Budget friendly two-story enclosure like this?

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Coderedfield47

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For maximizing hamster space and using less room space.

dc3be08a68fc17bee53c0ed45ba40cfc.jpg
 
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That’s great :). It’s about 100cm x 50cm deep as well which is good.

It’s an IKEA Hemnes chest. Even better would be if the bottom half was all substrate!
 
It's actually better to have one larger floor area than two levels. That would still be classed as a 100 x 50cm cage with an extra level. So more than one level would be ok, but the bottom level still needs to be about 100 x 50. Usually when people go bigger - they go bigger at one level - eg a larger tank. Going up doesn't increase the floor area. If that makes sense.
 
I'd stick to the 40 gallon breeder tank. Is there a dollar per gallon sale on?
 
What some people do is get an Ikea detolf - tip it on its side to make a tank (leaving the door off) and stand it on ikea kallax units - which gives storage underneath. For that you need to make a diy lid but its just strips of wood and mesh and simple diy - there are tutorials online for it.

It's not as deep but it's very long - 163cm - goes along a wall maybe. So maybe you could replace your desk with kallax units and have extra storage?

It's shown here on top of kallax units

cheeksandsqueakshamsters.com

Cheeks and Squeaks Hamsters

Get cheeky with us!
cheeksandsqueakshamsters.com cheeksandsqueakshamsters.com
 
Maz said:
What some people do is get an Ikea detolf - tip it on its side to make a tank (leaving the door off) and stand it on ikea kallax units - which gives storage underneath. For that you need to make a diy lid but its just strips of wood and mesh and simple diy - there are tutorials online for it.

It's not as deep but it's very long - 163cm - goes along a wall maybe. So maybe you could replace your desk with kallax units and have extra storage?

It's shown here on top of kallax units

cheeksandsqueakshamsters.com

Cheeks and Squeaks Hamsters

Get cheeky with us!
cheeksandsqueakshamsters.com cheeksandsqueakshamsters.com
Click to expand...
A lot of work.

I calculated the square inches of my next 40 gallon breeder enclosure and its a solid 570, plus whatever I can add for verticality. I feel content with that for now. Spending money on something I have to have my stepdad help me use a bunch of tools to rebuild into an enclosure sounds like a risk.

I don't understand whats so hard about pet stores selling modular enclosures. You'd think in 2023 it'd be the thing. Imagine if I had a job and I was trying to juggle all this. ugh. A straight 5 foot long enclosure might not be immediately possible, but what about an L or U shaped enclosure of modular boxes. This hamster could have a whole world to himself easily if the business was sensible. But no, use basic standardized, cumbersome and expensive aquariums like its the 80s.
 
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The 40 gallon breeder should be 648 square inches :-) 36" x 18"
 
That sounds like a 30 gallon tank
 
You're right - petsmart sell a 40 gallon tank that is 36.5 x 15.5 ins. Which isn't very deep. Google says a 40 gallon breeder tank is 36 x 18.

You'd have more floor area with this

33.2" x 19.4"

That's 644 square inches

 
Maz said:
That sounds like a 30 gallon tank
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Luckily the table is 19 inches wide, leaving me that extra inch I need when I go there and get the correct size myself. These pet store people smfh.
Maz said:
You're right - petsmart sell a 40 gallon tank that is 36.5 x 15.5 ins. Which isn't very deep. Google says a 40 gallon breeder tank is 36 x 18.

You'd have more floor area with this

33.2" x 19.4"

That's 644 square inches

Click to expand...
Stackable?
Sounds like I need to call the other pet stores and see which ones have a normal 40 gallon breeder. . I wanna keep the niteangel in mind though. Whats the assembly of these like? Does it involve glue or just inserting pieces?
One review says the instructions are in chinese. At 19.4 inches wide it would hang off the table which is exactly 19 inches.
 
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The Niteangel enclosures are popular and often available second hand. I have watched youtube videos of people setting them up and it does not look too difficult.

I think it is worth checking out the classified ads nearer the time just to see if you can snap up a bargain. :)

You are right, pet shops do not have the right size cages for hamsters and it is very sad. Many people view them as toys and put them in silly tiny rocket cages or critter trails.

Luckily we have this forum with all the wonderful resources and information so we can ensure are hamsters have what they need. :)
 
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