Cage - What hamster cage and supplies should i get for a black bear hamster?

What hamster cage and supplies should i get for a black bear hamster?

This is my first hamster and I am so happy that my mom finally said yes. I don't know what type of bedding, food, cage, or toys would be good for it. My budget is $50. Thanks for your help! I've been reading and it says that plastic cages are worse for hamsters than metal ones? Also, how loud are they at night is there any way to quite them down?

Public Comments

first of all 50$ wont be enough because cages can be pretty pricey if you get a bran new one!!! bedding- get carefresh its comftorable, dust free food- umm just get the one with a hamster pic on the front or lab blocks cage- i like the ones on petsmart .com, theres this blue one with a huge wheeel in it (take out)!! its really cool sorda big but big enough for a hamster and then its pretty cheep like i think 27 dollars not including shipping!! toys-well i just get what ever has a hamster picture or you can ask the petstore and see what thaey think, they should know at least the toy part!!! i really hope that helped!!! good luck!(:(:
50 dollars won't work The bedding is about 10 food will be about 6 the toys will be 4 the cage will be about 30-40 and the hamster about 11 more and the exercise wheel will be about 8 So yeah you may need about 80 dollars It really depends on what you get and the price.
Well 50 dollars isn't alot but I think I can help you. For the cage, try this one. It isn't a huge cage but it is a good starter cage. Just make sure that once you get more money to upgrade and get a larger cage. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754665 As for the bedding try care fresh. It works better then the aspen. Aspen can is messy and isn't as soft. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753654 For food you can buy a basic hamster/gerbil mix of seeds and other food. Her are some cheap treats that you could consider buying. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3155598 http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753471 When you get more money you can buy this cage. This is the cage I had for my hamster and she loved it. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754666 I hope that helps you out. Here is a site for more hamster information: http://www.thehamstersite.com/hamster_info.htm
For such a low budget a bin cage would be great for you. You can get most sturdy large bins for under 10$ and some mesh like hardware cloth for about the same. All you need to do is cut out the middle of the lid and for added ventilation you can drill or cut additional holes along the side. Cover all of the holes you made that are large enough for a hamster to fit through with the mesh and secure it with screws, electrical ties, etc. You'll need something fairly tough to cut through the plastic without shattering it though. The best bedding you can buy is Carefresh, which is not dust free as someone claimed, no where near it actually. You're going to have to shake it out before putting it in, it's the best bedding out there for small animals, a little more pricey, but ridiculously dusty. You can buy the coloured variety, which is supposed to be better for dust, but the cost increases for it. For Carefresh you're looking at something like 5-20 dollars per bag, depending on how large or where you buy it. For a large syrian hamster you need at least an 8 inch wheel, if not larger. You want your hamster to be able to run on it without arching its back. The 8 inch wheels can be a bit tougher to find, I never see them at the larger pet stores near me, but I have a dwarf hamster so it doesn't really affect me. You also want to get a solid wheel, if you do get a metal one with the open rungs, you're going to need to alter it with some duct tape or something similar that's tough and cover the sticky parts with some bedding. Open metal wheels, even the mesh ones, can cause broke legs, toes, sores, etc. Wheels can be cheap, but you're looking at about 5-20 dollars for the average wheel, maybe more. For food you want a quality pelleted food as well as a seed mix. Hamsters are known for only picking what they like, so a seed mix is usually not preferred. It can be done, but it takes a few feedings every day. Basically for a syrian you place a tablespoon of food in the dish and only offer more when everything has been taken from the dish. You want a food that doesn't have any hidden sugar in the form of things like dried fruit, cane molasses, sugar, or corn syrup. Most of the common pet foods will have this, so you may want to buy a small bag of something until you can find a quality mix to feed your hamster. Food can be found cheap, from 2-10 dollars usually. The better quality food might be a bit more. Water bottles are in the same price range usually, a water bottle is preferred over a dish as they are known for flicking things in the water, toppling it over, etc. Toys are very easy for hamsters. Toilet paper rolls are probably the easiest and best toys you will find. Hamsters love to run through them, move them around, chew on them, shred them for nesting material, etc. You can get wood chews, but I find most hamsters won't touch them. They love places to hide, so houses you can find or make are essential. Most pet store toys are fairly expensive, usually around 1-15 dollars.
Ok you can buy a plastic cage with tubes so your hamster will have fun,you need to buy wood shavings for bedding.They our really loud at night and there is nothing you can do about it.And you can buy your hamster some wooden chewing blocks from the pet store and some hamster treats.And you also need to make sure you play with your hamster at least once a day. Altogether it will probably cost 50 or 60$ plus you need to buy hamster food mix too,and a water bottle. Hope I Helped!!
$50 is a good budget. On petco.com, and the petco stores, there is a S.A.M. brand cage for 19.99 that is a school bus style, so just look at it on petcos website, and then find it at your local petco. next, the hamster. Pick out the biggest, shiniest one in the cage. They are anywhere from 7.99 to 10.00 at petco. For bedding, DO NOT GET WOOD SHAVINGS. You can have the aspen bedding which looks like wood, or the fluffy bedding which tends to be more expensive. so bedding, about 5.00 to 8.00. The rest is for seed and treats. For treats, put in old toilet paper rolls and toilet paper shredded into small peices. Remember, they are ANIMALS so they dont care about the little cute toys and stuff because they can only see 4 inches in front of them. after a while get a ball, for outside of the cage. Hope this helped!!!! :0)
Ok so your budget is 50 lets See.................... Bedding:ECO FRIENDLY BEDDING 5-6$ Food:Mazuri Hamster & Gerbil Diet 4.49 Toys: Super Pet Nut Knot Nibbler 3.49 Super Pet Dazzle Run-About Ball 6.99 Thats for stuff so that add up to 19.97-20.97 you still have 30 dollors. Also for toys you can make a bunch with stuff you find in your home use a paper roll tube to make tunnels or a ramp. Use cloth for a hammock. Cage: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752727 3 story cage for 21 Ther eya go njoy your new hammie. =)
I'm so pleased for you that your mum said yes! Hamsters are so sweet. You can buy lots of different types of bedding for hamsters, basically though any of the bedding specially designed for hamsters should be ok. Buy the special mixed food made for hamsters to make sure they get a varied diet. They also love monkey nuts (the big ones with the shells) as they love having to crack open the shell to get the nuts out! Also it is very good for them to have a little bit of fresh fruit when you have some in the house. If you get a metal cage (and yes they are generally better than the plastic ones as they have better insulation) make sure the bars are horizontal not Vertical, so that they can climb up them. Very good exercise. Definitely have a hamster wheel as otherwise they get prone to boredom and getting fat. Try to get one that doesn't squeak! Also get a solid plastic one not a metal one. Hamsters also love Toilet rolls! So save your toilet rolls for them! They are loud at night but I loved the noise as they were my little babes playing :-) Oh also I wouldn't reccomend buying anything from Petsmart -