#like the naturalistic cage for my hamster

[because-its-eurovision]

@pastlink tagged me to make a moodboard using the first 9 images that show up on my pinterest feed 🖤

no pressure tagging @thisisntaparty @drippinlou @paleangels13 @theflyingfeeling @ladysorbus @fangirlinglikealoon

[fbwzoo]

On to the mammals! Small ones first.

Honestly, I'm not planning much for the hamster - she's at least 2 and possibly older at this point, she's just getting a quiet retirement and whatever food she'll eat. Maybe for a future hamster, I'd kind of like to explore a more naturalistic set up, but we'll see. I need to do some more reading on that before I go nuts with it.

Likewise, not much planned for Clover other than her continued anti-human life. She's been enjoying getting some bugs more often with the other two bug eaters, though she usually ignores whatever other fresh treats I offer. I added a couple live plants to her viv recently, they're hanging in there so far.

Spoon....I still have plans for him! I did some of what I wanted already - changed his substrate, added clean up crew, and added a couple plants. I would like to increase the substrate depth, maybe add some burrow-type hides, and add more plants and branches. I also want to add a basking spot for him (especially by next winter), and a UVB light as well.

The rats already have their mansion, they're not getting any more space. 😂 We may have a few new babies coming home this summer, depending on where we fall on the breeders wait list. I mostly just want to step up enrichment for them again - have fun making toys for them out of the reject materials from my store, and stuffing boxes for them more often again. I'm also considering getting some small planter boxes that can hang on the outside of the cage to plant some herbs and stuff for them to nibble on.

Also, I'm thinking again about wanting to switch the rats to bioactive substrate as well, but I need to think about that more, and maybe wait until later this year after things calm down so I have the brain spoons to troubleshoot if needed. Our rats also aren't litter trained, so I need to see how much of a deal breaker that is. So that's still very much tentative!

Edit: I forgot the biggest thing for the rats, which is better bedding boxes!

[bufomancer]

prospective first time hamster owner here: my only prior experience has been when i was a kid and we had one hamstyer in a little hutch. i know thats p inadequate for proper husbandry, and im doing a lot of research before i actually get any fuzzy lil guys, but do you have any advice for a first timer? mostly id like to know about reccomended enclosure size, or if i really should look into getting more than two.

Hi! Hamsters are great pets, they’re a lot of fun to take care of :)

Maybe I’m misinterpreting but it sounds like you’re thinking of getting multiple? Hamsters are primarily solitary creatures and it is not recommended to keep multiple in one enclosure- they are likely to end up harming each other. Some keepers have had success with same sex pairs of dwarf species, but few people breed dwarf hamsters and the species have become a bit hybridized, and the hybrids are less likely to be able to safely cohabitate. There are a few people out there who have done it, but you always need a backup enclosure on hand in case they fall out. Especially for a first time owner I would strongly recommend just one single hamster.

Opinions vary as to enclosure sizing. Personally, I love the 4x2x2ft enclosure that my dwarf hamster Katie lives in. I do use slightly smaller enclosures (200qt storage bins, similar in footprint to a 40 breeder aquarium but because the walls slant outwards they have more volume) for my foster hamsters for temporary housing until they get adopted. If really well set up and enriching, I think a 200qt bin is a doable size for a dwarf species- Katie lived in one for a few months. I would not recommend it for syrians, particularly female syrians who are usually especially active compared to dwarf hamsters and male syrians. Many groups recommend 80x50cm (31.5x20 inches) or 100x50cm (40x20 inches) as minimums for hamsters. I recommend going as large as you are able. Hamsters are quite active animals.

They need quite a lot of bedding for burrowing into. I recommend at least 10 inches. I use a mix of aspen, paper, and orchard grass hay. You can also use hemp bedding. They’ll also appreciate a sand bath to roll around in so that they can clean their coats and remove excess oils from their skin and coat. Lastly, a dig box of organic topsoil or ground coconut coir is great enrichment! Compress their bedding so it’ll hold burrows better. You can also go fully naturalistic or bioactive with soil, live plants, and a clean up crew of springtails and isopods.

Hamster diets consist of a few parts- a lab block (I use Harlan Teklad), a seed mix (I use Higgins Sunburst), a forage mix of herbs (I make mine by hand from bulk herbs that I order online), and insect protein (such as live or dried mealworms, black soldier fly larvae, darkling beetles, etc). I scatterfeed almost all of my hamsters’ food so that they can forage for it like they would in the wild. Grain sprays like flax, millet, sorghum, oat, etc are also very popular with hamsters and are enriching because they need to pick the tasty bits off the stalk!

