Lets Talk About Hamster Cages 🐹 

I’m seeing a few people who are still a bit confused, your hamster can still show boredom behaviours in a 600 sq inch cage, they can still show boredom behaviours in an 800 sq inch cage, this is one of the reasons some organizations don’t even believe hamsters should have been domesticated as we can’t provide nearly what a hamster needs in captivity. Many hamsters will still need and want their cage upgraded even if you consider it large, or you may need to reevaluate the type of enrichments you’re providing and if you’re providing enough. Another issue I see is people labeling their 500/600 sq inch enclosures as massive so their hamster shouldn’t be showing boredom behaviours but these enclosures shouldn’t be considered “massive” or “huge”, when these sizes are only slightly above many of the countries minimums.

I think that really large cages are not only better for the hamster but also look alot nicer too

i feel like you need to say this so many times because people aren’t listening. it’s like you’re a teacher instructing a loud class.

I had a hamster when i was 12 and realising he did all these things that aren't normal and/or related to stress it makes me so sad that i didnt know 😥

I really hope in the future small cages are banned everywhere

After working on this video for two days I originally wasn’t going to post it because lately I’ve been struggling with posting any type of videos without my brain going “No one’s gonna watch this, this is like all the other videos you’ve posted, they’re all gonna hate it” but I’m just gonna go against what I think because even if this is information I’ve repeated many times before it can help any new viewers/subscribers that haven’t seen those videos before. I also wanted a video where I’m not fixated on “450 SQ inches” because in all honesty I think that’s a small minimum and we should be working towards going for bigger (hence why I own cages that are larger than that).

I work at a pet store (we don’t sell animals - thank goodness), and I wanted to tell you that I give people your RU-vid channel ALL the time! When people ask questions about cages and I recommend things that we don’t sell they get so confused so I give them your channel to help them see WHY the cages we sell aren’t suitable for their hamsters. I just want you to know that you are fighting the good fight and I am SO happy that you are a resource for new pet parents to learn and improve!

i just got a new hamster. upon research on her behavior and watching your videos, i realized that her tank was causing her so much stress and i felt horrible. she was already in a critter carrier as her home before i adopted her so i felt even worse that i wasn’t much better. i’m upgrading her today to a 600 sq in tank instead ! i think she’ll be a lot happier. thank you for being kind with your advice !!

We basically re-arranged our whole dining room to allow for our cage to fit. And we don't regret it in the slightest.

Someone should really tell ikea they should build lids for detolfs and sell them as hamster cages

I'm so angry at people who consider hamsters as toys that can be stored in tiny boxes when they are not played with. Hamsters have their own lives too, you know? Every hamster owner should watch this video! It's very informative 💕

I am planning on getting a hamster and I wanted to do research before I get one and omggg this woman is a goddess she is seriously so helpful ❤️❤️❤️🤩🤩

For everyone watching this petco currently has their $1 a gallon sale going on at the moment.

IKEA makes better cages then pet smart and Ikeas “cages” aren’t even made for hamsters

I'm so sad that hamsters have so little caces and I'm really happy that you are telling people that that wrong.

When I got my little hammy (adopted her at 1 y-o from someone who didn't want her anymore and she was in a tiny little cage) she was so lethargic. I didn't know it at the time, I just thought it was her personality but now 6 months later in a huge tank she is a totaly different hamster she is so energetic and active ♥️ it makes me happy to see her have the life she deserves.

Hi Victoria!, ever since I have found your channel I switched from a tiny tales cage to a bin cage! You have helped me a lot with my hammy royale ! Lots of love xoxo- Adriana & royale

I'm helping this guy on discord, he just had his second hamster past in this horrible cage he has! (The first got lost, the second died as it got its teeth stuck in the bars). I'm going to help him find a new one! Even tho its difficult due to the fact I'm in England and hes in Mexico. However, i would never be able to do this if my hamster care was like his. You, Victoria, helped me! And so thank you for helping so now I can help others.

I really hope that more people understand that small cages are really really really bad to the hamster❤❤❤

Thank you soooo much Victoria! You helped me from having a tiny tale cage to a massive bin cage! I’ve had done no research when I was getting a hamster and then I found you... You improved my hamster care soo sooo much, I hope you see this comment and you that I am so thankful for finding you on the internet and for your help 😇🙏🏼🙏🏼

11:09 this is the cage I have right now for my hamster, and every night he chews in the bars. I change up the toys a lot and give him plenty of time to free roam in my room. We are switching to a large glass terrarium so I’ll see how that goes! I really don’t want Oreo to get hurt from chewing on those bars 💗🥺🐹 (P.S. i have the large one out of the small cage and large cage) EDIT: wow this is 2 years old, I got a 40 gallon tank and used that for awhile. I’m soon getting a paw hut large enclosure as I know 40 gallons doesn’t seem great!

