Bob’s Bin Cage – preparing him for our big transition.

As I posted before my family and I will be moving from Maryland to Texas in the late summer or early fall. Between now and then we have a lot to do so one of the first things I got out of the way was the bin cages for all the hamsters and the gerbils. Bins take up less space and travel safer. I had to go smaller for everyone. But I have to be able to fit them all in our vehicles and hotel rooms for up to or over a month.

I posted the Gerbil’s bin with topper. Now this one is Bob’s. He is my long-haired, satin cream Syrian. He is approximately 16 months old. Based on my guestimation he’ll be 2 years old in July.

Periodically I change-up his toys but right now he has a suspension ladder, one customized hammock lovingly quilted by Rittles N Bittles on Etsy, two platforms – one of which is also a house. And a space pod hang out. His 11” Wodent Wheel, and a wooden ladder to reach one of his platforms.

Under one of his platforms is his litter/sand box I made out of a plastic ice-cream container. I cut out a section for him to hope in. The rest remains enclosed and there is no top to it. It’s long and plenty of room for him to move about but narrow as well so it doesn’t take up as much space as his corner litter pans always did. I also have his water bottle in a ceramic holder from Petco because the velcro kept coming unstuck on the sides and his bottle would fall. I got tired of that.

 

It’s a 110 QT Sterilite container. It looks smaller than it really is. But it’s definitely smaller than what he has always had before. But he seems alright about it. Of course once we actually travel I’ll be taking a great deal of things out for his safety. And putting them back in place once we arrive at our final destination. For now though I have it set up to give him more space and more to do.

Look what has come to American Retailers!

Charlie Chinchilla bathing sand is in America! I bought 3 boxes from Petmountain.com along with a couple bags of Gerri Gerbil (which is also from the same UK company as Charlie Chinchilla). I didn’t get free shipping as I didn’t buy enough stuff but even with shipping adding – the amount that I did have made each individual item of my stuff inexpensive compared to buying things of less quality in the pet stores around here. I love this online store!

Pet360.com is another favorite of mine. It’s where I buy bulk EcoBedding (Crinkle paper) and Carefresh Complete Menu Hamster food in bulk for cheap. I tend to get free shipping there due to that.

Preparing for Transit!

I have been stressing out about the hamsters and gerbils with the upcoming move over the summer. We will be taking 30 days leave out. So, for almost 30 days we’ll be homeless. In that time we’ll be visiting family. Traveling over halfway across the country and stopping for the night in hotels. And then we’ll arrive at our destination and set up home in a hotel for however long it takes for us to find a good house to rent in area.

This military life …it’s not for the weak. You have to have a nomadic spirit.

So, in anticipation of this I have put ALL rodents in bin cages. Their travel/temporary homes. I wanted them VERY adjusted to their cages ahead of time. They are all older. Maybe even considered elderly. And not as active as they were. So, I do not feel too terrible about it. But they are ALL in smaller quarters now. Still above and beyond the ASPCA recommendations but short of the RSPCA standards. However, I do the best I can. I can’t fit their huge cages into my van and cannot carry them about in them from hotel room to hotel room. And I will not put them in small travel cages for over a month. This is a happy medium.

The gerbils have been the most difficult to figure out. They have to have a topper. This much I know. They bury their water bottle and food bowl and sand bath (potty) so all those things must be in a topper. And they enjoy their topper. I can’t take it away even for a travel cage.

So, I googled bin cages for gerbils with toppers and found this very helpful post at the Gerbil Forum.

And this was my version of it. Thanks again to the person who posted their gerbil bin cage with topper idea!

IKEA Hack Caging, Sharing Kerri’s Custom Hamster Caging.

I am so excited to post this!

My friend Kerri has a way with DIY. She has made some fabulous Bin Cages for her hams. But she decided to go even further by the conversion of IKEA shelving and tables (yes tables!) into magnificent, classy, attractive housing for her hamily. Her first hack was with IKEA Billy Shelving. She converted the Billy into a home for her first dwarf hamster Smudge but it is now home for her Chinese ham Pippa. That was awesome enough. However, recently she created her dream cage for her Syrian Darwin by converting the IKEA Lack Table! And this has blown me away! She was so kind to allow me to feature her work onto this blog. Most of you know how I adore creative, lovely hamster housing. So, it being my friend I am exceptionally thrilled.

Below are photos showing the red & white LED lighting, a link to her tutorial showing how she made the Ikea Lack Table cage (the Billy Hack for her dwarf is the cage on top of the Lack Table cage and at the bottom of this post I posted links for that too) and her video tour.

IKEA LACK TABLE HACK CAGE

For a Full Tutorial on how she made this cage visit Hamster Central hamster forums – CLICK HERE FOR HER POST. 

