How much space is needed for 3 winter white dwarf hamsters?

Question

I currently have a S.A.M Park Avenue Duplex, which is basically two cages stacked on top of each other. Each floor measures about 15(w) x 10(d) inches (the height is perfectly fine, unless i manage to bag myself a 15" high hammy :P). Has a lookout tower too, and lots of fun tubes to run around in, also has two wheels.

Each hammy grows to about 3.5-4 inches, so would this be enough room to house three of them until october (birthday money = upgraded hammy home! wee!)?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

get the biggest cage you can get. dwarf hamsters love to run around.

WARNING: do not get a lot of tubes. it will be a pain in the but to clean those once a week.

whatever cage you buy make sure that on the box it says it is good for dwarf hamsters.  

Answer 2

here is my advice: do not house hamsters together.  while it is fine for them to be housed together as babies, hamsters will get vicious and fight as they grow older.  i would get 3 different, but simple, cages.  most pet stores sell cheap cages that have everything you need in them: food bowl, water bowl, wheel, and a place for the hamster to hide.  also, i would not suggest housing any small animal in a glass tank or aquarium because, unlike us, they do not have the ability to adjust their eyes to see through glass, and it could cause them to go blind after a period of time.  good luck with everything!

Answer 3

When it come to rodents I have one rule: Buy it simple and add what I want. Those hamster cages with all those tubes are a pain to clean and keep sanatized. It will also be harder to catch your hamsters when you want hold them or remove them for cleaning. I prefer 10 gall tanks. They are great when they are younger and once they get big you can buy a cahe like addition that goes on top that can add a 2nd and even 3rd floor to your tank. You can find a $10 gall tank for $10 at walmart or anyplace that isn't a pet store, but I know petsmart and Petco do have tanks sales. The top can be purchased from pirce ranging $15-25.

If you really want a cage check Craigslist.com before going out and buying one brand new that you may or may not want to change in 2-3 years.  

Answer 4

Your setup sounds fine. But more space is always better. A cheap way to add space would be to buy a ten gallon aquarium and run tubes to it. Ten gallon tanks are only about $10 or so. Later you can buy a topper unit for it ( - http://www.amazon.com/First-Home-Gallon-... - )

Ovo cages ( - http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-Habitrail-Ov... - ) look really cool, but don't have a lot of space. The main modules tend to fall apart (though not enough for the hamsters to escape). The smaller bubble modules make GREAT dust baths and food units though. You can take out all the innards of the cage if you want to make more space.

I use tubes a lot, and none of my dwarf hamsters have caused any real damage to them at all, even though they try to chew on them sometimes. My hamsters LOVE tubes. And, IMO, tubes really help a lot more than adding open space (even if the tubes are enclosed in the cage itself). It gives the illusion the cage being much bigger than it really is.

Yes, they need to be cleaned. You'll have to decide yourself if it is worth the hassle, but it has not been a big deal for me personally. The tubes can be detached and split to be cleaned. Ovo-type tubes are compatible with Crittertrail-type tubes, though they have to be shoehorned a bit. Obviously, you need to make sure all the tube joints are secure.

The best cage I have found so far are the "tub" type cages (The so-called "CritterTrail Home Outlook" - http://www.amazon.com/CritterTrail-Home-... - ). They are very easy to clean, expandable with tubes, are very secure and very spacious, and reasonably cheap. Two of these are in the pics at the website below.

Here is my setup at the link below. The Ovo cage houses two hamsters, and the others one each.