The question of how to make a house for a hamster with your own hands at home is faced by the owner even before purchasing the animal. His decision depends on the size of the animal. The Dzungarians need a house less than the Syrians. This matter should not be put off until a later date, since the animal needs shelter in the first minutes of being in a new place. If time is running out, make a temporary shelter out of paper or cardboard.
What can you make a hamster house from?
The purpose of the house is to shelter the kids from prying eyes. The manufacturing material must be non-toxic, since the hamster will definitely taste it. The house will have to be cleaned; the animal should feel comfortable in it. The animal itself will show how it feels in it, having settled in a new nest.
Craftsmen make houses from cardboard and paper. Adapted for this: coconut shells, ready-made boxes, wooden planks and slats, plywood, toilet paper rollers and even popsicle sticks.
Housewarming: introducing your pet to its new home
A hamster, like any other pet, needs time to adapt to a new home and owner.
A newly acquired hamster, being in a state of stress, is afraid of everything. It will take him at least a week to gradually get used to the new house. During mastering, it is better not to disturb the baby. Once he gets comfortable, he begins to actively mark his territory, so you shouldn’t change the bedding at first.
Hamsters are inquisitive by nature, so sooner or later, if the baby does not feel danger, he will show interest in exploring the house and will definitely examine it.
It is important to toilet train young animals immediately. They themselves will designate a convenient place for it. By carefully observing the behavior of a new settler who has settled in, you can correct mistakes in the equipment of his house by making some rearrangements or improvements to suit his taste.
For example, when the playing wheel is poorly secured and makes sharp sounds when moving, the hamster gets scared and does not play in it. After strengthening, lubricating the axis of rotation or replacing it with a less noisy option, your furry friend will happily run and tumble.
Paper house for Djungarian hamster
This temporary house will not last long. Some animals deal with it in one night. Its advantages: minimal costs and fast production. For this design you will need: toilet paper, a bowl of water and a balloon.
The procedure is as follows:
- inflate the balloon to the size of a large apple;
- Divide the toilet paper into separate sheets and moisten with water;
- stick the sheets onto the ball until about 8 layers are formed on it;
- send the structure to dry on the battery;
- pierce the ball with a needle or simply deflate;
- remove the balloon from the paper frame;
- Make an entrance for the hamster in the paper frame.
The room will resemble a hemisphere. This house is suitable for a dwarf hamster. It is short-lived and fragile.
The need to create a cozy environment for the hamster
Despite the fact that a hamster really looks like a fluffy toy, in fact it is a very fragile creature that needs careful treatment and care.
With a sedentary lifestyle, Djungarians are prone to obesity. That is why pet stores offer a wide range of different accessories that make animals move more. These are various labyrinths, tunnels, stairs, swings, running wheels. However, you can also make all sorts of things for hamsters from cardboard with your own hands.
Most often, DIY hamster crafts are made for 2 purposes:
- stimulating animal activity;
- search for treats.
The dimensions of the crafts must match the animal so that it can move freely without getting stuck between the structural elements.
Examples of ready-made cardboard crafts
Options for ready-made homemade products will help you choose an interesting idea of what can be made from cardboard for a hamster, how to decorate your pet’s home in an interesting way, design toys and objects that encourage the hamster to be active.
a maze for a hamster made of cardboard with built-in ladders, tunnels, and slides.
Running wheel made of corrugated cardboard.
A two-story cardboard house for a hamster, made using decorative paper.
Balls made from cardboard tubes with treats inside.
Tunnels made of bushings with slots for active crawling and searching for food.
A small cardboard house that looks like a real one.
Cardboard furniture.
Coconut shell hamster house
This design is more durable than the previous version. Despite the apparent simplicity of production, you will have to tinker with it for several hours, scraping the pulp out of the fruit. The dwelling turns out to be quite small, so it will serve as a shelter for the Djungarian hamster. Select a coconut and get to work:
You can stop there, but the home will turn out to be unstable and will roll around the cage. To avoid this, install the coconut house with the cut hole down.
On one side, draw a small arch and cut it along the contour. Sand the edges. This will be the entrance to the house. Drill holes for ventilation. If desired, you can make decorative windows on the side.
