My dwarf hamster tank

[Veer]

Hi all,

My russian dwarg hamster, about 7months old, lives in a tank, 80 x 40 x 50cm.
The bedding is kaytee clean and cozy mixed with cotton bedding, abour 20cm deep.
she has a 20cm Getzoo wheel and a multiple chamber house. the sandbath in the back is on a platform.

what do you think about the set up?

since a couple days she is climbing the "tree" sits on it, jumps from it, and even hangs on the mesh lid ( i see her do it at night, watching the camerarecordings in the morning)
I thaught that dwarf hamsters (except the chinese ones_ did not climb ?

 

[RainbowBrite]

I think your set up looks lovely! I have adopted a dwarf hamster and he loves climbing. He is forever climbing everything he can.

 

[Member ID2]

I love your set up.
I take it that all the holes are big enough not for a dwarfie to get her head stuck. I always ask because it happened to one of mine (got there on time though) who was a right little acrobat.
Does your hamster get out of cage time? I wonder if she's climbing her tree looking for a way out.

 

[elusive]

Your set up does look really nice.
Russian hams are pretty good at climbing up things but generally very poor at coming back down, they tend to let go & drop so you do have to be careful about falls.
What cotton bedding are you. using? Kaytee clean & cosy is a great substrate but cotton is usually not considered safe.
If you want to add extra for nesting you can just give strips of toilet tissue.

 

[Veer]

she is not very tame yet, but she comes to ask for attention at the door and allows herself to be petted.
a few times a week I put some houses on the couch, take her out of her enclosure with a bowl she gets in, and let her walk around on the couch for a few minutes.
because she is not very easy to pick up yet and is quite skittish, I am afraid she will run and fall off the couch. I therefore dare not leave her out for too long.

The cotton bedding is safe. It is used in the netherlands a lot:

Cotton & Cotton

The Cotton & Cotton (formerly Joris No Smell Cotton N Cotton) ground cover is a wonderfully soft and excavable ground cover. Made from 100% natural cotton (cott

www.drdknaagdierwinkel.nl

---

 

[elusive]

I’ve never seen that cotton bedding, maybe the cotton is cut into very short fibres & that makes it safe.

Can you set up a play area on the floor for her? I’m not sure if you can buy anything suitable there for her but you could make one.
That would be safer for her & you wouldn’t have to worry about her falling while she was running around.
If you have the space to make a play pen big enough for you to sit in with her she would probably enjoy climbing on you & that can help with the taming & bonding process.

 

[Maz]

I think caution is needed with the cotton bedding. It may be natural but still sounds like a type of fluffy bedding and if pouched or swallowed, it wouldn’t break down like paper does. I’m always a bit sceptical about products that claim they are safe. Safe products don’t need to make claims like that.

 

[Veer]

Question: i read here that the adviced minmum is 100x50cm. When i bought this tank for her i was adviced for a minimum of 70x40x50cm, and i bought 80x40x50cm.
I think she is perfectly happy in it, but....should i upgrade?
How do i know when she is unhappy?

 

[RainbowBrite]

For me I would look for signs of stress such as pacing and looking bored. I would say they are signs to upgrade.

 

[elusive]

Advice does change with advances in understanding hamsters & their needs but if your hamster seems happy enough in her tank then I wouldn’t worry too much, a stressed hamster won’t interact much, may bite & show signs of stereotypical behaviour, you would probably recognise if she was stressed.
There is a thread here discussing the upgrade issue that you might find helpful.

Should you upgrade your cage - if and when?

This post is mainly regarding the two welfare guides published by the Blue Cross and PDSA in the Uk. While these are a very welcome improvement to standards of hamster care, educating newcomers into starting out right, as with any good thing that comes along, there can be situations where...

www.thehamsterforum.com

Set up & enrichment is equally important so size isn’t the only consideration, you have a really nice set up there for her.

 

[Maz]

I was just going to suggest that thread Thank you Elusive.

 

[Veer]

Tank you for the advice! If she stays happy i will keep this tank for her and provide deep bedding and enrichement.
If i think she needs more, is stressed of otherwise unhappy, i will change.

 

[Veer]

Today i cleaned her tank. I left the cotton bedding and kapok out and only used kaytee bedding and some toilet paper.
What do you think about this layout?

It is strange how the advices about safety are different between countries.
In the netherlands they say kapok and cotton bedding are both safe, but in other countries they say it isn't.
She did love the kapok and doesn't seem to care for the toilet paper. I feel a bit sad for her, but safety first!

 

[RainbowBrite]

I think it looks great! I understand what you mean. There is different advice in different countries and it can be difficult to know which to follow. I am sure she will get used to the tissue and enjoy making a nest with it.

 

[Veer]

 

[RainbowBrite]

Your hamster is so cute!

When you say you cleaned the tank, did you only remove the soiled bedding? Just to let you know, you do not need to completely change all the bedding. I am sure you know that but just wanted to double check.

 

[Veer]

Thank you, i am totally in love with her!
But i think all hamsters are too cute!

 

[Maz]

I think it looks amazing and she is a lucky hammy! It's a great set up and she is definitely very cute She looks happy and confident there. Yes it is strange how things are different in some countries. I think the Uk has such concerns about fluffy bedding and blockages (which is a real issue) that anything that isn't dissolvable in water is seen as a potential blockage and so it is a safety thing. It may be in other countries people say their hamster has never had an issue but it could still happen. I think it's the difference between the "all natural" view and the "safety first" view. Cotton is something that could block the digestive tract if swallowed. Most fabrics are. Toilet paper isn't as natural but is more dissolvable if swallowed.

 

[Daisy]

I'm not sure that dissolvable in water is a very useful way of gauging bedding safety, because paper beddings like Fitch, or wood shavings or hemp beddings, wouldn't dissolve either. I'm not really sure what it is exactly about fluffy bedding that makes it especially likely to cause blockages but clearly it does (just going by anecdotal reports). It may be related to way it's processed into a fluff that clumps together easily (similar to how knitted things felt and become matted and dense if not washed carefully). In Europe they do have this cotton or linen bedding which is processed in a different way and seems to be more like Fitch or Carefresh in texture, rather than being a fluff, so perhaps that makes it safe but I'm unsure.

On the spectrum of fluffy type beddings, I think kapok seems to be less risky than cotton fluffs, which are in turn supposed to be less dangerous than synthetic fluffs, but it has still been linked to at least one fatality and isn't something I would personally. But risk tolerance is a very personal thing and I know lots of people use it without issues. Unfortunately it's the kind of thing that's always fine, until it isn't. That's in contrast to e.g softwood shavings where the claimed risk is cumulative, so "I've used for years without problems" is a lot more compelling as an argument.

 

[elusive]

She is adorable & her tank looks great.
I’m sure she’ll soon learn to love the tissue & make nests with it.