And the video Cage Tour which I had been waiting for not so patiently for after seeing her pictures!

Her IKEA BILLY HACK CAGE for Dwarf Hamsters
If you are interested in her IKEA BILLY HACK for dwarf hamsters (the cage on the top of the Lack Table Hack cage here is her post on that one at Hamster Central Forums CLICK HERE

And a video of her IKEA Billy while beloved Smudge was still alive *sniff*
This video also shows the awesome platforms she made with wood dowels and other converted IKEA products.

Just a quick note

I have not abandoned my blog. Bear with me! A lot has been going on but the hamily is still doing well!! I have a post coming up showcasing my lovely friend’s DIY set up for her hammy with her permission! Hopefully this weekend.

Piggie Sitting

Meet Thor! This cutie is spending Christmas with us! I am getting firsthand experience with Guinea Pigs and I adore him.

December 2013 Shout Out for TotallyHammie & Moxie Hamstery

I haven’t done a shout out in awhile for blogs or youtube channels. TotallyHammie has been the most recent find. She has super cute Bin Cage set ups with how to’s for DIY hamster bin cage signs and hamster toys. One of her most recent videos was a neat little video that shows her recent haul but in it shows the diet she feeds her hamsters and the daily servings she provides for them.

There are a lot of hamster channels out there but some just shine over the rest.

For blogs or Facebook I want to give a shout out to MOXIE HAMSTERY – she has a website as well that I believe I’ve called attention to in the past but her Facebook is also where you can get a lot of photo and video treats of her adorable Roborovskis! She is an educated and experienced breeder with pure lines. And vicariously watching her little cuties grow up is a joy.

Roborovski’s get a cage makeover

I needed some serious cheering up in the hammy room. I go in there and someone is noticeably missing.

So I picked up from last night when I was interrupted from cleaning the bookcase cage for the Robos due to one being AWOL as discussed in the previous post. Ahem!

I am glad Snow distracted me because last night I would have done humdrum. Tonight I did color. I gave them a toy and hide out change out too. So far they seem pretty impressed. Gave them a little excitement in their life.

Snow’s up close :

And Patch’s:

How to catch a loose Hamster or Gerbil!

I was cleaning cages late last and realized once I got to the bookcase cages that Snow, my Roborovski had managed to push a toy against the partition and escape again! He either had just gotten loose that evening or the late night before. So I began to do a check in obvious places. Found tiny poop trails. Knew he was most likely camped out in the hamster room as that is where he smells all familiarity. By now he must be hungry and thirsty.

I heard many a time about the bucket trick and wow does it work!

I used a little plastic trash can that I had just bought from the Dollar store and hadn’t even used yet. I propped it high on my 1 year olds boot. Then placed one of their ramps against it. Placed a toy of his beside the ramp as I knew his own scent would draw him near if the scent of fresh food and treats inside the can didn’t.

I felt confident even though I never have had to do this before (always find my lost hams quickly). So I snapped a photo of my trap just for this purpose of posting and helping others who may be in this situation one day.

There was no point cleaning the rest of the cages when I had a hamster to catch and so I had turned off the light in the room and left. I curled up in my bed with a good book. Took less than 5 minutes. I could hear a slight “shroooooomp” sound and then a loud nibbling being amplified by the walls of a cylinder can. I knew immediately.

I grabbed my phone to snap the triumphant photo and headed right across the hall and of course!

Boy was he a happy camper to be back in his home. As punishment I have removed all his escape tools. And pressed other toys to the very back of the cage. He doesn’t seem to care that some of his toys are gone. He burrowed tunnels in his bedding, ate, and drank for a half hour after I put him back.

Kabobs always a hit with the gerbils

It’s been too long since I showed off my gerbil boys! Lennon and Mercury. Or made a post about them in general. I am around them the most of my rodents and yet I post the least about them!

My gerbils are often bored. I seem to not take enough time coming up with new enrichment for them. But let me tell you! I cannot find a decent gerbil forum to save my life. One that actually talks about set ups and toy making. Ideas!!! I need ideas! Gerbil communities seem to focus on breeding. There seems to be less discrimination in these forums and groups I find for most matters. They aren’t as concerned about gerbil nutrition either. Pretty much they love their gerbils. This is very obvious. But it doesn’t make for much of an educational, inspirational or helpful group. It’s another “hey look at my cute gerbil babies” group.

SO I really have to google long and hard on images to get ideas for gerbil enrichment other than toilet paper/loo rolls. Find nothing! So I just stick to the kabob toy as a standby. I made an assortment of chews for them. And last minute cut a cup out of an egg carton and put Cheerios and yogies inside it for them to work to get to. It was a hit! I like how polite my boys are. They always take turns.