1. A New cage…hamsters are messy, messy , messy! Sweet, but messy. We tried a couple hundred dollars worth of different cages before finding the best one; now you can benefit from our (expensive) mistakes. Since hamsters need bedding, which they drag around, piddle in, and stash their food in, any cage which includes plastic tunnels is going to take extra time to clean. If you know someone who is struggling to clean tunnels and fit a multitude of plastic parts back together after cleaning (they went together, they came apart, now why don’t they go back together again?) consider gifting them with a two-piece cage. The bottom half is a tray of sheet metal , coated with a shiny, slick color. It has solid metal sides for a good 2″ or more. The top part is a wire cage, which secures to the bottom solid metal “tray.” This cage is a snap to clean! Simply coax the hamster into a clear plastic ball (see item #2 below), unclip the cage top and remove. Dump the contents of the tray into the garbage, run a damp paper towel around the inside, and you are ready for new bedding. All done! How easy was that?!
These cages come in different sizes and materials. I’ve seen one that had a plastic “tray” on the bottom. It was cheaper, but not as durable. I’d recommend sticking with metal. It is more durable and seems to withstand hamster piddle better.
If you are still enthralled by those brightly colored plastic tubes and gizmos for hamsters, consider that in addition to being difficult to clean out, and hard to snap apart and together again, it is not uncommon for a one of those tubes to come loose or not be snapped entirely together with the next piece. Hamsters don’t understand the dangers of leaving home! They will find a small exit place and before you know it, you have hamsters loose in the house. If they fall from waist level or higher, they may be injured when they hit the floor. Any way you slice it, it’s got to be unpleasant for the hamster!
Even if you don’t have a phobia about scurrying little feet running around the house, a hamster on the loose is unnerving. You don’t want to accidentally step on it, and if you have a cat or dog, you don’t want the poor hamster to come to a bad end. When we’ve had a hamster on the loose, no one is very comfortable until we’ve found the poor thing and gotten it back in its home again. Tubes have proved unreliable for us. We think they are snapped into place, and the hamster ends up proving us wrong.
If you do end up losing a hamster in the house, and nearly everyone does, sooner or later, it is recommended that you put hamster food on the floor in each room, and shut every door. Check the food the next day to see which room’s food has been eaten. That will narrow down your search. These guys don’t like to be out in the open. They feel safer inside or underneath things, so that is where you need to concentrate your search efforts.
2) A clear hamster ball
This is a real kick in the pants! You put the little guy in the clear ball, secure the lid, and the hamster can roll around the house or apartment floor without getting injured. The hamster doesn’t have any concept of stairs or drop-offs, so it is important to monitor the hamster’s movements when it is in the ball and not leave it untended! Hamsters quickly figure out how to run inside the ball, and will happily roll all over the floor. It’s the best way to “let your hamster out for a stroll!” This will give you a great opportunity to clean the hamster’s cage and keep the little guy safe at the same time. If I can’t supervise the hamster ball and clean the cage at the same time, I’ll put the ball inside a larger cardboard box. The ball can roll a little, but it can’t get away from me.
3) Does the hamster have a wheel to run in? This is another item which can be great ,or drive you nuts. Some wheels squeak. We tried greasing the wheel with vasiline. The squeak came back! Our hamster was in a bedroom, and these are nocturnal creatures, meaning that they come out and run at night. So count on the wheel going like crazy every night. If it squeaks, it might keep you up. We tried free-standing wheels and cage-mounted wheels. Some wheels had to be “greased” often with liquid detergent or vasiline . The ones which have worked the best for us are hard plastic and can be mounted on the side of a wire cage. The wheel is solid plastic. It has a “clip” of plastic which is inserted between the cage bars, then turned crosswise. These wheels are practically silent and do not need any sort of greasing. They can be rinsed, wiped with a paper napkin, and put back in the cage again. We found these wheels in a variety of colors which was kind of fun. Our hamster got two wheels: one at each end of his cage.
4) A book on hamsters is informative and essential if the person you are buying for does not have a book already.
5) Treats – they make treats on a stick. You hang the stick inside the cage, and the hamster nibbles the treats off. This is the gift that keeps on giving because after Mr. Hamster has enjoyed the fruits, nuts, seeds, vitamins and minerals, he can gnaw on the stick!
6) A nest or hiding place of woven natural fibers – our hamsters have loved the tunnel-like nest of natural woven fibers. The one we chose has a hole in the middle, so the hamster can pop up through the hole, or crawl out either end. One hamster decided that this nest would be his bed. Another chose a wooden house for a bed, after filling it with bedding.
7) An all-wood hamster house – this makes a lovely and cozy bed for a little hamster. These guys love to curl up in a cave-like bedroom. It makes them feel safe and secure.
8) Pet Puffs So Perfect Bedding – unlike regular cage bedding, this is soft and cottony. Hamsters love to be pampered with soft bedding!
9) Bulk Raw organic peanuts and dates – our hamsters adore healthy raw organic peanuts and dates. We buy them loose (bulk section) from a local health food store. A half pound of dried dates and raw peanuts will provide hamster desserts for quite a while! Store both the peanuts and the dates in the freezer until you need them – it keeps them fresh.
10) Consider also getting the hamster a “fun log”. This is a clean wooden “log” which holes in which the hamster can pop in and out. Ours play in their log. Although hamsters love to climb ramps, I became very weary of all that cleaning! Now our hamsters have logs, wheels and bedroom containers and they amuse themselves nicely, while I no longer find myself scrubbing miles of plastic cage parts.
