Hamster cage

[Bati]

http://jorats.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t ... afaa93b7b7

We all know hamster-cages is no good for babies, she writes - no I don't why? (have my babies in a hamster-cage now )

 

[Melissa]

Probably because they can get caught in the small space wires.

As long as it's big enough for mum to get around and get a break once and awhile and they can't get caught in any bars, it's ok.

 

[Bati]

uuuuhhh - I think they can get caught in mine when they start to move around, didn't really think of that

 

[user 78]

Wired cages aren't recommended for new babies at all. Until their eyes open and they get some motor control, they can just blindly wriggle between bars and get stuck. I've also read that they can get bad bruising if they're piled against the wires, from the wire putting too much pressure in one spot. Aquariums or cages with very deep pans [3" or more] with no levels are the best things to keep newborns and until they're about 2 weeks.

For full grown babies [4weeks+], a hamster cage isn't nearly appropriate. There's not any room for them to run, jump, play, etc.. Babies need just as much room as an adult simply because they're so high energy. In addition to that, rats grow very fast. By the time most people get them home as young babies, they'll need to upgrade from that very small hamster cage within a matter of weeks.

Hamster cages are very good as travel carriers, but that's about it.

 

[Bronwyn]

Oh man, Bati, I'm so glad you asked, I was too much of a chicken. I also kept my babies in hamster cages. They weren't very active though so I never saw them even touch the bars. I guess that's why the wire issues never occured to me. Well, sorry, they'd touch the bars when their eyes had opened and they were bouncing everywhere, lol. But at that point they were nearing gender seperation and the girls (only four of them) went into a Habitrail sort of cage where there's hardly any wiring.

The boys went into a guinea pig cage which certainly had its own issues as they'd squeezed through and gone exploring but that only happened once. And there were 6 of them and their father and given this litter was dumped on me a week before birth I had little to offer. : /

 

[user 78]

If it's all you have and your only option at that moment, it'll do. it's not the best, and it's not recommended, but it can/will work.

Their concerns of getting stuck in the wires and bruising from the wires is mostly for before their eyes open.

 

[jorats]

How about putting some cardboard around the bars so the babies can't get near the bars?

 

[SQ]

We kept rescue mom and babies on one level in a martins ... but the nest with the babies in it was in a rabbit litter box. The babies could'nt get out of the liter box until they were old enough to have hair and be racing around all over the place. Once their eyes were opened and the space became too small, we opened up the cage so they had access to other levels.

 

[Bati]

Arh they don't get near the bars till they get eyes, the bottom is tall and plastic, so when they get eyes they'll be able to climb. It's a big cage, not habitrail, I like it because it's completely safe if some big male escapes, it's not possible for him to get into the babies

 

[jorats]

If it has a high bottom, then that works well.

 

[user 78]

So long as it has a deep plastic base, and no levels, it's fine.

Most hamster cages have wire all the way into the pan and aren't big enough to house just the mom let alone a mess of babies. It's a general rule sort of thing. Different cages suit different things.

 

[Bati]

I'm happy again, it's a big cage with 4 levels that I took out, I like it because the wire is so tight they cant escape and nobody can get in :wink: