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I've noticed that I can't really see that anyone has used the shelf that comes with the Plaza, is it because of all the holes at the edge? Any suggestions for the right platform to add?As the new cage is bigger it'll take more substrate. So I put new substrate in the cage first - almost to the top of the base. And spread the old substrate on top of that (so it smells familiar). That really helps as others have said.
You kind of do the opposite of what you would think. Instead of having everything clean and perfect for a new cage, you just move everything over without cleaning.
I find it helps to let them play in the cage the day before the move. It's just a kind of adjustment thing and along with keeping everything smelling familiar, can help a hamster settle quicker. The other thing is, it means they have already scent marked a lot while exploring it the day before moving, so it's already familiar.
So for the play/explore day, I put new substrate in the cage - almost full. And just a few items in there. Maybe 2 or 3 new items you're going to use in the cage, plus one familiar toy from the old cage. They tend to enjoy exploring any new environment. Then even if they're enjoying it I still pop them back in the old cage overnight. Then do the changeover the next day. It makes a huge difference keeping everything smelling familiar and can only need a few days for them to settle without being too skittish. Whereas a cold turkey move - they can be very stressed for about two weeks.
It may be different with dwarfs - I've mainly done cage upgrades/changes with Syrians - who can be quite picky! Our robo was much more adaptive quickly.
But the main thing you need is plenty of substrate, some kind of shelf ideally - and a large house that's dark inside ideally, and then a few floor toys etc. You don't need to spend a lot. A house can be a shoebox house, tubes can be pringles tubes. I also use cardboard egg boxes sometimes.
General items that are good for syrians are - cork logs, rat sized tubes, a coconut hut has always been popular with ours. I tend to have one of the Rosewood rainbow bridges - they all seem to like running over that. I also use the hanging rat sputniks - next to a shelf - a kind of hanging hide.
So if wanting some ideas, what I have in my Syrian's cage is:
Shelf on the right - with a hide, a water bottle over and a ceramic dish where I put his veg, and a rat sputnik hanging next to it
Large house on the left. This has a small shelf over it with a ramp up to the small shelf - next to another rat sputnik.
Wheel centre back in between them.
I also have a rat tube tied to the roof of the cage, leading between the two sputniks. This creates a kind of roof run - somewhere else to go and another way of getting to the shelf on the other side. Plus it provides some overhead cover. Some hamsters don't like too much space above them.
I don't think you will need to get much more if you have a house and a shelf but I'd say a priority with a syrian is a large house that's dark inside - it really helps them settle and have normal behaviours and build a large nest. They do need somewhere dark to retreat to. A nesting box basically.
You can use the existing familiar items from the current cage (some if not all of them). And you can always add the odd thing later as long as it doesn't mean moving things around. They accept new things added quite well but they don't like things changing position!
That is such a good picture!The holes didn't worry me and it would be easy to cover the shelf with a piece of thick cardboard, a hemp mat or boredom breaker mats tied into place.
I just didn't like the size of the shelf and used two 28cm Trixie corner shelves instead in my Syrian Clive's Plaza.
Here you can see one shelf and there's another opposite but there are plenty of other shelves available. Saying that, there's nothing wrong with the Plaza corner shelf if you like it.
Thank You! The trio of balls I have already, thanks for the adviceRosewood clearly have some new items as I haven't seen some of these before.
The banana leaf toy - the woven external leaf seems fine but I'm not sure about the filling it's stuffed with. If you did get one I would remove the filling. This one presumably?
Banana Leaf Carrot Stuffer :: Rosewood Pet
Ideal for pets to play with and chew. once the corn leaf stuffing has been removed you can fill with your pet's favourite treats for an added challenge! Made from only 100% natural materials. With no glue or metal. Made from tough but fun to chew woven banana leaf. Can also be used by hamsters...www.rosewoodpet.com
The Wacky Rollers - sound ok, materials wise, but as they contain a plastic ball you might need to keep an eye on chewing. They seem intended for larger pets as quite big (the ball part is 5" tall). Some reviewers complaining about the amount of glue. The materials seem ok (corn, seagrass, loofah, sisal)
Wacky Rollers :: Rosewood Pet
www.rosewoodpet.com
The Loofa Hoola is fine - I use these and so do others
Loofa Hoola :: Rosewood Pet
Natural loofa and corn leaf hanging toy. Fun for all small animals including rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters.Fun for pets to play with and chew. 23cm total length, 7cm diawww.rosewoodpet.com
These are good though: Rosewood trio of balls