HamsterHouse
Syrian Hamsters
Syrian Hamsters are the most popular Hamster Breed. They are aslo known as the"Fancy Hamster", the"Golden Hamster" or the "Teddy Bear Hamster", all those names are Pet-Store names, so the Pet-Store can get more money. Becasue since Teddy Bear Hamstes sound very cute than the Pet-Store has a better chance at selling them that a Syrian Hamster. In 1839 British zoologist George Waterhouse found an elderly female hamster in Syria, naming it Cricetus auratus, the Golden Hamster. The hamster's fur was on display at the British Museum. The Syrian Hamster was ignored by European science for the next century. In 1930, Israel Aharoni, a Jewish zoologist captured a mother hamster and her litter of pups in Aleppo, Syria. The hamsters were bred in Jerusalem as laboratory animals. Some escaped from the cage through a hole in the floor, so that most of the Syrian hamsters in Israel today are believed to be descended from this litter. Because they were bigger than the ones Mr.Waterhouse found, they were named Mesocricetus auratus. Mesocricetus auratus is the current scientific name of the Syrian Hamster.
Syrian Hamsters Personality
Syrian Hamsters have wonderful personalities! They are sweet, calm, great friends, most of them love to be held, can be tamed very quickly, those are just some of the reasons Syrian Hamsters are the most popular hamsters, everyone loves there personality! Syrian Hamsters are recommended for first time hamster owners. You should be 7-8 years or older for a Syrian Hamster. They are also very smart. Most of them are escape artists and love a nice run around the house! And they are also great cuddle-monsters, Syrians are always begging for attention, whether it be for a nice yummy treat or a nice tummy rub. But don't be fooled by their adorable faces, they can sometimes be real devils, they can crawl over many playpens and if not tamed well(or just can't be tamed)than they can be a real manice. Syrian Hamsters also do not like cage mates, so never keep two Syrians in the same cage, they will fight and one-or both of them-will end up dieing.
So if you're a first time hamster owner or want a cuddle monster a Syrian Hamster is for you!
Cages for Syrians
A Cage
A Syrian Hamster must have a cage(unless you're hamster is tamed enough to be let around the house with no cage-this is not recommended).
A good ideas of some cages are bin or tank cages...
Bins and Tanks
^A bin cage
^A Tank cage
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Bins and Tanks are the best cages for a Syrian Hamster, they should be at least 20 gallon(make it 20 gallon long) or more so your hamster has space to run aorund and you have lots room to put toys in! Bins are only cost $10-$25 so you don't need to worry about money and 20 gallon tanks cost about $45(plus a lid which would be a good idea to have).
If you still can't decided which cage you want sheck out some of these pros and cons for tanks and bins:
Tank Pros:
-Clear visibility(able to see clearly into it)
-Chew/escape proof
-Nice to display
Cons:
-Heavy
-Expensive
-Breakable/very fragile
Bin Pros:
-Cheap
-Lightweight
-Comes in many different sizes
-Customizable
Cons:
-Harder to veiw hamsters
-Can look a bit cheesy
-Not completely chew/escape proof (unless made correctly)(My hamster has never escpaed from her bin cage so it is unlikely your hamster will)
Most of you are probably wondering"How the heck do I make a bin cage?" well <link will be added later>to learn step to step instructions on how to make a bin cage. Or go to Hamster House's toolbar and click<link will be added later>
Some other type of cage are commercial cages(the Crittertrail, Habitrail, etc...).
Habitrail and Habitrail Ovo Cages
^ Habitrail Playground
^Habitrail Ovo suite
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The Habitrail and Habitrail Ovo cages are colourful, fun, cool designs and make it fun to watch your hamster zoom in and out from the tubes. But sadly these cage are to small. To make a Habitrail or Ovo cage big enough for a hamster you would at least need to connect 3.
Habitrail and Habitrail Ovo Pros and Cons:
Pros:
-Light weight
-Fun to design
-Cool add on's so you can make many designs
-Fun to watch hamsters since they come in many colours
Cons:
-Way to small for any hamster
-Some are very hard to put together and require lots of patience
-Many hamsters have escaped from them
-Can sometimes be expensive
-Can not fit a 8" wheel which is recommended for Syrians.
Hamster Cages made from Habitrail:
The Habitrail Playground(cage above) is a nice small cage for a Travel Cage or a add-on. It comes with a water bottle which would be a good idea to replace since it's too small, a food dish, a wheel which is too small so it wold be a godd idea to buy another wheel and a loft house. With the door it's very easy for you to get your hamster and for your hamster to come out.
The Habitrail Safari(cage above)is a good add-on cage or a Travel Cage. It comes with a wheel(which may be good for some Syrians, but may a bit small for others), a look-out deck for your hamster to sleep or hangout on and a ladder. This cage is quite easy to clean and has 2 places to attach another cage to it.
The Habitrail Mini(cage above)is for Drawf Hamsters and Mice. But this cage is way too small for any hamster so you would need to connect at least 4. And also as you can tell this cage comes with no hamster supplies only supples for mice.
The Habitrail Ovo(cage above)is one of Habitrail's newest creations. It comes with a wheel(which may be too small for soem Syrians) a sleeping house, a food dish and a water which can sometimes be very hard for hamsters to find. It may seem big enough but you should have at least 3 Ovo cages connected together. If you do end up buying the Ovo you should also try to make the tube horizontal because when they are vertical your hamster can fall and hurt him/herself.
Crittertrail Cages
^Crittertrail Z
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Crittertrails are probably the most popular modeled hamster cage. There are many different Crittertrails. They are very colourful and fun to design and watch your hamster. But these cages-like the Habitrail-are to small. Some of them look big enough since they are tall but those ones are to small.
Crittertrail Pros and Cons:
Pros:
-Fun to design
-Comes in many sizes
-Cool colours
-Light weight
Cons:
-Too small
-Very easy for hamsters to escape
-Hard to put together
-Sometimes expensive
Hamster Cages from Critteretrail:
Since there are so many different cages from Crittertrail I will only be posting a couple of photos of the cages, but don't worry I will *try* to post every cage.
Crittertrail 1(picture above)
Crittertrail 2
Crittertrail 3
Crittertrail X(picture above)
Crittertrail Y
Crittertrail Z
Crittertrail Treehouse
Crittertrail Mini 1
Crittertrail Mini 2
Crittertrail Pink Princess Castle(picture above)
Crittertrail Classic
Crittertrail Pink
Crittertrail Revolution
Wire Cages
^Jack 72 Hamster cage (sorry for the blurry photo
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Wired cages are a very popular hamster cage. They come in many different sizes-some small some big. But most of them end up being too small.
Wired cage Pros and Cons:
Pros:
-Easy to see your hamster, since there in nothing blocking your veiw.
-Can be cheap-most of the time they are cheaper than plastic cage.
-You can attach cool hideouts to the bars of the cages and add ladders(since most Syrians love running up ladders)
Cons:
-Most hamsters will bite on the bars, which is very annoying!
-The base of the cage(bottom part)is very small and so you cannot feel it with tons of bedding, so your hamster won't have lots of space to hide and burrow in bedding.
-Since the base of the cage is small(well most of the time it is)it is easy for the hamster to kick bedding out of the cage so your floor could end up being very messy.
Wired cage:
Most Wired Cages are too small, so instead of posting all the wire cages in the world I'll just post the good wire cages :)
