Wooden cages?

It’s maybe not the easiest thing to do taking on an older hamster knowing you wouldn’t have so long with it & it’s never easy losing them but personally I think the satisfaction of giving a more elderly hamster the home it needed that it might not otherwise get would be enough.
 
They aren't necessary more friendly or cuddly when they are older. A lot of that depends on their personality and also their previous experiences. It's true a younger one can take time to tame but can then be quite bonded and sit for a stroke etc.

My 1 year old hamster had been in the rescue so long I think he was a bit institutionalised. He was definitely "hands off" and very skitty about hands and there is also the thing about not being able to "teach an old dog new tricks" - so they can be harder to tame. Some will never be hand tame. I think you have the best chance of hand taming if they are younger - eg six months or less. We also don't know if they have had past traumas with hands.
 
orangetails said:
Ah thank you for the link! That looks like good stuff. Presumably I could also paint the outside of it with one of the coloured paints people use for rabbit/guinea pig hutches which would help protect it as well as looking nice? But I wouldn't want to risk those inside the cage (although I know they say they are fine for rabbits to knaw!)
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You can do. I painted the outside of mine with this as well as the inside. :)
 
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It's a personal decision at the end of the day and depends on the owner and the hamster. Rescuing any hamster is a good thing :-) I sometimes think the younger ones have been saved from spending too long in a rescue and having more chance of a permanent longer home.
 
I meant to add. If it's a female Syrian 100 x 50 might not be big enough! Some of them are very maverick and need a lot of space. Also if you were consdering the Plaza, I would try and get hold of the Plaza 120. It's a much better size I find.

I think the wood cage may depend on if you can get hold of one as well. It looks a very good option if you can get one. You can have a barred cage on the floor as well, but I prefer them on top of a piece of furniture. At least then the floorspace has extra storage and the cage is above it. But I like them at waist height due to bending difficulties, so we all have personal preferences.

It's very difficult weighing up the pros and cons and costs. A new plaza plus full perspex costs about the same as a Rodipet LaOla 120cm tank style (also wood but not for female syrians). But then that doesn't have a front door.
 
I can't find the wood cage anywhere online! Not even if I google Scallywags.
 
Maz said:
It's a personal decision at the end of the day and depends on the owner and the hamster. Rescuing any hamster is a good thing :) I sometimes think the younger ones have been saved from spending too long in a rescue and having more chance of a permanent longer home.
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I am currently struggling because we were in Pets At Home just having a look at what they stocked a couple of days ago, the hamsters have such tiny little enclosures so there was that first 🥺 And then I asked at the till if they had any male Syrians and the lady said she could ask - I said not to worry today as I haven't got the cage set up yet, to which she said they usually go very quickly at the weekends and now the school holidays are coming up... and it made me feel so sad that most of these little babies are destined to a lifetime in a small cage, purchased on a whim as a summer holiday pet! So now it's Wednesday, and end of term tomorrow/Friday, and I just want to go and buy all of them... 🫣 Or at least one of them! My Kaytee bedding arrived today so the Alaska could be fully set up by this evening! 🫣

I definitely absolutely only ever want a male Syrian. I've always preferred male pets (except my horses, they have to be mares!) - save for one rescue dog, all my 'special pets' have been boys. So I'm kind of swayed by that! Got enough high maintenance girls around here with my daughter :ROFLMAO:

The Plaza 120 looks amazing, but even if I completely reshuffled everything round I'd only just have space for it on the floor near the doorway, which doesn't seem the best place. There's not many comings and goings as such but it's less shaded from the roof window than where I have put the Alaska on the floor at the moment near my desk...
 
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Maz said:
I think it is whatever you would prefer basically :) If you're having deep bedding, a tank style can be easier to set up with platforms etc. Scallywags are ok. They also started importing the Volta cage when there were hardly any 100cm cages available in the Uk. They sell that on Ebay and Amazon as well as in their shop. So yes timescale could be an issue if you wanted it. One option might be to buy it from the store and arrange for a Parcelforce collection and have it delivered to you that way. Delivery would be expensive then though - maybe about £35.

Did you see the link to Treasured paws rescue? :)
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Sorry, meant to say thanks for the link to Treasured Paws. They are pretty local to me :) I will drop them a message.
 
It's always upsetting seeing them in pet shops. I know that feeling. Keep focused :) An awful lot of those hamsters from PAH will end up in rescues for adoption, when a child loses interest or the hamster is bar chewing it's small cage, so it's still better to adopt really.
 
I know this dilemma only too well. It has caused me so much moral conflict that i no longer go anywhere near a petshop that sells hamsters.

On one hand i do not want to support hamstermills by buying a hamster from a petshop and therefore contribute to more breeding but on the other hand i feel that it is not the hamsters fault they were bred in a hamstermill and every hamster deserves a good life.
 
Maz made a good point. Yes, most of the unwanted hamsters in the small ads and rescues have been bought in a petsathome.

By adopting we give a hamster in need a home without directly supporting hamstermills or backyard breeders.

Don't feel under pressure to adopt though. All my current hamsters are rescues and i rescue and rehome but i have walked into a petsathome and was drawn to a hamster like a magnet. My lovely Edwina RIP, chose me by climbing onto my hand, she was tame and sociable from the day i brought her home and she even died on my hand.

