# Hamster in a gerbilarium?



## Crawledoutofthesea (Oct 23, 2011)

Okay, so this is my first post here- have been looking around for a while though and was especially impressed with the cages thread- and since I'm having a little cage-based drama today I thought I'd ask for some advice!

My Syrian hamster, Goo, effected a daring escape plot from her Savic Peggy cage sometime last night- first thing I hear about it is my dad bawling up the stairs this morning and ineffectually piling cushions around doorways (?). Anyway, she'd managed to chew through the plastic binding joining the climbing tubes together and the rest is history, as is the cage.

This caused widespread panic as my family are going on a short break tomorrow; we needed to get something for her fast. Since it's Sunday, the only place we could go was [email protected], and the only cage they had there that didn't have the same tube design was their own-brand gerbilarium. While I like the fact she can burrow _and_ climb on the bars (which she loves to do) I'm not sure it's really going to be big enough for her long-term; you can sort of see the hamster-to-cage ratio in the photo below. That said, she has space for her wheel (it's the flying saucer affair) and she does have the extra levels, so maybe I'm just worrying over nothing (a couple of weeks ago I convinced myself she had wet-tail when she'd just been dripped on by the water-bottle)?

What do you guys think? Has anyone else kept hamsters in this gerbilarium, and how did you find it? There's not much I can do until I get back from the break, but would it be better for me to try and find her something more spacious on ebay?


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## Guest (Oct 23, 2011)

Although that cage is fine for the short term, unfortunately it is far too small as a permanent cage 

I find ZooZone2 cages great for syrians 
If you scroll down to the bottom of this link they are going cheap at the moment 
Range of Hagen Ovo luxury expanding hamster cage systems at up to 50% off the RRP

Does you hamster use her wheel? It looks a bit small to me (I could be wrong) as syrians need a minimum of an 8" wheel to be able to run happily


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## purple_x (Dec 29, 2010)

Hamsters need a base size of at least 80x50cm so cages like the zoo zone 2 (the one in bernies link)
A savic hamster heaven, a savic ruffy 2, An Alexander (zooplus) A barney (zooplus) or a savic mickey 2 xl.

Also hamsters need an 8" wheel or an 11" if they are on the large side.

What you have your hamster in is fine for now but it will need to be changed for something bigger as soon as you can.


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## Crawledoutofthesea (Oct 23, 2011)

Well, she used that wheel when I first got her (she was absolutely tiny, less than half the size she is now!), and seemed to really like it. I upgraded her to a vertical 9" wheel in the Peggy cage to give her some more space, but there really isn't a convenient place to hang it in the new place. I'll see if she uses it tonight! 

I'm honestly not a fan of the modular system cages- I've used the Rotastack system in the past, and had numerous break-outs- plus, she's now figured out that if she chews the plastic bits she gets to go on an adventure! I'm thinking I might go over to a tank or a bin cage, since I've got a pretty decent amount of floor space for her. Obviously, I can't afford to keep dropping money on cages, so if I could get a cheap tank to adapt that would be great.


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## Crawledoutofthesea (Oct 23, 2011)

Heya guys, just wanted to thank you for the advice. I did try to make a bin cage for Goo, but the plastic kept shattering...I'm sure I'm doing something wrong, but don't know enough to know what exactly that is!

Anyway, this evening I ordered an Imac 80 rat cage:
Imac Rat 80 Cage - Next Day Delivery Imac Rat 80 Cage
Since this has a bar spacing of 10-12mm, I figured it would be fine for a Syrian, and it's a good bit cheaper than a similarly sized hamster-designated cage (in fact it looks identical to the Cerceti 16 except with different platforms inside, but is £10 cheaper- bizarre!). Lots of space for her big 9" wheel and for toys.

It's getting delivered on Friday, and I can't wait to get my little bear into it! But I also know that Syrians can get upset by cage changes, and given that she's only been in the gerbilarium for a week or so, I want to take it easy with her. The plan was to make the move on Sunday night, when she normally has her cage cleaned anyway; I thought that it might also make her less jumpy if I re-used some of the old sawdust/bedding, so that the new cage would smell familiar. Is this a good idea, or would it be more hygienic just to go for a complete change?


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