Robert

[Robert]

I am Robert from Tennessee in the States

I have purchased...
a glass hamster cage 91.44 cm by 45.72 cm (36" by 18")
a cork lined 10" hamster wheel
a 6 room hamster hideout
a water bottle
a feeding dish
aspen bedding
paper bedding
a small vase for a hiding spot
wooden chew toys
sprays of seeds
a cool travel cage
a water bottle for the travel cage
a wheel for the travel cage

I need...
a bag of food
a dwarf Campbell's hamster

 

[elusive]

Hi Robert & welcome to the forum.
It sounds as though you are getting well prepared for a new hamster.
It would be great to see a photo of your set up when you’re ready, you have covered most things but you will also need a sand bath, that is important for your hamster. Maybe some more hides or tubes for the cage too, things like coconut hides are good, cork tunnels or cardboard is fine.
A lot of hamsters aren’t that bothered with wooden chews but you could get some Whimzee mini toothbrush chews which they love.
Just in case you don’t know if you get a Russian hamster it will be a hybrid, I don’t think there are any pure bred Campbells in the US.

 

[Robert]

I just set up the cage, so the bedding is not in there yet. I am about to get a sand box on Monday. Things are shipping in from different places.

 

[elusive]

That’s a great start, nice house & wheel, your ham is going to really like those.
Are you going to use a platform for the wheel & sand bath? They do need something stable to stand on as the hamster will likely try to burrow underneath.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Hello Robert. Welcome to the forum. I can see you have been doing lots of research on hamsters which is great.

 

[Zara]

Hi Robert, welcome to the forum What a lovely Hamster enclosure. There is lots of information on here that you’ll find very useful, perhaps take a look at the thread “show us your cages 2023” if you’ve not already found the page, it has lots of hamster enclosure layout inspiration. Look forward to hearing about your new arrival.

 

[Frida]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I'm looking forward to meeting your new hamster friend

 

[Member ID2]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

That's a lovely enclosure and i like the front opening doors. Looking forward to meet your hamster.

 

[Maz]

Hello and welcome. It’s a great tank and it sounds like you’re well organised and have some good hamster stuff. Your hammy will love it.

As mentioned earlier, the only other thing I can think of is a sand bath. You can use any kind of receptacle for that - an old ice cream tub eg. You can use chinchilla sand in it but it needs to say sand not dust on the pack. And you could add cardboard tubes etc to fill up gaps. It’s hard to tell what other things might be needed until you get everything in there, but they like a bit of clutter at floor area so they don’t feel too exposed. But not so much they can’t get from a to b easily.

As Elusive mentioned - when people advertise Campbells or Winter whites, they will be a hybrid of the two species - even if they look more like one than the other. I think there is only one breeder in the US that has pedigree dwarf hamsters and they are winter whites.

The main thing to know about them being hybrids is they need a sugar free diet as they can be prone to developing disbetes. Pedigree Campbells are also prone to developing diabetes. Some do some don’t but it’s best to give a sugar feee diet. So any hamster mix needs to be sugar free and no fresh or dried fruit - bu they can have a tiny bit of fresh veg daily

 

[Hamster Haven]

I am Robert from Tennessee in the States

I have purchased...
a glass hamster cage 91.44 cm by 45.72 cm (36" by 18")
a cork lined 10" hamster wheel
a 6 room hamster hideout
a water bottle
a feeding dish
aspen bedding
paper bedding
a small vase for a hiding spot
wooden chew toys
sprays of seeds
a cool travel cage
a water bottle for the travel cage
a wheel for the travel cage

I need...
a bag of food
a dwarf Campbell's hamster

Welcome Robert! Can't wait to meet your hamster friend! I'm in Illinois. I have a Syrian now but may one day adopt a winter white. My husband says "1 pet is enough" for now

 

[Riven]

Hello and welcome Robert. Hopefully you will finde everything you need to know here on this forum to help you take care of your future hammy. It's lovely to see you getting things ready before (s)he arrives. I can't wait to see hat else you add to the cage and what it will look like when it's done. I agree a sand bath will be a nice addition as well as lots of tunnels. These can be as elaborate and as expensive as you like, but cardboard tube are always a firm favourite here!

@clacombe, yeah, 1 pet is enough. I said that, now I'm at 11...oops.

 

[Robert]

I filled the bottom with paper bedding and aspen bedding. The sand boxisin front of the wheel. The crate like structure to its left will hold sprays etc. The red ceramic dish will hold food. The wooden skewers next to it are outside of the cage. The blue circle is the top of its water bottom. Next to it is a vase on its side. Next, the 10" hamster wheel. The six room hamster hideout I filled partially with paper bedding. My bags of food will get here on Tuesday. I will then find my hamster.