It can happen that we feel an instant bond with a hamster that we can't ignore and have to act on regardless of where the hamster comes from.
 
Beryl said:
Maz made a good point. Yes, most of the unwanted hamsters in the small ads and rescues have been bought in a petsathome.

By adopting we give a hamster in need a home without directly supporting hamstermills or backyard breeders.

Don't feel under pressure to adopt though. All my current hamsters are rescues and i rescue and rehome but i have walked into a petsathome and was drawn to a hamster like a magnet. My lovely Edwina RIP, chose me by climbing onto my hand, she was tame and sociable from the day i brought her home and she even died on my hand.

It can happen that we feel an instant bond with a hamster that we can't ignore and have to act on regardless of where the hamster comes from.
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I get that feeling. I have tried to get hold of a hamster from gumtree, he was what started me on all this thinking about having a hamster again... He is a bit far away from me but I just felt like I connected even from the photos. Sadly no response :( Hopefully he has a new home, the advert is a few weeks old now. He was in a very small cage he had clearly been bar biting 😢

I'm waiting to hear back from the rescue about the older guy, if I can still be considered if I buy a bigger cage 🤞 I think I will go for the Savic Plaza. I wish I could see the wooden one in real life... They do look pretty sturdy. Maybe when I am more recovered and able to drive I will plan a visit to the Scallywags store and look at it in person as a future upgrade.... But for now the Plaza is easy to get hold of, and easy to customise how I (or any future hamster) need it with screens etc.

Thanks for all the thoughts, and especially the link with the wood protecting stuff, I have saved that :)
 
I think that is why a lot of people get the plaza :) It's easy to get hold of and no diy needed. Except possibly bedding panels. You can actually just put cardboard round the inside bars. I did that for our robo at first. It doesn't look very glamorous but allows for deeper bedding and stops it falling out of the cage. Unless you have a hamster who chews cardboard! My current syrian is extremely maverick and chewed all his off. Which is why I ended up getting the perspex panels.

It's a nice cage for a male syrian :) Have you worked out what you will stand it on? Mine was on top of one of these - which doesn't take up much space and has storage underneath. There is a slight overhang all round but it's perfectly stable once the bedding is in. I did find the top a bit slippery so sticking something under the cage - eg a cork table mat or similar, stops it sliding around.

www.ikea.com

KALLAX cube storage unit, white, 77x77 cm - IKEA

The KALLAX storage series adapts to taste. This cube storage unit has a vibrant design with spaces that you can personalise with inserts and boxes.
www.ikea.com www.ikea.com
 
You can see the Kallax unit under it here. This was when he only had 15cm of bedding.

Plaza 100 cropped.jpg
 
I also have a male Syrian in a Plaza and would happily recommend this cage. I cut the acrylic panels myself because we had two acrylic sheets in the shed and a dremel tool to cut it with.
I sometimes have a foster cage on the floor but put it on a dolly trolley so i can move it about if needed.
Pets4homes and freeads usually have more hamsters than gumtree.
 
I messaged Scallywags and they said they can courier it flat packed (meaning you have to put it together) and she would come back with the price tomorrow.
 
Maz said:
I think that is why a lot of people get the plaza :) It's easy to get hold of and no diy needed. Except possibly bedding panels. You can actually just put cardboard round the inside bars. I did that for our robo at first. It doesn't look very glamorous but allows for deeper bedding and stops it falling out of the cage. Unless you have a hamster who chews cardboard! My current syrian is extremely maverick and chewed all his off. Which is why I ended up getting the perspex panels.

It's a nice cage for a male syrian :) Have you worked out what you will stand it on? Mine was on top of one of these - which doesn't take up much space and has storage underneath. There is a slight overhang all round but it's perfectly stable once the bedding is in. I did find the top a bit slippery so sticking something under the cage - eg a cork table mat or similar, stops it sliding around.

www.ikea.com

KALLAX cube storage unit, white, 77x77 cm - IKEA

The KALLAX storage series adapts to taste. This cube storage unit has a vibrant design with spaces that you can personalise with inserts and boxes.
www.ikea.com www.ikea.com
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Things are progressing with the rescue and the older hamster 🥰 So I will be ordering the Plaza tonight. Ironically we actually popped in to one of our local PAH this evening on the off chance, and they actually had a 3-month old male Syrian in their adoption centre - I would have taken him home, but we were within the last half hour before closing time so they wouldn't let me..! (Mad how they have *no* restrictions on the tiny cages you could take a hamster home in, but you can't buy/adopt one without half an hour to go through their checklist 🙈) And then not long after I left the rescue got back to me to say a Savic is fine for this hamster... meant to be, perhaps.

The space is on the floor at the moment, but that is really useful to see your photo of it on the Kallax, as I may well get a 2x1 to pop it on (it's under the window so can't go any higher) Initially I was going to see how it works on the floor because I might be able to attach a playpen to it and have the front door open so he has free choice about roaming direct from his cage while I am in there working :D

I'll be making use of my various amazon boxes to do cardboard bedding panels to begin with, I'd rather spend this month's money on enrichment items than perspex panels seeing as I have to now buy the bigger cage to adopt! Tonight will be a happy evening of cross-referencing all my shopping lists and making sure I have everything he needs! 🥰
 
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