They also need a large wheel to run around on, hiding places in their enclosure, and plenty of stuff to interact with and explore!

Ontario Hamster Club has some good resources on hamster care. I also like “hamsters paw-fect cages” on facebook (all caps) for enclosure inspiration.

[ask-a-vetblr]

Are bioactive enclosures recommended for rodents? I know more and more exotic vets are recommending larger and more natural enclosures, and I’ve seen some very cool setups for rats and mice. If they’re a good option, I’d love to make one. But are these healthy for species prone to respiratory issues?

vet-and-wild here.

I know that people do them but I’ve personally only seen bioactive enclosures for herps and hedgehogs. My guess is that a lot of the difference is that our commonly kept rodent species are domesticated, so people don’t really think about “naturalistic” set ups for them. The nice thing about enrichment is that studies have shown that it can be artificial or natural and it really doesn’t make a difference. So I don’t necessarily feel like a pair of rats in a bioactive set up is better or worse than a pair of rats in an enriched cage with lots of toys and artificial stuff. I’ve seen semi-naturalistic set ups for hamsters but I don’t think I’ve ever seen full bioactive. Another part of it (at least for me) would be that the kinds of cages usually used for rodents wouldn’t exactly hold substrate and clean up crews well. Theoretically you could probably come up with something but I’d be questioning the logistics. And yes, part of it would be a concern for respiratory irritation.

[scalestails]

I was thinking about getting mice, is a 20gal okay for 1-2 mice/1 hamster and what live plants would be good to put in that would be safe? I was thinking wheat grass (if for mice), but I wanted to make sure it was safe, as well as some other options. What natural substrate would be okay for both the mice and plants? Can I use organic potting soil or would that not be safe for the mice?

A 20 gallon long is the smallest cage size for 1-2 mice or a single dwarf hamster species. It cannot house a syrian hamster, they need something closer to three feet long.

If you don’t already have a cage, I heavily suggest looking into making your own bin cage or going a little bigger for them, if you have the space/money!

As far as live plants go there aren’t any real resources I’ve been able to find online (at least when I searched a while ago). It’s all like “These plants are edible/SHOULD be safe” but we all know not every part of a plant is edible.

However, from my understanding most grasses should be safe. Sprouts are safe as well (sprouted lentils, seeds, nuts) but those are offered in a dish and not planted. Wheat and barley grass seem safe from what I have read.

And as far as naturalistic substrate goes, this is another thing that is relatively new to the hobby of keeping rodents. Especially in the USA. I don’t think that mice are a good candidate because they are a domestic species and different from wild mice. An example of this is the fact that they urinate more often and the odor is stronger. So keeping the cage sanitary would be harder.

I have seen people keep species like spiny mice in a naturalistic set up before though; using potting soil (without fertilizers/pearlite/vermiculite, so pretty much just dirt), giving them hay for bedding (I suspect you could use straw just as easily), and wood. With hamsters the issue would be having a substrate that was suitable for burrowing and would not collapse. Would it need to be kept moist? If so, would that make it too humid?

I really wanted to go natural with my mice but I never found any good hard resources about what woods are 100% safe, what plants are 100% safe, what substrate, etc. I really wanted to try it out but I feared putting something in that was in some way toxic. I would love to see/hear discussion about experiences with naturalistic set ups for rodents honestly, I think they could benefit from them!

[fbwzoo]

What types of wood are chew safe for rats? I'd like to add more naturalistic stuff to my cage. Are most wood bird perches a good bet? Thanks!

Honestly just Google! I have to double check every time I think of adding wood to the rats or hamster cage, I never remember. 😅 There's some various safe & unsafe lists out there to check. I just err on the safe side if I can't find it or I'm not sure.

Kind of a positive of rats and mice, though it's controversial with those who love them, being used for medical research means it's often pretty easy to find toxin information & toxic doses for a lot of substances with them. So you can also check plant information & such to narrow down safety.

[fbwzoo]

I saw some other hamster asks so I'd like to add one of my own. Do you think it's possible to make a bioactive hamster cage?

Almost missed this, I’m sorry!!

So basically it’s….kinda possible? It’s a bit different from reptile bioactive & it’s a bit more work to maintain. But @hedgehogsofasgard actually made a Facebook group specifically for making bioactive enclosures for small mammals, if you’re interested in reading more & possibly trying something like that - Bioactive and Naturalistic Mammal Setups :)