 

[elusive]

That looks nice but I think you could add in some more hides & tubes, don’t be afraid to fill the space up, they like lots to explore & hideouts to go in, too much open space can make them feel a bit nervous & exposed. It also makes more places for them to forage for hidden food & treats.
Not sure about the crate thing, the gaps may be too wide but I can see a leg possibly getting caught in there, you can just stick sprays in the substrate.
How deep is the substrate?
You could put lots of torn up strips of toilet tissue in & around the house for your hamster to make a nice nest.
It’s best to freeze food, sprays etc for at least a week before using them just in case of any bugs, mites or pantry moths.

 

[Robert]

The bedding is about 25.4 cm (10 inches). I will pull the crate out and put other things in. I have not bought the hamster yet.

 

[Member ID2]

You could line the crate with a piece of thick cardboard and push the sprays through it then.
I'd add a corklog next to the house and a small hide or cardboard roof to the sandbath. They quite like a bit of shelter.

It's a lovely home for a lucky dwarfie.

 

[Robert]

Good ideas. Thanks.

 

[Maz]

That is going to be a lucky hammy that moves in there I agree with the suggestions made above, particularly about freezing food for a week - pantry moths can be a real pain. Apparently most pet foods contain moth eggs which aren't visible to the naked eye. They are not harmful, and stay dormant, but in particularly warm weather, they can hatch out.

It can be a bit of a fiddle getting the last few bits and pieces in place and I'm sure it will have a lot more cover once you have sprays in as well . Personally, I would add a platform at the opposite end to the house - but that is a fairly major purchase, and the legs need to be long enough so it sits above the 10" of substrate. A platform gives them somewhere else to go and it's a good place to put ceramic items on, like the food bowl, so it doesn't get substrate in - and other bits and pieces like a chew or another small hide. It also gives them some shelter - something to sit under. It would need to have 12" (30cm) legs if you have 10" of substrate. The other items would then be more squished together beyond the platform so the cage would be more full looking anyway . It's not easy to find them with long enough legs. Amazon has this one with 9.4" legs - you could maybe have the substrate a bit lower at that end so there's a gap under the platform. Or if you're ok with diy, it's just a case of a piece of wood and 4 thick dowels, drilling a hole through the top of the wood and in the top of the dowels and putting screws through so the screws are flush with the top.

Birch platform click here

If a platform seems too much hassle, then a large cork log, like Beryl mentioned, would also give overhead cover, something to climb over and a tunnel to run through. I use both. And have the cork log pushed partly under the platform, so it also makes a ramp up to the platform.

These are just suggestions though, so feel free to ignore! Just adding another hide or two can do just as well (cardboard hides are fine - a tissue box eg).

I am interested to know what the sort of fence is round the back

 

[Robert]

That is going to be a lucky hammy that moves in there I agree with the suggestions made above, particularly about freezing food for a week - pantry moths can be a real pain. Apparently most pet foods contain moth eggs which aren't visible to the naked eye. They are not harmful, and stay dormant, but in particularly warm weather, they can hatch out.

It can be a bit of a fiddle getting the last few bits and pieces in place and I'm sure it will have a lot more cover once you have sprays in as well . Personally, I would add a platform at the opposite end to the house - but that is a fairly major purchase, and the legs need to be long enough so it sits above the 10" of substrate. A platform gives them somewhere else to go and it's a good place to put ceramic items on, like the food bowl, so it doesn't and other bits and pieces like a chew or another small hide. It also gives them some shelter - something to sit under. It would need to have 12" (30cm) legs if you have 10" of substrate. The other items would then be more squished together beyond the platform so the cage would be more full looking anyway . It's not easy to find them with long enough legs. Amazon has this one with 9.4" legs - you could maybe have the substrate a bit lower at that end so there's a gap under the platform. Or if you're ok with diy, it's just a case of a piece of wood and 4 thick dowels, drilling a hole through the top of the wood and in the top of the dowels and putting screws through so the screws are flush with the top.

Birch platform click here

If a platform seems too much hassle, then a large cork log, like Beryl mentioned, would also give overhead cover, something to climb over and a tunnel to run through. I use both. And have the cork log pushed partly under the platform, so it also makes a ramp up to the platform.

These are just suggestions though, so feel free to ignore! Just adding another hide or two can do just as well (cardboard hides are fine - a tissue box eg).

I am interested to know what the sort of fence is round the back

The fence was just an aesthetic idea. It is wooden. Maybe the hamster will gnaw om it.

 

[Maz]

It's great - it also gives some shelter. It's fine for them to gnaw on wood as long as it's safe wood to chew - but the hamster probably won't chew it - they seem to prefer chewing things with food stuck to them like chew sticks

 

[Robert]

I just bought this to go under the wheel.and this to go somewhere else