barred cages. Even the ones for dwarf hamsters. They aren't the same as roborovski dwarf hamsters and russian dwarf hamsters. Chinese dwarf hamsters can squeeze themselves flatter and can get out through the bars. Any barred cage is a big no-no with chinese dwarf hamsters. A mini Duna might be OK as the bars on on the top, but they'd need meshing very well. When I rescued Marvin (chinese dwarf) he was in a bin cage at first until I could get him something bigger. In the end he ended up in a Rotastak cage because it was the easiest thing to keep adding to with no bars anywhere (though even then you have to be careful, cos lots of the Rotastak/Habitrail/Crittertrail units have areas with bars). My syrian next to him had a lovely Imac/Cambridge setup, but Marvin would have been through the bars in seconds, so he had the biggest Rotastak setup I could afford for him with a ton of toys to climb over in it.
> 
> ...


I guess you are an Ovo fan then? I seem to think we've had this discussion in the past.

Even if she doesn't wish to use a barred cage, the Habitrail does not meet animal welfare guidlines, and a plastic tanked cage would be better. A Ferplast Duna Multy would be perfect, or a meshed over Zoozone.


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## Lady Sol (Aug 20, 2009)

happysaz133 said:


> I guess you are an Ovo fan then? I seem to think we've had this discussion in the past.
> 
> Even if she doesn't wish to use a barred cage, the Habitrail does not meet animal welfare guidlines, and a plastic tanked cage would be better. A Ferplast Duna Multy would be perfect, or a meshed over Zoozone.


We probably have. I'm sure if the RSPCA came round to inspect my cages though they'd find my hamsters have far more room to run and play happily than 99%ish of hamsters out there 

I also suggested a large tank/bin/Zoozone setup as a possibility.


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## xXHazelXx (Oct 7, 2010)

Lady Sol said:


> Is it the Habitrail Ovo Loft (long orange and while egg-ish shaped cage with wheel and buit in maze unit) or one of the small (2inch x 2inch x 4inch) old style lofts? If it's the Habitrail Ovo Loft then you are probably OK for a dwarf with the Studio as well (people generally have no idea that the new loft cage is not the same small size as the other units). If you look on Ebay you can usually pick up some of the extra round maze units for only a couple of pounds each (+postage) to add space cheaply. I usually go for a minimum size of 5 Ovo pods for dwarfs, but the new Ovo Loft is much bigger than a pod.
> 
> She has a chinese dwarf hamster, have you had a chinese dwarf hamster? As far as I am aware you cannot keep them in barred cages. Even the ones for dwarf hamsters. They aren't the same as roborovski dwarf hamsters and russian dwarf hamsters. Chinese dwarf hamsters can squeeze themselves flatter and can get out through the bars. Any barred cage is a big no-no with chinese dwarf hamsters. A mini Duna might be OK as the bars on on the top, but they'd need meshing very well. When I rescued Marvin (chinese dwarf) he was in a bin cage at first until I could get him something bigger. In the end he ended up in a Rotastak cage because it was the easiest thing to keep adding to with no bars anywhere (though even then you have to be careful, cos lots of the Rotastak/Habitrail/Crittertrail units have areas with bars). My syrian next to him had a lovely Imac/Cambridge setup, but Marvin would have been through the bars in seconds, so he had the biggest Rotastak setup I could afford for him with a ton of toys to climb over in it.
> 
> ...


Um he has the really big loft its like the one thats almost a metre long, its orange and white like two studios put together, he seems fine in it and i did hear about chinese being able to escape very easily from barred cages. I will definitely get a maze soon because he loves hiding XD I also want to add the um wheel that stands on its own (forgot the name) so i can take the wheels out the others to allow for more toys. I get all my cages from a seller on ebay so i will probably get it from there. 
I dont know why people argue about ventilation and condensation because I bought him from [email protected] where he was in a tank with no holes at all :S and Ive had the habitrail for a while now and I've never seen condensation except in the water which is changed daily.


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