New dwarf hammie--is my cage o.k.?

[pawsplus]

I have rats and had hammies years ago.  And now I've ended up (b/c somone I know is an IDIOT  ) with an adorable piebald dwarf hammie named Cecilia.  She came w/ a cage that seems o.k.  It's small, but so is she, and I plan to add hammocks and such. It's a modular cage with plastic top and bottom, wire in between, about 18" long, 12" wide, 12" tall.  This is it, I think:

http://www.petco.com/product/9599/Super-Pet-CritterTrail-One.aspx

Ceci is TINY, and this seems like plenty of room.  Is this o.k., esp. if I add a few hammocks, etc.?  She seems to use the wheel and the little "petting area" (for sleeping).

I'll try to get pix of her, but didn't like to freak her out right off the bat.

[Topaz]

From what I've read and learned about dwarf hamsters, is that they need LOTS of running room and deep bedding to dig.  I could be wrong, but my guess is that those critter trail/habitrail cages are too small for most any animal.  I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

[pawsplus]

Honestly, she looks lost in it, she's so small!  I think it's o.k.

[Randomrat]

It's not big enough. It is far, far, far to small. All you need to do is ad on another one or even ad on a bin cage. Hamsters need so much more room then other small animals their size such as mice or gerbils. Even dwarf hamsters.

[FuzzButt Lover]

I had a dwarf hammie in that exact cage, it worked for awhile but it got dirty fast, chewed on, he couldn't use the wheel that came with it and yes it is too small. I moved him to a 10 gallon aquarium (better but still too small) he loved running laps and LOVED running on a smaller wheel that he could actually move! I actually buried him with that wheel cuz he loved it so much (weird but ya, that's how much he loved it). Anyway I advise getting a diff cage, 10 gallon is only 8 dollars, but that's only if you don't have much space. Dwarf hamsters run SOO much more then regulars, more then gerbils even. Mine also ran "laps", he would run around like crazy then jump on his wheel and "take off". Either that or let him out to play in at least one ham proof room freely for about 3 or more hours a day on top of at least a half hour or so he/she should normally get! Sounds like a ton for one little guy but these things run like crazy!

edit: Also that cage was a pain to organize (small), the walls (yellow part) broke off on some occasions, luckily not enough for him to escape, he kicked bedding out of it, and the water bottle was really bad they can't drink freely from it they can only lick from the dripping water so it limits their water intake or they have to sit there for like 5 mins to get enough water they could have gotten in 1 min. Another thing, *some* hamsters chew on the bars of the cage.

[Randomrat]

No a 10 is still to small. I had my dwarf in there and he was territorial I considered getting rid of him. Later on I got him a 20 gallon long tank and the next day he was friendly and I could hold him. I ahd a different dwraf in a 10 gallon and he ran laps aroudn his cage and often ran into walls and bit liek mad. i switched him to a big bin cage and he stillr an laps but he didn't run into walls because he had space and never bit again. Why not give them what they deserve? I mean sometimes I see rats in these big cages just big enough to hold them and they look lost in it but yet they still need the space. Hamsters need more room then what you are currently giving him. Make it a christmas present to him. Bin cages are very cheap and dwarfs don't smell to bad so you could keep him on shredded paper if you are worried about using to much shavings.

[FuzzButt Lover]

Yes a 10 gal is too small as I said, but it is at least better quality then the critter trail in my opinion. I didn't have enough room for 4 20 gal aquariums in my small room. Of course that problem was avoidable, I could have not gotten the animals to begin with but I thought (back when I wasn't as pet savvy ) that the critter trail was enough space for a dwarf and a 10 gal was enough for a Syrian, turned out I was totally wrong. I moved the Dwarf to the 10 gal and the Syrian to 20 gal that the fish had used, then gerbils, then him. (thoroughly disinfected before switching from pet(s) to pet(s)) I am still looking to go bigger so I think I might switch to a bin or something.

[Randomrat]

Okay I just wanted to make that clear. I only share my room with my pets. Currently I have 3 hamsters, 1 mouse, 2 gerbils and 2 rats in there. But I used to have 10 or so betta bowls and a 10 gallon tank for fish and 2 more hamster cages along with my current pets. All the cages are the sizes that I reccomend. So it was (and still is) crowded :p

[FuzzButt Lover]

Oh lucky I want some ratties, but going to wait. Probably awhile after my hammie passes away, which is going to be soon since he's like 3 or so. 

[pawsplus]

I'm planning on making her a bin cage, along these lines:

http://www.petwebsite.com/article_read.asp?parent_id=14&parent_name=Hamsters&id=256&title=Make%20A%20Homemade%20Hamster%20Bin%20Type%20Cage

So this one only has to work for a few weeks.  She seems quite happy, though, and she gets out to run in the bathtub nightly.

[Randomrat]

Sounds good get the biggest possible bin you can find it will only be about $20.00