Minimum cage requirements and help please

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Ghostborb

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Hey everyone! so recently my mom and her 3rd grade class decided they wanted a hamster as a class pet, (other idea was a snake but it didn't win the vote, oh well). Well I have a rescue pet myself who was a class pet and I've seen how things can go down hill. So id love some help and information on how to do this right and give the hamster the best life and cage it can. I'm not sure if my mother will listen but i atleast want to get as much research and information i can.

She as looking at a cage like this, and i have no idea if its right or not.Screenshot 2023-08-31 10.57.16 AM.png


Edit: it seems the dimensions are 18 by 11 by 14
 
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Hello and welcome to the forum!

I don't think that it is fair on a hamster to be kept as a class pet and the cage is awful.

I am so sorry to be so blunt and appreciate that you are trying your best to help.

Maybe your mother could look into getting a class pet who is naturally awake during the day, enjoys noise including the loud ringing of the school bell, doesn't mind being left alone over the weekend, enjoys being handled by lots of different hands and doesn't bite when woken or scared.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. :)

I agree with Beryl. A hamster is crespular and will not be awake during the time the children are at school. Hamsters are prey animals and naturally nervous and need a stable environment.

The cage unsuitable due to the size and height. We advice hamsters are not in cages smaller then 100cm by 50cm. The hamster will be active at night and will want to free roam or use a playpen. There will not be anybody who is able to do this with the hamster.
 
On the other hand, your mother could make this into an educational project and do research into proper hamster care with her pupils.

Look into 100cmx50cm cages, a 28cm wheel for a Syrian, different paperbased substrates, lots and lots of enrichments, houses, hides, food etc then price it all. Ok, we are looking for around £200. Oh yes, better to adopt than buy so we won't support hamster mills or backyard breeders.

Then there's the question of what happens should it sleep all day. Would it be fair to wake it. Would we like it if someone woke us in the middle of the night dragging us out of our warm beds.

Noooo! Let's get fish to watch and learn to look after them properly.
 
Hello & welcome to the forum.

I think it’s great that you want to research this & are concerned about the living conditions for a class pet. I do tend to agree with what Beryl has said though, most hamsters do sleep during the day & would probably not be happy in a noisy environment like a class with lots of different children wanting to handle them.
They are most active late evening & very early in the morning when no one would be around to interact with them.
Hamsters are easily stressed & stress can cause them health problems.

That cage is unsuitable for any species of hamster, hamsters need lots of floor space, deep substrate to burrow in & a cage that is high enough for a wheel (12” for a Syrian hamster) above the substrate.
As Rainbow said the minimum recommended size is around 100cm by 50cm which is about 40x20 inches.
 
Thank you Thank you for the replies, apparently the class did a vote and a little bit of research on what pet they want and hamsters won, so i'm not sure if ill be able to change that decision. Don't worry about being too blunt, the more information the better even if it's not the results i'd wish to hear. I'm currently trying to figure out the best cage requirements to give the creature the best chance it can with this current situation. I also believe that there isn't any plants for handing and rescues are always our first choice for new pets.
 
I imagine the class voted for hamsters because they are stereotypically very cuddly and adorable but that isn't really true (except for the adorable part). Hamsters aren't exactly unfriendly but they prefer to be handled on their own terms only. Among all the pet rodents, they're among the least sociable.

As hard as it may be, I think for the hamster's sake you need to let the class down here. I'm trying to imagine a way in which a hamster could work as a class pet but I'm afraid I just can't think of one.

Rats would be ideal, as they are active in the day, very social and friendly, much less fragile so more suitable for children to handle, if it were not for the weekends. Rats need lots of attention so it might not be fair to leave them alone every weekend (but someone who knows more about rats might be able to comment more on that).

While not as interactive, many fish or even reptiles might be the most suitable as they can generally be left for a weekend.
 
If it's going to go ahead anyway, then it would be best to look at the right kind of cage and the best species of hamster. Do you think they would consider gerbils instead? Daisy knows more about this but I believe gerbils are awake during the day. Syrian hamsters (the ones most people associate with "hamster" really do sleep all day! Some don't get up till about 9pm at night or later. If they are woken during the day, they won't be happy. Some russian dwarf hamsters will be awake during the day however. But you can only have one per cage (not in pairs etc).

Any kind of class project, as Beryl mentions, would need to be about what hamsters need, the enrichment they need etc. And more about watching them enjoy their environment.

