Loki is sick???

Loki has a 450 square inch bin cage, and i’m hoping to upgrade him to a 495 square inches to give him a little more room for things! He’s my baby and I want to give him the best life.
 
I'm not sure it would make a huge amount of difference in size - do you mean to fit a shoebox house in? A child's shoebox can be a bit smaller :-) If you do upgrade him, then the changeover needs to be done quite carefully so as not to stress him. You kind of do the opposite you'd expect and move everything over uncleaned. All the substrate and toys/wheel etc and try to keep things in the same layout. The idea is it helps them settle really quickly with their own familiar scent and layout - and then avoid cleaning anything for a couple of weeks while he settles. It's fine for that length of times - if it starts to get a bit whiffy you can just spot clean the pee area (ie take out a handful or two of the smelly pee substrate and add a couple more handfuls and just mix them in.
 
Maz said:
I'm not sure it would make a huge amount of difference in size - do you mean to fit a shoebox house in? A child's shoebox can be a bit smaller :) If you do upgrade him, then the changeover needs to be done quite carefully so as not to stress him. You kind of do the opposite you'd expect and move everything over uncleaned. All the substrate and toys/wheel etc and try to keep things in the same layout. The idea is it helps them settle really quickly with their own familiar scent and layout - and then avoid cleaning anything for a couple of weeks while he settles. It's fine for that length of times - if it starts to get a bit whiffy you can just spot clean the pee area (ie take out a handful or two of the smelly pee substrate and add a couple more handfuls and just mix them in.
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I may put him in it or get another hamster. it just depends on what my aunt lets me do LOL
 
If you can fit a nice shoebox type house in his current cage, he might be better staying where he is for now if he's struggling with walking and it would be less upheaval for him.

I can understand you thinking about getting another hamster as well. I find it easier to have two - it helps me cope if one passes away.
 
Maz said:
If you can fit a nice shoebox type house in his current cage, he might be better staying where he is for now if he's struggling with walking and it would be less upheaval for him.

I can understand you thinking about getting another hamster as well. I find it easier to have two - it helps me cope if one passes away.
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thank you so much for all the tips! y’all are awesome!!
 
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Hi!
I had another question. The Prevue 528 is on sale where I am. I can get it for $20 (because of my gift cards) should I get it? it’d be a lot bigger
 
It's a good cage for a hamster! But I'd say it depends on Loki's state of health as to whether now is a good time to upgrade him. If he is not very active or walking much to reach his food and water, he may, sadly, be declining and if that's the case you want to avoid stress and upheaval.

However if you're thinking of getting another hamster as well (as you mentioned), the Prevue cage would be a very good option and better than a bin cage IMO - it has a large front opening door.

(It's basically an Alaska cage for those who know the Alaska cage in the Uk).

But if Loki is still fairly active, and having normal behaviours, but just a bit slowed down, then he might enjoy more space at floor level in his later years. How is he doing now?
 
Maz said:
It's a good cage for a hamster! But I'd say it depends on Loki's state of health as to whether now is a good time to upgrade him. If he is not very active or walking much to reach his food and water, he may, sadly, be declining and if that's the case you want to avoid stress and upheaval.

However if you're thinking of getting another hamster as well (as you mentioned), the Prevue cage would be a very good option and better than a bin cage IMO - it has a large front opening door.

(It's basically an Alaska cage for those who know the Alaska cage in the Uk).

But if Loki is still fairly active, and having normal behaviours, but just a bit slowed down, then he might enjoy more space at floor level in his later years. How is he doing now?
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I took him to the vet this afternoon!

The vet said he’s just slowing down, and he didn’t seem sick. Maybe a little arthritis. He thought moving him would be okay, since the bin cage is so small.
 
Really glad Loki has some Meloxicam. You might find he perks up a bit when he’s on that. Although he said “when needed” I think it works best given daily because it will wear off otherwise and they can’t tell us when they’re in pain. What dose is he on? Only asking because some owners (and vets) can have confusion over the dose. You need a separate 1ml syringe with 10 markings (each are 0.1ml) and each of those has 10 markings (0.01ml). As the dose is so small. I tend to give it in a very small amount of baby food and they love licking it up. Maybe a teaspoonful of baby food and I just drop the Metacam on top. It tastes nice so they usually like it.
 
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If you’re going to upgrade him then important not to clean anything - move all the old substrate over. You’ll need more substrate for a bigger cage so I put new in first then all the old substrate spread out on top - so it smells familiar.
 
Maz said:
If you’re going to upgrade him then important not to clean anything - move all the old substrate over. You’ll need more substrate for a bigger cage so I put new in first then all the old substrate spread out on top - so it smells familiar.
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I moved over his old substrate today! (I got the cage early this morning!)

He LOVES it! He’s been actually more active. He even got on his wheel!
 
Heamic08 said:
I moved over his old substrate today! (I got the cage early this morning!)

He LOVES it! He’s been actually more active. He even got on his wheel!
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That's great news 🐹💕
 
That is great! Really pleased he likes it :) It can still take them a few days to adjust after the initial excitement of exploring a new cage so gently does it! He might be a bit skitty for a few days but usually after a week to 10 days they are visibly confident in the new cage (or even earlier). It's a really nice cage - glad it has perked him up. Did you need to find more floor toys to add with it being bigger? There are some nice ideas on this thread - cardboard creations

www.thehamsterforum.com

Cardboard creations

This is a thread to show how many things you can make for your hamster or enclosure, out of cardboard :-) Cardboard is your friend.
www.thehamsterforum.com www.thehamsterforum.com
 
An update on Loki (and not a great one)

He has gone back to not eating, not coming out for treats, etc. He goes back to the vet tomorrow :( i’m worried
 
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