After deciding you want a hamster we need to look at hamsters cages. Which ones are good and which ones are not so well designed and then,what sort of equipment is needed.

Hamsters cages are the most important area in your hamster’s life. They form the framework and environment for our pet. There is a huge range of cages available but not all models make suitable hamsters cages. Read through this article and think about what you need before buying your hamster’s habitat.

How hamsters cages look is probably the least important feature nevertheless most people tend to choose a cage which looks nice instead of thinking of their hamster’s needs.

Hamsters Cages – Basic Model.

The simplest hamsters cages are the type with a large plastic tray and a wire cage attached. The plastic tray is about 4 inches high at the sides forming a protective “wall”. This will help guard your pet from drafts and offer protection allowing him to build a little hideaway in the sawdust and hay. It will also help prevent the sawdust from falling out of the cage as your pet burrows through it!. These types of hamsters cages are very cheap and easy to clean.

The bars of the cage are also useful for attaching a hamster wheel and water bottle. Check that the spacing between bars is narrow enough to prevent your pet from escaping, especially if your getting baby dwarf hamsters. They’re tiny and very active!

I remember well when our two Dwarf hamsters Chip and Chap were small, they’d rush up and down the bars of their cage and even managed to cross the top by going “hand over hand” along the rungs using there small front legs! Very impressive and fun to to watch.

Hamsters Cages – with more advanced features.

Hamsters Cages with More Advanced Features

These are higher and contain a number of shelf like levels with ladders, tubes and ramps to enable your pet hamster to navigate from one level to the next. This means the living area is increased considerably without taking up more floor space. Plus there is the added advantage that your pet gets a more interesting habitat.

Check carefully that the shelves are securely attached and should be preferably offset from each other and overlap. This will increase safety for your hamster, if it should slip and fall it’ll only fall a short distance to the underlying level and not to the bottom of the cage. Hamsters love climbing but they’re not particularly agile and often fall so we want to make sure they don’t fall far!

Hamsters Cages – Super top model!

Hamsters Cages Super Top Model

These are newish design of hamsters cages and what is special with them is the levels are connected using plastic tubes and several cages can be joined together like this. In this way one can make a rather big, I’d almost call it “hamster town”. Containing plenty of different areas similar to the burrows they make in nature.

This is especially good for dwarf hamsters as you add more areas to their cage as the family grows.

On a practical note these type of cages are more expensive than something less flamboyant and can be difficult, or at least time consuming to take apart and clean. But you can start up small and expand Hammy’s habit as you like.