Possible problems and ways to solve them
Hamster doesn't sleep in the house
Reasons why a hamster does not sleep in the house:
- the material or bedding causes allergies or is unpleasant for the pet;
- the animal did not understand the purpose (to eliminate the problem in this case, you can put an object with an already familiar smell in the house);
- the pet uses it to store food;
- the entrance to the house is inconvenient;
- the animal feels unsafe in it (transparent walls, large holes);
- no ventilation;
- closely;
- doesn’t want to (in this case you just need to give him time to get used to it).
Hamster goes to the toilet in the house
Hamsters are very clean, but sometimes they start using their sleeping place to relieve themselves.
Ways to combat this habit:
- You can purchase a litter tray and accustom your pet to it from the first days of its arrival at home.
- Place the house in the cage on the tier above. The animal will intuitively go downstairs to the toilet.
- Place wet litter from the home in another corner, thereby showing that it will be more hygienic.
Assembling a hamster house with your own hands is much more interesting than buying it in a store. The main thing is a little patience and a bit of imagination. The pet will be very happy. And the original home will delight the breeder with its appearance.
Wooden house for a hamster
Depending on the size, such housing can be made for both the Syrian hamster and its dwarf counterparts. The simplest design is made in the shape of a box with a removable roof, ventilation holes and an entrance for the animal. To start work, you need to prepare a sheet of plywood or a wooden board 1-4 cm thick. Plywood is more convenient. It is cheaper, easier to handle, and the hamster will not chew it so quickly. Hardwood is suitable for manufacturing.
Make markings on the prepared sheets. If the house is intended for a small hamster, the length of the front and back walls is 15 cm, with a height of 10 cm. The side walls are 10x10 cm. The lower part of the structure remains open, and for the top we put it on sheets of 17x12 cm. This is necessary so that the roof does not fall inward boxes. On the front surface it is necessary to cut out an entrance and a window, which will serve as additional ventilation. To make it easier to fasten sheets of plywood, you can nail narrow slats at the joints. To work you will need:
Each plywood part must be filed and cleaned with sandpaper. The hole for entry and ventilation is also treated with sandpaper.
First, we assemble the walls, nailing them or fastening them with screws. We place the roof on top without fixing it to the frame for ease of cleaning the room.
If it is difficult to calculate the design parameters for your animal, take a cardboard box of the required dimensions. Measure its parameters and mark the length and width you need on the plywood.
Rules for arranging a home for a hamster
For large breeds of hamsters, carefully choose a cage so that the holes in it correspond to the size of the animal, otherwise it risks getting stuck in them.
Simple tips for creating a cozy place for your hamster inside the cage:
- Napkins or torn paper can serve as a house, from which the pet will make a nest for itself.
- Pieces of non-woolen fabric are placed in the house.
- You can buy ready-made nesting material for rodents.
- Periodically it is necessary to clean the hamster's house, and at the same time clear it of old food supplies.
Your pet feels more comfortable having a secluded place where they can retire.
Hamster house out of a box
Using the same principle as a wooden house, you can make a house out of a box.
To do this, we will prepare a “pattern” from cardboard. We connect the walls with glue that is harmless to the animal, and cut out the entrance and windows with a stationery knife or scissors.
You can go the very simple route by using a tissue box.
Be sure to remove the plastic film from the box!
These boxes are convenient because they already have ready-made holes; they will serve as an entrance for the hamster. If you have a square box, you can simply cut it in two so that the cut line goes right down the middle of the napkin dispenser window. You will receive 2 identical houses for small animals. If the box is rectangular, you will have to make two cuts so that the future house has compact dimensions and stands stably in the cage.
Take the cardboard tube left over from the toilet paper and insert it into the opening of the box. Attach it to the edges of the hole with glue, secure it and let it dry. You have a house with a tunnel entrance.
How to equip a cage yourself
Home accessories
A rodent cage must have:
- house;
- running wheel;
- ladder;
- drinking bowls;
- feeder;
- toys.
All accessories for a hamster can be easily found at any pet store.
Educational toys for hamster
Hamsters are very energetic and therefore require additional ways to spend their time, namely rodent toys.
There are several types of toys. Some are suitable for grinding teeth, others can be climbed on and played hide and seek, and others can be chased around the entire cage, as if playing football.
Some breeders build entire play areas for their pets.
The video shows an excellent example of a DIY hamster maze.
Drinking and eating facilities
For drinking water, it is better to use special drinking bowls that are attached to the wall of the cage. The saucer may not be stable and litter will fall into it.
Some feeders are also hung on the wall of the home, so that pets will not knock them over. If the breeder prefers a bowl that is not attached, then it is better to choose a ceramic one, it is more stable.
Toilet
Pet stores sell special toilet corners that are mounted in the corner of the cage. A corn filler is suitable for them, which does an excellent job of eliminating unpleasant odors.
To train a hamster to use the toilet, simply place it in the corner that the pet has chosen to relieve itself.
Sand bath
Animals use sand to keep their fur and paws clean.
A sand bath is not a necessary item in the cage, but the rodent will be happy to have it.
You cannot use sand from the street. You can use this product for chinchillas, the main condition is the absence of talc.
Any container is suitable for this purpose; the filler layer should be 2-3 cm.
Hamster bedding
It is very important to use quality bedding. The hamster will dig around in it and relieve itself. Most often, breeders use sawdust, which is poured in a layer of 6 cm.
ATTENTION! Do not use pine and cedar sawdust, they can make your pet sick.
Very simple houses made from toilet paper tubes
It may be difficult to call this structure a dwelling in the general sense of the word, but they are suitable as shelters for animals. They are non-toxic, hidden from view and well ventilated.
For homemade tube houses, not only toilet paper is suitable, but also paper towels. Take the tube and flatten it. Using scissors, cut a semicircle on each side. Do the same operation with the second tube. Insert one tube into the hole of the other. This cross-shaped structure is suitable for dwarf hamsters.
Sand for bathing
Degus need to regularly take sand baths to cleanse their fur of sebum and to get rid of excess moisture. Any container can be used. It is recommended to place a bathing suit in the cage every day, but you can reduce the number of such baths to two or three per week. The container should not be kept in the enclosure all the time, because it will quickly fill with garbage, and the degus will use it as a toilet.
We suggest you familiarize yourself with: Automatic drinkers, nipple drinkers for chickens
Ordinary sand is not suitable for these animals. It is too rough for them and can damage their delicate skin. Therefore, you should purchase a special mixture for bathing chinchillas at a pet store.
Shelter for animals made from plastic bottles
Such houses can be made for small and large hamsters. It all depends on the size of the bottle. There are many options for housing design, we will consider 2.
A simple one-bottle shelter option
To build a house, let's take a bottle that fits the width of the bottom for the animal. The lower part of the dish will be a shelter for the hamster. We cut off this part of the bottle, turn it over with the cut side down and make a semicircular entrance. Using a hot knitting needle, we pierce holes for air exchange around the perimeter of the house. We cover the cut edges of the bottle and the entrance with electrical tape so that the hamster does not get injured from the sharp edges. You can not cut out the entrance, but put a piece of the bottle on its side, and its cut will serve as the entrance. The container should be dark so that the animal feels protected.
House of two bottles
Using two bottles you can make a slightly more complex design.
Both containers are processed the same way. We cut off the bottom and neck of them. We wrap the edges first with electrical tape. In the middle of the first bottle we make a hole the same size as the second one. We do this using a stationery knife. First we make a cross-shaped cut, then bend the edges, being careful not to pull too hard. The plastic is very fragile and can crack. Insert scissors and cut a hole. Apply electrical tape to the circle. For a tighter fit, we flatten the edges of the bottle that we will insert into the hole and cut off the top and bottom edges diagonally. Wrap the edge with electrical tape. We insert the bottle into the first one. If the edges fit tightly enough, we tie the two bottles together with electrical tape.
Peculiarities
Hamsters in the wild prefer to settle in small shelters (nests), choosing for this purpose recesses, burrows and hollows. They provide the animals with the necessary thermoregulation, comfort and safety. As for domestic animals, the arrangement of their housing depends entirely on the care of the owners, who usually purchase a compact house for the hamster and complement it with various accessories for “walks” and games.
Since hamsters are rodents, it is advisable to choose wooden or plastic cages with an entrance and a removable lid as housing for them.
In addition, the house must be spacious, since animals love to hide their food supplies. The main requirements for the operation of a hamster’s home include safety, so the structure in which it is planned to keep the fluffy must be stable and not have sharp corners at the edges.
Photo examples of interesting homemade products
By making a shelter for rodents yourself, you can make all your fantasies come true. The main thing is to remember that the animal should be comfortable in its home.
A paper house requires minimal investment.
A wooden house will last a long time.
A house made from plastic containers is very convenient.
