Evgeny, my Russian 🇷🇺 dwarf 💕

[Katya]

Hi
I just love this site so much. I came home with my hammy by accident!!! I’d popped into Pets4Homes or whatever it’s called only for a quick peek , fell in love , and bought him on the spot.
Initially, Ev was terribly frightened and made hissing noises at me .
Two months later he actively listens for my voice and comes out to play .
All the info on this site has really helped. I bought and made a playpen which I can move around the flat depending what else I’m up to (drying washing etc).
Ev doesn’t seem to mind as long as I set up his hide y spots and play things with his familiar bedding etc.
Hours of endless fun playing mini Jenga with him…
I’ve ordered a new home for him from PawHut, as his cage from the store is woefully small…should arrive in the next few days, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he finds that…
Thank you for all the useful tips on everything hamster y.
Katya

 

[Maz]

Hello and welcome! It's lovely he's so friendly with you now And I love the idea of mini jenga!

 

[Tulsi]

Ooo how exciting to have a new cage to set up.

My dwarf hamster, Cindy loves to climb the bars of her cage just like your little guy is doing on his playpen!

Here is a pic of her eating her food from her china saucer.

 

[Socks' Mum]

Welcome too the forum! Evgeny is very cute ❤

 

[Katya]

…and here are some photos of Evgeny’s new habitat…I’ve put lots of his familiar things in to help him settle… he loves it!!!

…the only thing I don’t like…is the smell of the wood

 

[Socks' Mum]

Nice looking cage. The wood is rough in places. The build looks complicated. Great that Evgeny is happy in his new home ❤ It has good viewing and plenty of space for sand baths, houses and the things he enjoys ❤

 

[Maz]

He looks very sweet. The enclosure - hmm. It is rather tall and not very wide. Do you have the dimensions? It's not too bad, but as socks mum says, you may need some sanding paper. But if it's tall, could he fall from the top level to the bottom? Hamsters do better with more floor space and less height. Just thought it was worth mentioning in case you had the option to send it back and change it for something else. Or maybe it could be adapated somehow?

 

[Katya]

Nice looking cage. The wood is rough in places. The build looks complicated. Great that Evgeny is happy in his new home ❤ It has good viewing and plenty of space for sand baths, houses and the things he enjoys ❤

…yeah, it took ages to construct…and not good quality wood …but it’s much better then what he did have…

 

[Katya]

He looks very sweet. The enclosure - hmm. It is rather tall and not very wide. Do you have the dimensions? It's not too bad, but as socks mum says, you may need some sanding paper. But if it's tall, could he fall from the top level to the bottom? Hamsters do better with more floor space and less height. Just thought it was worth mentioning in case you had the option to send it back and change it for something else. Or maybe it could be adapated somehow

He looks very sweet. The enclosure - hmm. It is rather tall and not very wide. Do you have the dimensions? It's not too bad, but as socks mum says, you may need some sanding paper. But if it's tall, could he fall from the top level to the bottom? Hamsters do better with more floor space and less height. Just thought it was worth mentioning in case you had the option to send it back and change it for something else. Or maybe it could be adapated somehow?

…yep, you’re right…I’m checking him regularly…think he could quite easily gnaw his way out…and he does struggle using the ramps…he sort of toboggans down them…I won’t send it back, but will make adaptions…cleaned and baked some pine cones for him today…

 

[Maz]

I didn't realise it was already constructed

 

[Katya]

I didn't realise it was already constructed

 

[Maz]

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like one possible fall risk could be from the top shelf - if he fell off that down the hole on the second level to the ramp going down to the bottom level - that would be quite a drop and a hard landing onto a wood ramp. One option might be to put some kind of house or shelter over the hole on the second level so it can't be fallen down. Then he'd have to go into the house or shelter to access the ramp down to the bottom level. As you say it's an improvement on what he had before What are the dimensions? I had this slightly bizarre idea that it might work on its side? So it was longer and less tall!

 

[Katya]

I may use some of the tunnels from his plastic cage to help him navigate more safely around

 

[Maz]

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like one possible fall risk could be from the top shelf - if he fell off that down the hole on the second level to the ramp going down to the bottom level - that would be quite a drop and a hard landing onto a wood ramp. One option might be to put some kind of house or shelter over the hole on the second level so it can't be fallen down. Then he'd have to go into the house or shelter to access the ramp down to the bottom level. As you say it's an improvement on what he had before What are the dimensions? I had this slightly bizarre idea that it might work on its side? So it was longer and less tall!

But then the doors wouldn't work ..............probably.

 

[Maz]

Actually what you could do is completely fill the bottom section with bedding, right up to the second level so there is no hole (removing the bottom ramp also) then he has very deep bedding for burrowing and a level floor on top of it, plus the one shelf and no fall risks.

 

[Katya]

I’ve temporarily blocked off the hole with a hide - y thing…and a piece of hard cardboard topped with his sand bath…while I consider more permanent options!

 

[Katya]

I think I need to cover the hide - y thing with moss? or something soft for his paws…

 

[Maz]

It should be ok as it is but it's a nice idea