Hamster cage drama llama

There's been a fair amount of drama on a facebook group I am a member of recently, with a couple of members complaining about "hate" they've got for their hamster cages. Their theory is that the manufacturers wouldn't produce bad cages, or a pet shop wouldn't sell bad cages, and they will not listen to reason, recommended cage size guidelines, or common sense.

The Ferplast Laura, at a tiny 46x29 cm

Cage size guidelines vary between country to country. I found a great blog post by Dashing Hamsters that illustrates these different guidelines. In the UK, the RSPCA recommends that a hamster cage "should be at least 75 x 40 x 40 cm". Unfortunately, most commercial hamster cages available in pet shops don't meet these guidelines at all!

The people in question then argued that their hamsters had wheels, so didn't need a large cage. The wheels in question were of course the ones that came with the cage, and so were tiny six inch diameter ones. Now these wheels are fine for a Roborovski, or a smaller Campbells, Winter White or Chinese, but for a full grown Syrian they are not appropriate. To be comfortable while on the wheel and to avoid spinal issues and deformities, a hamster has to have a flat back while running on a wheel. For a Syrian this means a wheel must have a minimum of eight inches diameter, but a lot, especially here in the UK where we have some giant breeder hamsters*, need rat wheels of eleven or twelve inches diameter.

The Savic Hamster Heaven, at 80x50 cm

Out of the two members who were the source of this drama, the first ended up being banned from the group after getting nasty at other members for informing her of these things, and basically stating that she didn't actually care for the hamster. The second has actually been looking in to getting the hamster heaven cage and a decent wheel, though, so it's not all bad!

*when I say giant, I mean giant. The largest Syrian I know of weighs in at 317 grams, and a fellow hamster fanatic recently bred a litter who have all been dubbed "guinea hams" because of their size, with their mother being 300+ grams too. Compared to my Annie, who is 168 grams...