#Bin cages

[strider-be-mlne]

put the bunny back in the box 🖤

found this beaut at the thrift

[badbanaynas]

jungle boy uses a very special attack against christian cage! 😳😳😳😳

( thank u for voting! PISS HEAD put up a good fight but it was 'WAH!' that came in victorious!)

[harocat]

Our beautiful foster kittens Nimbus, Cumulus, Cirrus, and Stratus go into spay today with their sweet Mama, Misty.

They’ve been us since they were a day old at the beginning of August, so my heart aches with how much I’m going to miss them! Our little clouds are so big now. 💖

Here they are the day they were brought into the shelter. Five wonderful girls!!

EDIT: IF YOU ARE IN THE KANSAS CITY METRO AREA you can adopt your own little storm cloud or cloud mommy at Great Plains SPCA!

[chapuyes]

[s0fter-sin]

because i need to hear it

needing accomodations for “little things” isn’t laziness

if it helps you, you don’t need to justify it

[smol-pets-smol-pats]

Really been wanting a hamster but can't afford one with the setup I'd want for it right now. The demons™️ in my head are telling me to just make a bin cage cuz they're cheap and get a hamster ASAP. I know it's the demons™️ tho because I hate making bin cages

[new-austin]

I miss having a pet hamster

[hellslilteaser]

someone please explain why a single bitchy, blonde vampire asshole from a dnd game has taken over my life and I haven’t even played the game yet.

turns out cocaine and the hair of my favourite thirst characters have a colour in common feels the fucking same too

[adr1025]

miss hamster is on her vacationing home and she got so mad she's attacking her wheel

[barbreypilled]

can’t stop saying ‘sucking dick and cahk! and u did it at my birthday dinner!’

[tetedurfarm]

spool time

[k-star-holic]

'Arthdal Chronicles: The Sword of Aramoon' end D-day...Jang Dong-gun and Lee Joon-gi and Shin Se-kyung and Kim Ok-bin "finish happy world view"

[sebastianshaw]

Welp, just got told one of the staff is having a panic attack over my rats being here. Guess they won’t be coming back for a while.

[hamsternostalgia]

Hello, I'm thinking of getting a Chinese dwarf hamster and I want to make sure they will have the best home I can offer with the space I have. I admittedly haven't had a hamster since I was a child. What would you suggest?

Omg hi thank you so much for sending this ask this has literally made my day to get to talk husbandry <3

This post will probably get long so I'm going to put in a break shortly! I'll title sections so you can skim fr whatever info you'd like easily!!!

Chinese (Dwarf) Hamster Cages

(just some random stuff before we get into husbandry):: To preface, while Chinese Hamsters aren't 'technically' dwarf hamsters, they are still referred to as such in pet stores and in most resources outside of the hamster community, but when I refer to a Chinese Hamster it's the same thing!

Out of the 5 species of hamsters in captivity this is also the hardest one to find, they generally don't sell well due to their mouse like appearance (which imo makes them the most interesting species), as well as because they are a almost exclusively solitary species unlike 'true' dwarfs. If you're buying from a pet store be sure they actually have some before you go, if through a breeder or a rescue it'll probably be much easier (but if from a breeder/rescue definitely check their minimum adoption requirements as they vary from organization to organization).

The males have.. very large testicles. It looks very silly but does not affect them so do not worry if your hamster is really silly looking, it adds to their charm.

All husbandry advice will be based on US standard, please note that the recommended standard often differs wildly from country to country, I will be referencing both the CHA and the OHC though as the CHA sucks and is full of insane people who are literally a clique and will come for people not in their clique (specifically referring to breeders). The OHC has a majority of the same breeders on their list but the people who run the association itself are less insane.

The minimum recommended size for a healthy happy dwarf hamster is 450sq inches, or at least 30"x15" (per https://ontariohamsters.ca/). Lets look at some options:

Bin cage: These are incredible since they're sooo versatile. If you decide you'd like to make a bin cage (using a storage bin with added ventilation) this will be the cheapest housing option. The smallest recommended size is a 110 qt sterilite bin, but any size larger in that brand or the largest IKEA SAMLA bin are also acceptable! If you have the space to do a larger enclosure, also look at 200 qt bins and xmas tree bin. Check out this video on how to ventilate since I am silly and cannot use my brain right now to explain it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjuWsbPrF04

The main thing to avoid is bins with wheels underneath, the plastic over the wheels bumps up inside and makes for a great spot to chew and escape from!

Tank: Tanks are great for allowing for the most bedding possible, and functionally prevent any messes the ham could make. You'll want to look for a 40 gallon at least, if you have a petco near you they regularly (like 5-6 times a year) do a sale where they offer half off on all their tanks (its going on right now actually) so a 40 would be $60 currently. 55 gallon tanks are technically smaller, but they are very tall and allow for a LOT deeper bedding and more climbing enrichment, and 60 and 75 gallon tanks have the same floor space as each other, but the 75 is taller. If you decide on a tank you'll need to order the tank lid online for any size over a 40 (sometimes pet stores have the 40 lid in stock), make sure to get a reptile terrarium lid!

Similarly there are also Acrylic and wooden enclosures. You'll want them to have the ventilation on the lids or very high up on the sides to prevent them from attempting to escape, but I recommended looking into the brands Bucatstate, Niteangel, and Pawhut (before you buy though look for 'clones' of the cages by niteangel because you can find cheaper than their prices for almost everything they sell).

Wire Cage: These are awesome for allowing for hanging enrichment like toys and shelves, but chinese hamsters are very small so you need bar spacing of at most 3/8". The Prevue 528, Savic Hamster Heaven Metro, and Crittertrail Super Habitat are all awesome options! These can all be purchased online, but Petco sells the Crittertrail Super Habitat and the Hamster Heaven can also be purchased from many Pet Supermarket locations if you have those near you!

That's a Prevue 528 set up below!

Connectable Cages: If you were wanting a Syrian Hamster (also called golden hamster, teddy bear, black bear, fancy hamster, etc) these wouldn't be possible at all since the tubes cannot accommodate a syrian hamster, and they are honestly HELL to deal with because occasionally they'll pee in the tubes and you'll have to take it all apart to clean it, but you do technically have one option for connectable cages with dwarf hamsters if it interests you. The Crittertrail Super Habitat is about 500sq inches, and features 1 connection port. You can attach connectable cages to that as long as you can maintain them. You don't really want to do only small cages connected to each other, hamsters may be burrowers in the wild but they are also major explorers. If their entire enclosure simulates a burrow they will want to escape that burrow to explore. You want a large main enclosure to allow them to have a 'surface', and to give them the option to burrow on their own (the small ones never have enough room for bedding ugh). The pros to connectable cages is that you can have different areas that are easier to maintain, and chinese hamsters are quite agile so they tend to enjoy being able to explore. If you decide to ever use tubes in your cage, try not to have any straight up and down sections larger than 3-4 inches, if they fall within the tube from any higher they're able to get injured quite easily.

(sorry couldn't find many good set up pics for this option since this style of enclosure has fallen out of style in the last few years for easier, larger setups)

As far as enclosures go those are your primary options! If you have specific questions about other aspects of their care, please let me know!!! I just didn't wanna overload this one post with too much info...

[flowers4lgernon]

my solo intact male mouse's current setup ❤️

i plan on adding bioactive soil and more substrates and sprays, but am having a hard time finding people who sell ones that are safe for mice specifically

luckily im a student so i have plenty of time to play with him and give him exercise outside of his bin but hes not very social and spends most of his time in his nest

considering downsizing his hut now that his partner has passed into something that gives me more room for other enrichment and is better for burrowing

any ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated!

[valentinebitchbaby]

My friend gave her hamster to me because she was moving cross-country and couldn’t bring him with her. His cage is one of those small wire double-decker cages and I feel so bad 😭 I can’t afford to get him a new cage for like over a month :(