Does changing my hamsters cage and living environment cause stress ?

Jacobyte · 08-10-2011, 02:55 AM

(Apologies new user and I posted this in the housing forum by mistake. I trust re-posting in this forum is ok and doesn't cause the admins any grief).

Hi fo lks,

Long story short but I find myself with three hamsters after unknowingly purchasing a pregnant syrian from the pet shop. We've managed the whole rearing and weaning thing and returned (for adoption) the young hamsters that we were unable to keep.
My two daughters talked me into keeping two of the new hamsters along with the mother hamster. As I mentioned all the hamsters were successfully reared and weaned and now live in their separate cages but I have a question that hopefully you can help me with.

We have a rotastak adventure zone that is absolutely fantastic and the hamsters appear to really enjoy it. We also have two "regular" cages that are less entertaining for the hamsters but do the job of keeping them safe, secure and happily healthy very well.

Through the last several weeks we've been moving the hamsters every weekend when they get their weekly clean out from one cage to another, giving each a full week of "quality" time in the adventure zone.
I've now started to notice some eratic behaviour when they're moved back into the regular cages. Houses are tipped over and generally the cage contents are trashed all over the place. We've had a couple of hamsters over the years and never seen this kind of behaviour before.
The hamsters appear happy enough and I do understand that they're territorial creatures, so I'm wondering if we are inadvertently stressing them by swapping them from cage to cage even although they're properly cleaned and "individualised" as much as possible.

**LocoRocoPanda** · 08-10-2011, 04:02 AM

I wouldn't move hams around cages, although I've got a near blind ham so I can't do anything to his cage really. But hams get confused by changes of cage very easily.

My first suggestion is to keep some of the bedding from each ham cage and move them into whatever cage they're going in. That way they'll still have some of their scent in there which will make them less nervous.

My ohter is that hams trash their stuff. Izu doesn't, he's very clean, but Tobi's cage usually looks like a bomb has hit it. -.- So I think it's an individual thing.

Although I'll warn you that rotastaks have very poor ventilation and occasionally Syrian hams will get stuck in the tubes. Plus hams like corners which rotastaks don't have. Rotastaks are generally hated on this forum but if your hams like it then I'd just make sure they can fit in the tubes okay

StarlightSerenity · 08-10-2011, 06:49 AM

Very, very bad idea to move them around like that. it will definately cause stress, which can lead to even worse health problems. Not only are they going into different cages each time they are going into cages which have none of their scent.

Rotastak isn't the best of cages, they have poor ventilation, set ups have to be very, very big to ensure enough floor space for a syrian, you cant fit a wheel big enough for a syrian into them and the tubes are too small - imagine getting stuck in a small tube with no air holes in it?

SnickersTheFirst · 08-10-2011, 07:20 AM

I agree with what's been said, maybe check out the cage review section to see why Rotastak isn't recommended?

Jacobyte · 08-10-2011, 08:57 AM

OK, I'm not feeling the love for my rotastak setup but I actually think it's a good one. That said, I'm no expert and I'm on here to get your opinions so I'm not dismissing them.
The thought of ventilation wasn't something I considered but on looking at the unit I think it's perfectly ok and won't negatively impact the hamsters wellbeing. Even the tubes have ventilation holes all the way along them top and bottom sides. I've attached a picture but please let me know if you see issues. Regarding wheel size, I couldn't get a clear picture but I've attached a picture of Trixie on her wheel in the standard cage which is about the same size as the external wheel on the rotastak that you can just see at the left side. I'm thinking that this is big enough - yes?
Overall cage size is 36 inches wide so I'm confident this has more than enough floor space and it's certainly a lot more than the "regular" cages that the other two hamsters use.

I'll stop swapping the hamsters from one cage to another and leave them as they are for the meantime.

SnickersTheFirst · 08-10-2011, 09:01 AM

It's bigger than some set-ups but I personally feel it is not not enough.

You're looking at 80x50cm of continous floor space. Also, Syrians outgrow the tubes very quickly. The hamster pictured looks very young and you will soon see why Rotastaks are no good.

Also, the red wheel is a 6.5" Silent Spinner? Hamsters need an 8" minimum.

We are all here to learn.

Here's my boy's cage as an example:

**Roxie** · 08-10-2011, 09:02 AM

If thats a 6.5 inch silent spinner then I'm afraid your hamsters will grow out of it at some point. Syrians need at least an 8 inch, but really benefit from a 11 inch wheel depending on the size of the hamster.

I won't comment on Rotastak, I may go off on too long a rant

ETA: TOO SLOW! Snickers beat me to it

.

Gizmodo ^_^ · 08-10-2011, 09:03 AM

Rotastak's really are not big enough
cages for Syrians ideally do need to be 80x50cm +
Cages like: Hamster heaven,zoozone2,Criceti 15, Savic Ruffy

Also an 8inch wheel cannot fit in a rotastak which syrians need

Gizmodo ^_^ · 08-10-2011, 09:07 AM

This is one of my Syrian's Cages (a Criceti 15)

The wheel inside is an 11inch trixie rodent wheel

^ 2 wheels i would recommend
the 8inch wodent wheel
and the 11inch wheel i've mentioned

**LocoRocoPanda** · 08-10-2011, 09:22 AM

I'm game. Here's my fave ham cage

The Zoozone 2. Here's pics of Izu's current set-up (really his only set up as he's ya know...near blind and all). It's 100x50cm

Beautiful. I just realised you guys haven't seen his final set-up in the cage section. I'll put them up there in a minute as well

He has a 20cm Karlie for a wheel.

Which I love.