My "Open-Safari" hamster cage
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The following photos feature what I call my "Open-Safari Hamster Cage" - basically a cage without bars. I used a guinea pig (the yellow tray) purchased from Pet Lover's Center (Parkway branch) and placed two "Hamster Dome Towers" purchased from Pets Station (Marine Parade branch).
The hamsters are Winter White (species) Pearl Whites (coat color), (8 in total) offspring whose parents (2 males, 2 females) were purchased from Sam Yick (Marine Parade branch). I own several other hamsters (kept in normal cages), including the parents of these offspring, a couple of 'Puddings' (which are commonly believed to be Campbell-WinterWhite hybrids) and a couple of Roborovorskis. All 1st generation hamsters were purchased from Sam Yick.
Back to the "Open-Safari Hamster Cage" (photos below), the guinea pig tray/base used is sufficiently deep (note : I've seen cages with even slightly deeper trays/bases for sale) such that even with 2-3 cm deep bedding (a comfortable depth of beddng for dwarf hamsters), the hamsters are not able to climb over the walls. As no hamster has yet escaped from this cage, perhaps I could call it the "Open-Safari Hamster Alcatraz".
The purpose of this webpage ( http://infinity.usanethosting.com/MyHamsters) is simply because I wanted to share this "Open-Safari Hamster Cage" concept, not at all for want of compliments, but really only because I enjoyed this "Open-Safari" concept so much (previously and even after the "Open-Safari", I had used / now still use normal hamster cages, for other hamsters that need to be separated; and for these other cages, I've found large plastic aquarium tanks to be superior in many ways to commercial hamster cages, both the metal bar type and the plastic walls type), that I wanted to share the enjoyment of such a "Open-Safari" concept with fellow hamster lovers. There's nothing like being able to zoom in face-to-face with your darling hamsters without any bars/plastic in between.
On behalf of my hamsters, warmest regards to your hamsters! ^ ^
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haha pampered hamsters
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so nice
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tammy be my pet ?Originally posted by ^tamago^:so nice -
cleaning would be a chore with so many parts.
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Ok lah, it's really not that bad since the base is a tray. After placing the hamsters into another (temporary holding) cage, sweep the bedding from (all levels of) the twin towers out onto the yellow base/tray, remove the twin towers, and empty the yellow base/tray into a standard black trashbag.Originally posted by FireIce:cleaning would be a chore with so many parts.
All in all, at least for myself, the enjoyment of the "Open-Safari" concept is easily more than worth the effort.
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u mean u dun clean the tubes and wheel?
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by the way, stop keeping or encourage breeding of puddings.......such "hybrids" are spoiling the genes
bery irresponsible. -
Do u have an elder brother call "Jonathon"?
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tot u kana banned?Originally posted by pinkmiIk:Do u have an elder brother call "Jonathon"?
but respect u sacrifice urself
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Banned liao? SONG BO?Originally posted by pinkmiIk:Do u have an elder brother call "Jonathon"?
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would love to keep a hamster, but they got such a short life span... end up heart broken every few years leh..
i''ll just stick to my cats and dogs for now.. -
wont they jump out of the tray?
or am i the only one who thinks hamsters can jump? -
a clap for ur love towards hamster. but i got a question for ya. y dun just put them in fish tank. they cannot climb out. oso open safari ma
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I love hasmter.. But was thinking whether should i keep ferret as pet...ferret are rare in sg...
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Originally posted by aku1b0d0:
heh, Malay Kampung babi(aku1b0d0), who let u out? song bo?
