Maybe you are wondering how big a hamster cage to buy
Maybe you think the international conventions stipulated by our forum are too absurd
Maybe your child is trying to convince you to buy a bigger hamster cage
No matter why you are reading this article, I hope my article can help. It is a great honor for you to spare time to read this (extra-long) article.
Animal welfare/ Enrichment for Animals
This is a proper term that can often be seen in zoos. In simple terms, this word means that people must keep the animals kept in their cages physically and psychologically healthy. If an animal is not enriched (unenriched), then it becomes boring, depressed, or destructive.
Generally speaking, people define animal enrichment from three aspects:
- Interaction with other animals of the same type (for example, the squid needs more than one cage)
- Interaction with humans (for example, dogs need the company of their owners)
- Interaction with the environment (such as pets playing with toys in a cage)
Different types of animals will obtain animal enrichment from different aspects, depending on the specific type of animal and the individual differences in the same type of animal. Some animals only need to meet one or two of the three aspects, and some need more.
In the domestic environment, it is very difficult to satisfy the animal enrichment of hamsters. Because two of the three are not applicable to hamsters.
First of all, hamsters do not need any social activities. In other words, hamsters do not need and should not have contact with their kind. Especially adult Syrian hamsters (ursus hamsters) will fight to death.
Secondly, hamsters do not need to interact with humans that much. There are two reasons:
- Hamsters are not fully domesticated animals. Compared to the thousands of years of domestication of cats and dogs, hamsters have only been human pets for a few decades. Although hamsters may withstand the ravages of humans, they will never enjoy it like cats and dogs. Even some individuals will avoid contact with humans at any cost,
- The work and rest time of hamsters and humans are exactly the opposite, and the time of contact with humans is naturally reduced.
Therefore, the enrichment of hamsters can only be achieved through interaction with the environment. The happiness of a hamster’s life is extremely related to its activity space and the fun degree of its cage. This is why the size of the cage is important for hamsters.
Hamster boredom
So, what if the hamster is not enriched enough? It will show boredom.
Generally speaking, the boredom of hamsters is embodied in repeated meaningless actions.
For a hamster, showing boredom behavior means that it is no longer a happy hamster, and for pet owners, we should be responsible for the animal, whether it is physical or psychological health.
Common hamster boredom behavior
Nibbling the cage
The hamsters repeatedly and excessively gnaw the cage. Although such behavior usually occurs in wire cages, similar phenomena can be observed in different types of cages. For example, the hamster in the aquarium may bite the rubber on the edge of the cage (foreigners can really play…aquarium…). This is definitely not the behavior of a normal hamster, it is a kind of pressure-relieving, compulsive bite.
Read Related Post: Hamster Health Issues Everyday Care
Cage Aggression
For caged hamsters, this behavior is strange but common. Hamsters are very active and aggressive in the cage. Once they are placed outside the cage, they become relatively calm and docile.
Climbing walls, picking up wires -hamsters repeatedly climb up and down in the cage. If the cage is not climbable, this behavior is manifested in jumping along the cage wall.
Sleepiness
The hamster does nothing but sleep. Many people think that hamsters are lazy, but in fact it is only because hamsters have nothing to do in the cage. If there is not enough space, bedding depth, and toys, hamsters will not be interested.
Cage size
Existing scientific research In 2007, scientists put hamsters in cages of different sizes to observe their behavior. The conclusion is that the larger the cage, the less bored behavior the hamster shows. However, even in a cage of 10,000 square centimeters, hamsters will still show a slight boredom behavior.
According to this research, we can think that a cage of 15,000 square centimeters should be a more suitable size, and we should be on the road to pursue a large cage.
The following are the regulations for the smallest cage area of each animal tissue:
German Hamster Forum: 4000 square centimeters (recommended size: 10000 square centimeters)
ASPCA: 1290 square centimeters
HSUS: 1858 square centimeters
The meaning of these numbers
(This part is the author’s own thoughts, roughly meaning that the larger the cage, the better, the translator will not translate it)
Why is there such a big gap in cage size on the market?
- People’s understanding of hamsters is still very superficial, and research on hamsters is still ongoing.
- Survive and live. A hamster can survive in a small cage, but that doesn’t mean it will be healthy and happy, just alive.
- For some people, hamsters survival is enough. Hamsters are often little things parents coax their children. Whether hamsters are happy is not the first element of these parents-children don’t understand, parents don’t care.
Read More Post: Feeding environment and cage size The myths and truths about hamster
Readers Corner
One of our valuable readers sends us these advantages and the disadvantages of having a Hamster. If you want to share your opinion with us. We will be Really Happy to publish these with your name too
The Advantages and disadvantages of Having a Hamster
Advantages
- Small, not taking up space
- The cost is not very high
- Quiet, I will not bark, if the quality of the roller and the water feeder are good, the sound is not loud, which is within the acceptable range
- It is convenient to take care of. The bath sand is changed frequently. The sawdust depends on the situation. When changing, it is recommended to leave a little bit of the previous sawdust to keep the smell
- The self-care ability explodes high, because sometimes it will go out for a period of time, and it can prepare enough food and water for it, and it will allocate a little bit of food every day according to its needs. I think it is much more convenient than cats and dogs. Yuanmen still needs to ask a friend to take care of it or put it in a pet shop for foster care;
Disadvantages
- The life span is short, generally should be 3-5 years
- The interaction will not be as high as cats and dogs
- Basically, get a good night’s sleep during the day and go out for activities at night
- One of the reasons why I don’t like iron cages is that they bite the cages and make a loud noise. Then one year in winter, I bought a small plush house to keep warm, and I was very well-behaved during the day and slept in the peace of mind. I started to gnaw the house, and then the bottom of the house was completely gnawed through, and then I never bought it a plush house
- It is difficult to seek medical attention. It is a common problem for this kind of small pets. General pet hospitals basically only treat cats and dogs. Pets like rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, etc., are not very rich in medical resources. For example, sterilization is a problem, not necessarily Every pet hospital can
- Reproductive ability is too strong. It is recommended that hamsters should be kept separately. First of all, everyone has heard that hamsters fight or even eat the other. This is because hamsters are solitary creatures and have a great sense of territory. Two hamsters are kept in the same small cage. It will definitely happen, but if the cage is large enough, it won’t. Secondly, the hamster’s reproductive capacity is beyond your imagination, sexual maturity is early, and the pregnancy period is short. If you accidentally get a male and a female in a cage, congratulations. , May harvest many litters of hamsters
Final Words
The cage size does matter for any pet. The reason is that actually, this is their house. The inhabited in which they live. Therefore this must be comfortable for them. You need to put maximum effort to do so.