The basic care would need 100cm x 50cm cage (40 inches by 20 inches) - something like a 75 gallon tank or similar. There won't be any barred cages big enough (unless you're in the Uk?). At least 8 to 10" deep bedding. And that would only be partially cleaned out every few months. A large hide or house that's dark inside. A 9" wheel for a dwarf or a 12" wheel for a Syrian. Sprays (things like flax, wheat sprays). Cage items like large cork tunnels and other hide places and tunnels.

If the idea is to have a small pet in a small cage and weekly rota for cleaning the pet out, then a hamster isn't the thing to go for. Full weekly clean outs really stress them. They need deep bedding (so they can dig tunnels and burrows) and only "spot clean" the pee area. They can also be toilet trained to use a sand potty so there wouldn't be much cleaning out needed.

Hamster care has improved leaps and bounds in recent years, for the welfare of the hamsters.
 
Posted at the same time as Daisy. Would gerbils be an option? I agree rats would be better! Then you'd need a similar sized cage but taller. If you have a look at this thread you'll see some sample set up cages for hamsters :) Much bigger than the one you linked, a deeper base and no external tubes (hamsters can get stuck in the tubes as they grow bigger and they are also an escape route - they can push them apart).

This is just to give an idea, but really a hamster isn't suitable as a class pet.

www.thehamsterforum.com

Show us your cages 2023 onwards

A new thread for 2023 to show cage set ups :) Some may have changed or be new but feel free to add your existing set up again. It's mainly so all current ones are viewable in the same place.
www.thehamsterforum.com www.thehamsterforum.com
 
Yes, gerbils are active in the day, wouldn't mind being left over the weekend, and would be ideal in many ways. The only reason I didn't mention them is because they're quite small and fast, and not necessarily the easiest for a 3rd grade class to handle. But with supervision and guidance, it might work.
 
Beryl said:
It could be out of your control though and all you can do is try and educate your mother.
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That's the plan, thanks for all the help! Its always the worst feeling when you know something but cant do anything about it :(
my mom isn't a fan of rodents and is just doing this for the kids, so anything that is more mouse or rat like is a no go.
 
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Ghostborb said:
That's the plan, thanks for all the help! Its always the worst feeling when you know something but cant do anything about it :(
my mom isn't a fan of rodents and is just doing this for the kids, so anything that is more mouse or rat like is a no go.
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Kids aren't able to care for a hamster so your mother would need to be hands on. Couldn't she say that she's allergic to anything with fur? I rescue hamsters and the allergy excuse when people want rid of their hamster is fairly common.
 
Beryl said:
Kids aren't able to care for a hamster so your mother would need to be hands on. Couldn't she say that she's allergic to anything with fur? I rescue hamsters and the allergy excuse when people want rid of their hamster is fairly common.
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I try and she what she thinks of this excuse
I can not express my gratitude enough for the help and understanding i've been met with here. thank you! ill keep you updated on what happens.
 
Would it not be enough to say to the class that you/your mother have done further research and discovered that a hamster (or any other rodent) might not be happy in the classroom? Rather than coming up with an excuse.
 
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Daisy said:
Would it not be enough to say to the class that you/your mother have done further research and discovered that a hamster (or any other rodent) might not be happy in the classroom? Rather than coming up with an excuse.
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I wish but I don't think so, and unfortunately I don't think what animal is going to adopted will change now. I'm going to do lots of research and give it to her whether its used or not.
 
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Thoughts on this. Someone offered this up, one cage is 11x11 and 13x13 and they connect together. I’m guess it’s too small but just double checking
 
Not big enough for any rodent to live in unfortunately - it would be cruel. Shops shouldn't be allowed to sell these. It would do as a pet carrier for taking them to the vets. It needs to be unbroken floorspace so it's an environment and habitat for them. They need a lot of space - especially at night.
 
Figures crossed, looking at the prevue pet product 528 universal small animal home from your cage listings and we are learning towards getting that especially since it’s on sale!
 
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Yes, i rescue hamsters from cages like that. Definitely not an option.

Who is going to be around to let the hamster out in the evening or will they be left alone every evening and kept in the cage their entire life?

I wonder if your mother and pupils have thought through the practical side of things.
Couldn't they have hamster care and research lessons first and then decide?
It would also teach the kids some responsibility and teach that a hamster is a little creature with needs, feelings and fears.

The Prevue sounds like the best option. The unlucky hamster who is going to be a classroom pet has some luck on their side because you are around trying to make the best out of a not so good situation.
 
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