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The following kinds of houses for hamsters will be discussed on this page :
A house or a burrow (of any kind) is essential for your hamster. They need a place to hide and sleep
during the day, where they feel absolute secure. Therefor i advice all people in general, NOT to disturb
their hamster by opening or lifting up the house, when the hamster is asleep. Don´t show to him, that
the house is insecure. Your hamster is in need of a place of privacy and security - respect the privacy of
your hamsters house !
The fact, that cage-manufacturer are delivering their cages with a house does not guarantee that this house
is suitable for your hamster. Esp. those small plastic-houses with a removable roof and two little holes at
the front side are much too small for a full-grown syrian hamster.
I´d asked 25 employees in petshops here in Hamburg, which house will be best for my new hamster. Well,
the answers are in general "disastrous". Only a few people seemed to know what they´re talking about.
So do your hamster a favour and do not follow advices of petshop-employees. There are responsible petshops,
for sure. But the problem is, as long as you are new to hamsters, you can´t tell whether their advices
are good or not and if you know enough about hamsters, you don´t need their advices anymore.
I wish to thank Mr. Mann (Karlie GmbH, marketing devision) for providing pictures of their
products. Although all of my hamsters are proud owners of wooden houses made by Karlie, it would have been
much of work to make all the pictures shown here on my own.
Plastic houses
Houses made of plastic are not "first choice". Most of them are much too small for full-grown syrian
hamsters. The products of ferplast, delivered with their cages,
are not suitable for syrian hamsters, cause they´re too small and two little holes at the front-side
are not enough to guarantee any air-circulation inside.
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Standard plastic-house, ferplast
Two holes at the front-side, removable roof
When i got my first hamster, i didn´t spend any idea on the house. But after a few weeks i´ve
recognized, that each time i cleaned the cage and the house, the roof and the wall where my hamster used to
sleep, was wet.
After replacing this one with a wooden house, i never again recognized any wet nesting material.
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Standard plastic-house, brand/manufacturer unknown
Removable roof
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Wooden houses
Why wood ? Cause it is a natural product, so your hamster can chew it up if he want and the used air can
transpire through the walls. Wood has its own natural scent, which your hamster will be more familiar with than the
annoying scent of plastic and a wooden house will get your hamsters scent over the time, so his feelings of being in
his own secure place will grow.
Wooden houses should be made of natural, unpainted and unprocessed wood. This way you can guarantee, that
the house does not carry any poisonous substances into your hamsters cage. Till now i do not know any
other products than the "Vitakraft" and "Karlie" wooden accessories for hamsters ("Vitakraft" is selling the
"Karlie"-products under the "Vitakraft"-brand, they are identical).
If you know any wooden products for hamsters not listed below or in the Accessory-section, please contact me.
Warning: Do not use a wooden house with a bottom! Although your hamster is using a pee-corner or a
hammy-toilet, they DO sometimes urinate inside their houses. And it is near impossible to get the
urine-scent out of soiled, unpainted wood.
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- unpainted and unprocessed wood
- small spaces (<1mm) between the pieces not filled (for air-circulation)
- bottomless
- available in two sizes
The bigger one is suitable for a single syrian and for dwarf-families. The smaller one is for
dwarfs only (not more than two dwarfs).
The roof is also easy to climb and one of my hamsters preferred place.
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 (Karlie 84004)
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 (Karlie 84006)
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- unpainted and unprocessed wood
- small spaces (<1mm) between the pieces not filled (for air-circulation)
- bottomless
- available in two sizes
The bigger one is for syrians only, suitable for a nursing mom or a single syrian. The smaller one
is suitable for a single syrian and for dwarfs.
My hamsters loves to sit on top of this kind of house, eating, cleaning themselves or simply watching
around (see MH Silver doing this).
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- unpainted and unprocessed wood
- bottomless
Suitable for dwarfs and syrians, but too small for a nursing syrian mom.
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 (Karlie 84001)
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 (Karlie 84085)
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- unpainted and unprocessed wood
- bottomless
Suitable for dwarfs only (single or family).
I´ll never understand, why they put the little bell there....
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- unpainted and unprocessed wood
- bottomless
This house is really big, too big for dwarfs to feel secure. It is ideal for syrians. Providing an additional
ladder to the roof, this will be a preferred place for your hamster.
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 (Karlie 84003)
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(Pictures courtesy of Karlie GmbH)
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Selfmade houses, wood
(coming soon)
Selfmade houses, cardboard
(coming soon)
Selfmade houses, recycling
A "Friend in hamsters", David G. Imber, wellknown on several Hamster-mailing-lists and on alt.pets.hamsters,
used to make the houses for his hamsters out of empty milk- and juice-cans. If you clean this cardboard-cans
thoroughly after emptying them, you can easily cut a few holes and a new, individual,
creative and CHEAP hamster-house is ready for your hamster to move in.
Look at the pictures to get an idea, how this houses could look like.
(c) Kay Michaelsen 2002
