A Home for your Hamster!

By GoofDogg00
Need some cage advice? You've come to the right place!
First of all, you should know what type of hamster you have.
If you have a dwarf, then you may try and keep your dwarf in the same cage as a same sex mate. Please make sure that you know for sure the sexes of your hamsters so you don't end up with babies! !
These are what dwarf hamsters look like:

It is never a guarantee that dwarf hamsters will get along forever, even if they are brothers/sisters, so make sure you have an extra cage on hand at all times in case you should need to seperate.
Dwarves like to climb and crawl through tubes. Ground space is not as important to dwarves as it is to Syrians.
These are acceptable cages to keep two dwarves in:
The S.A.M. cages look cool cuz they have tubes, and it's bright colored. S.A.M. also sells attachements (that I recommend) to make this cage bigger. Dwarves love running through them, and it comes with its own wheel and water bottle, but it can be difficult taking this cage apart and cleaning all of the tubes.

Just like the S.A.M. cage, there is a company called Critter Trail, that sells similar cages to S.A.M. It has tubes, platforms, its own wheel, water bottle, and can have attachments added on as well:

The wire cage is just that. It has a snap out try underneath so cleaning is easy, but it has bars that a hamster can chew on, and it usually comes with a wheel and platforms that you will have to weave carboard through so your hamster's feet are safe.

Do keep in mind, however, that hamsters like to chew. It is not uncommon for hamsters to begin chewing on bars after they have been in a bar cage for awhile.
Small, unflavored dog biscuits will help with this, or you may try bitter apple spray that they sell at pet stores!
The other type of hamster is a Syrian. Syrians are strictly solitary as they get older, and when brought home, always cage solo by itself. It doesn't matter if you get two Syrians from the same litter, or if they were together in the cage at the pet store. Syrians will fight and seriously injur another or possible kill each other, so it's not worth the risk.
Here's a few pictures of what Syrians look like:

Syrians prefer ground space because they grow bigger than dwarves.
There are only 2 types of cages that I would ever use/recommend for a Syrian.
The first one is a tank:


Tanks are made of breakable glass, and will break if dropped, and don't have the best air ventillation, but there are no bars to chew on, and this cage gives plenty of ground space.
The last is what I keep all of my hamsters in. It's a bin. It's cheaper than any cage, you can personalize it, and it's unbreakable. Bins provide a lot of ground space, but also are not see through like a tank is.

You can make a second story by buying a dish rack and a bird ladder. Weave cardboard through the dish rack, and there's your second story!!
You need to be able to drill holes in both the sides and the lid for proper air ventillation:
If your hamster is a big chewer, you probably should use a tank instead of a bin! Syrians have been known to chew a hole and escape from these if you drill holes too low, or if they like to chew a lot!!!

Recommended Accessories to go with all cages:

A water bottle that drapes over the side. Luna Bug uses suction cup water bottles, but I personally don't want to risk having the water bottle fall off. (If your hamsters like to play with their water bottle, suction cups probably aren't the way to go).
A 8 1/2' comfort wheel is what I use for all of my hamsters, even my two dwarves. Easy to clean, easy to move with the stand, and pretty low in cost.

Like any animal, hamsters need out of the cage time to play. It is recommended to get a safety ball that they can run around in for 20-25 minutes a day:

There ya have it.... Good luck with selecting a new cage!!!!