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| • About Roborovskis | Cage types |
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Cages for your Roborovski |
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Roborovskis
are one of the most lively and agile hamster species and
although they are among
the smallest, they need
just as much space as any other hamster.
A cage
with a minimum floor
size of aproximately 50cm by 30cm (20 by 12 inches) for
one pair of Roborovski is about right.
Even if
a cage consists of multiple levels, try to keep those minimum
ground floor sizes in the back of your mind. Still hamsters,
especially Roborovskis, will appreciate all of the room you can spare.
If you're on a budget, stay away from the cages with lots of plastic, loud colors and lots of tubes, they generally very expensive.
There are a lot of different cages and it's good to know
the pros (+) and cons (-) for each type. On the left
you can see examples of each cage type.
The setup directly on the right are my own 2 cages. A Ferplast Hamster Duna (70cm x 40cm) on top and a Ferplast Mini Duna (50cm x 35cm) below. >> |
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Glass Tanks |
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+Pro:Glass
aquariums are quite cheap.
They are very easy
to clean, rarely scratch and you can see your pet without the interference
of bars.
The bedding will stay where it belongs and it keeps your hamster safe
from drafts and cold.
-Con: Unsuitable for young kids,
since they can be really heavy, and akward to handle.
Temperature can sometimes rise to dangerous levels when put in full sunlight,
due to the lower ventilation.
You can use a wire mesh to close
the top of the cage with. With my Roborovskis I
did make a wire mesh lid, as can be seen on the right. They're so tiny
that I wanted to rule out every possibility of escaping ;-) Under
no circumstance close a glass or plastic cage with a solid
lid, to make sure
you don't block the supply of fresh air to your pet.
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+Pro: Plastic
Duna cages have the same advantages as the glass cages,but are much lighter
and easier
to handle. Plus they won't break (not easily) when accidentally dropped
while cleaning or so.
-Con: Also they can be a lot more expensive than glass tanks. Not so nice if you are
on a budget and want a duna cage. They can get scratched more easily than
glass cages. To prevent this, trie to clean the cage using a soft cloth
and a non-aggressive cleaning agent.
Note: The cage shown is an older model which is no longer available. All current models have an opaque lower half. |
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+Pro: Wire
cages provide lots of ventilation. When the cage has horizontal
bars they love to climb in them and that's really fun to watch. Though
Roborovskis would probably appreciate more
floor space over climbing possibilities. A combo of both ofcourse would be lovely.
-Con:
For young Roborovskis, wire cages are less suitable, they sometimes
manage to slip through the bars of normal dwarf hamster cages, although
buying
a mice cage would solve
that.
There are cages with wire mesh instead of a solid ground floor. Although they seem easy to clean they are really uncomfortable
for your pet. Roborovskis
are
very tiny and even the finest wire floor can cause their paws to slip through,
hurting themselves or getting stuck. |
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The all plastic cages by SAM or Habitrail are generally very small, the do make acceptable size cages, but those in turn are often really expensive.
+Pro: They look colorful and interesting. Might be nice for small children. You have a clear view of your hamster
-Con: Because they're almost totally sealed by plastic,
there is not very much ventilation for your pet. The air holes present
just don't seem adequate
Note that Roborovskis probably will not use the vertical or
near vertical tubes, since they are not brilliant climbers and are to small
to grab a hold to them. SAM cages are les easy to clean because of the gazillion nooks and crannies, do not forget to remove the wire mesh on the cage floor before use. |
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There are however SAM wire cages and mixed plastic/wire cages, so if you really want to have a SAM cage, please
look for those. |
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