[b]Banned liao? SONG BO? [/b] -
the concept is like building HDB flats. build upwards to save space
but i still feel the hamster can escape as the yellow tray is too low. am i rite? btw. how much the whole thing cost u? -
Only my Roborovoskis can jump, my Winter Whites cannot. Roborovoskis can jump abt 3-4 cm in the air. They might have a better chance of escaping out of the yellow tray. The Winter Whites cannot.Originally posted by aiglosicicle:wont they jump out of the tray?
or am i the only one who thinks hamsters can jump? -
I keep my other hamsters (not in photos) in plastic fish tanks. I find tanks much better compared to normal hamster cages (metal bars type or plastic type).Originally posted by eviljustice:a clap for ur love towards hamster. but i got a question for ya. y dun just put them in fish tank. they cannot climb out. oso open safari ma
But the "Open-Safari" concept, especially using the towers, has an added advantage of being able to put your face right up to the hamsters (no bars or plastic in between), which is a considerably harder and more uncomfortable to do with a fish tank, if you know what I mean. -
i also got this idea. medium fish tank, 1m x 0.25m will do. but still, to clean, have to carrry the whole fking fish tankOriginally posted by eviljustice:a clap for ur love towards hamster. but i got a question for ya. y dun just put them in fish tank. they cannot climb out. oso open safari ma -
The yellow tray is deep enough so that even with comfortable level of bedding, the height of the walls are just out-of-reach of the hamsters. You just have to be careful :Originally posted by joyanz:the concept is like building HDB flats. build upwards to save space
but i still feel the hamster can escape as the yellow tray is too low. am i rite? btw. how much the whole thing cost u?
1) don't place any toys or wooden blocks near the walls or edges that could help them climb over the walls.
2) place the towers such that if they should drop from upper levels, they'll land safely on the soft deep bedding below, instead of hitting the walls or falling out of the tray.
But if you're interested in setting one up yourself, you can look for a tray/base (taken from guinea pig or rabbit cage) that is even deeper than mine. I've seen them around for sale (after I bought mine).
Cost of setup :
guinea pig cage (yellow tray) = $60 +
tower x 2 = $40+ x 2 = $80 +
water bottles, wooden houses, hamster wheels, bedding, food, etc = $50+ to $80+
hamsters = $10 to $30 for each hamster (depending on species and coat color) when first buy from shop, but all the hamsters in the photos are 2nd generation offspring.
So if you want to make a large "Open-Safari" setup for many hamsters, buy male+female pairs and let them breed. -
Do you know they can eat mealworms?
I fed my hamsters with mealworms before and they love it.
Lots of protein!
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What if they got smart enough to push those stuff near the walls of the tray. I remember my last hamster got smart enough to open its cage door (Slide up down one).Originally posted by UltimaOnline:1) don't place any toys or wooden blocks near the walls or edges that could help them climb over the walls.
Get a bigger tray should be the beastOriginally posted by UltimaOnline:2) place the towers such that if they should drop from upper levels, they'll land safely on the soft deep bedding below, instead of hitting the walls or falling out of the tray. -
Sure safe or not?Originally posted by Chuichi Koshiramaru:Do you know they can eat mealworms?
I fed my hamsters with mealworms before and they love it.
Lots of protein!
Hmm... I have second thought making my hamster go omnivore. -
What if they got smart enough to push those stuff near the walls of the tray. I remember my last hamster got smart enough to open its cage door (Slide up down one).
They have indeed moved stuff around my other cages. But for the "Open-Safari", you just have to take this into consideration. If you look at my photos, you see there is no way they can move anything in my "Open-Safari" setup that will allow them to climb over. The wheels are too large to move, and are safely inside the towers. The wooden houses are inside the towers. Anything on the ground floor either cannot be moved or used to climb over the walls.
In fact, if hamsters were as cunning as humans and wanted to leave the enclosure badly enough, there is a simple way they could do so - make a human/hamster ladder (ie. let other hamsters climb on their backs). But since no group of hamsters have ever (at least not deliberately) done so, apparently they're not yet as cunning as humans, or perhaps they still love their homes.Get a bigger tray should be the beast
I bought the biggest tray in the shop. I think they may be bigger ones, but those are very very hard to find. My yellow tray is 3 feet in length. (almost one and half-meters long).
But yes I agree, anyone interested in making an "Open-Safari" setup for yourself should buy the biggest tray/base you can find.