Hello and welcome
He's a lucky boy having such a lovely big new cage. It's a good size and he has some very nice things to do in there. Does he seem to have settled in ok?
There are some things to be aware of with that cage/enclosure, if using it as supplied - just to check really. Most people use the Pawhut either without the shelves or with just one shelf - depending on how much bedding they have. You will see pictures of it with 30cm deep bedding in for burrowing.
I am not saying you need to have 30cm bedding in - but 6 to 8" bedding is needed really and at least then they can move it where they want it deeper! They do like to dig and burrow down
The other thing is, if the bedding is a bit deeper it means it needs cleaning out much less often and you mainly just need to "spot clean" the pee area.
So there are a couple of options, depending on how deep the bedding was going to be. If you were going to have 6 to 8" of bedding, you could leave the lower of the two shelves in and just remove the top shelf. The top shelf is risky IMO as it it such a long way up from the bottom of the cage, that if a hamster jumped or fell they could get injured, and might bounce off the edge of the shelf below.
So whatever you decide to do, I would remove that top shelf. The other risky parts about that enclosure are the metal hinges on the ladders, size of house door openings, and checking nothing is splintery. Which is partly why it's easier just to set up the empty enclosure without the shelves and other bits and pieces it comes with!
But mainly check the hinges on those ladders carefully. Are there any gaps or bits a hamster could cut themselves on. The house door does look big enough (it needs to have a 7cm opening at least in one direction). But I guess the house is part of the top shelf as well?
Just check generally that there are no rough splintery areas - if there are - a bit of sandpaper will sort it.
If you decided to go the full 30cm deep bedding route then you'd need to remove the bottom shelf and could possibly just leave the top shelf in then - because it would be less far to fall (the deep bedding effectively reduces the height) and no shelf underneath to bounce off.
By removing both shelves, it allows you to use the full floor area of the enclosure, without things getting in the way, and no ladders needed. Hamsters are mainly ground dwellers and diggers
Then you'd fill it up with hides and tunnels. and sprays etc. That doesn' need to be expensive - you can use cardboard - pringles tubes make good tunnels if you wipe them out, a shoebox with the base cut out (keep the lid for a lift off roof) and a door cut into it makes a good large house - they like a large house that's dark inside and can burrow down in it to sleep and bury their hoards under it.
I can see you've got a cardboard box in already! The downside to removing the shelves is it then means you need platforms to add - eg to stand the wheel on and support it above the bedding, and for a water bowl etc to go on. Which is why some people like to keep the bottom shelf instead.
The top shelf is a risk though, because hamsters tend to always look for a way out and from the top shelf he could manage to get to the roof mesh and hang from it or monkey bar across it - and then they just drop! And it's a long way to fall.
The main thing though would be to add more bedding - at least 6" throughout the cage, and maybe deeper at one end. Also pine shavings are not really recommended these days, even though pet stores still sell them. If the packet says they are kiln dried and dust extracted, then you could leave them and add some paper based bedding and mix it all in. But I wouldn't add any more of them. Kaytee clean and cosy, Fitch and Carefresh are all popular beddings.
You've obviously taken great care setting it all up and he has lots to do in there
And a lovely big wheel. One thing you might want to add is a large cork log. They make a nice big tunnel, an interesting texture and something to climb over. But also they can double up as a ramp instead of a ladder.
So, for example, if you had deeper bedding and kept the bottom shelf, the cork log could be next to the bottom shelf (it would sit higher on top of the bedding) and then you wouldn't need the ladder (or it could be an additional ramp to the ladder, further along).
The final thing to watch for is chewing - it's a wood cage, and hamsters have been known to just chew a hole somewhere and escape! Usually near the base at a corner, so keep an eye on the outside for any signs of chewing. There are ways of adding reinforcements if that does happen. It's often female syrians who do that (they are a bit notorious!) but some males are chewers as well!
I can't quite see all the items you have in there, but some items sold for hamsters aren't that safe, or are only suitable for dwarf hamsters - ie too small and syrians can get stuck. So check those. The only thing I can see that could be risky is the barrel shaped toy with slats and gaps (a hamster might stick their head through the gaps and get their head stuck, which would cause a lot of stress all round.
What is his name?
Also, you can maybe get some set ideas on this thread as well!
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