Man I hate when people don’t buy the larger cages. They need more space.

Hi Tori, I just wanted to say tysm✨ u have got me to a point where I’m helping my best friend rn and telling her all about hamsters.. and without you yes YOU I wouldn’t have been able to come here. You’ve helped me sooo much with hamster care and I can’t stress enough how much ily❤️🐹

I absolutely love that she showed on the floor what size cage recommendations there were so I could really see. She goes above and beyond. I want to get a hamster and she helps so much. xx

Indonesia : Komunitas Pencinta Hamster Indonesia (KPHI) Standard 2000cm2 (dwarves) and 4000cm2 (Syrian) In case anyone from Indonesia are here :) We're always working towards bigger cage but baby steps :)

finally, am edjucational video abt hamster cages. i feel like so many people mistreat their hamsters and think they are just ‘throw away’ pets and it breaks my heart! thank you for doing what your doing your doing so much good for the hamster community 💗🐹

Rachel first off wanted to say I found your channel about 3 months ago and it has helped me so much. I used to have a hamster named Foxy and a few others before hand. At the time when I got my first ever hamster I was very young and we didn’t do much research about how to properly give them everything they need. But I am happy to say since I found your channel, all my future hamster I will make sure have the best I can give them. I plan on getting a much bigger cage, sand bath, plenty of bedding and lots more to make sure that they have the best life I can give them. I might would of known more earlier if more pet stores didn’t sell such small cages for hamsters. Thank you so much, your videos have already made so many more hamsters lives better. Keep up the fantastic work. ❤️

Once again another brillant video Victoria. Very informative and certainly not boring. Your channel is an absolute must for any owner of small pets.

Not to mention small cages are so expensive and hard to set up. Meanwhile large bin cages are super cheap and easy to set up.

People should know that they spent $50 on a tiny flimsy tiny tales cage when I spent $15 on a bigger bin cage I bought from ikea. Weird that my hammy shows no signs of borederm

When me and my sister went to pet smart we noticed a hamster that was eating the silicone (it was a SMALL fish tank) and we also noticed that the wheel was so small so my sister (I was too shy to ask) asked the pet smart employee to get a bigger wheel and immediately the hamster started to go on the wheel and stop earring the silicone.

That's a very very good video! I also heard of this study and I'm glad to have a 1550"² enclosure. I never knew the detailes of this study tough.

Got my daughter a hamster. Someone was getting rid of it. Came with what I thought was a nice $75 store cage. Also thought the thing was lazy. 🤣 Watched your videos. This poor hamster was living in maybe 50 sq inches. I've only owned him for a week and he has moved up to 640 sq inches. He also is exploring and not just sleeping. Gave him some enrichment with tubes. Going to make him a sand bath and get bigger wheel. Gave it about 8 inches of deep bedding as well. Thanks for the advice and teaching me how to make the hamster happy.

I feel like the reason your hamster live to be so old is because you give them proper cages and care❤

I’ve learned so much through your videos! I had a hamster as a kid and we knew nothing. Surprisingly she lived 4 years. But now as an adult we got a hamster and learned so much with you to properly care for them! Going to def upgrade her cage. Thanks!

i feel like Victoria deserves way more hype because her hamster care is AMAZING!!!! and that way if she was more famous more people could know how to take care of their hamster right.

My parents think hamsters are small animals and don't need big cages, thankfully I saved enough money to buy a bin cage. My parents also used Wood bedding I'm not sure what it was called. I bought him some paper clean and cozy and he's happy.

My hamster jumped off his cage the cage is near my bed when i woke up its in my hair sleeping with me

i’m planning on getting and hamster so i’m literally watching all ur videos right now and omg so helpful 💕💕 subscribed !!

I just want to take a moment to say thank you.❤ A few days ago I stumbled upon this video and I realized that the bad hamster cages that you certainly should NOT use for your hamster is one that I housed my hamster in a few years back. They sadly passed away but that's a different topic. I've been wanting a hamster for so long after my last hamster which I got a few months after my first hamster that died which I was talking about (I know that's a confusing sentence lol), but I haven't been able to build up the courage to get another one because my second hamster (his name was Oreo) passed away 2 weeks after I got him. I now know that he probably was diseased because I got him from the pet store (I will no longer be buying from these stores and I want you to know that you helped me) This video put everything that my hamsters were doing into perspective (bar chewing, climbing the bars, becoming less active, et.) and I want to tell you how grateful I am for you being on youtube. Since I watched this video, I've been watching all your hamster care videos and I've spent hours writing it all down. I've looked at all the websites you've recommended and I've searched for better cages, better food, better hideouts, everything. I had no idea that I've been treating my hamsters so poorly and I'm now on track to get a hamster that will (hopefully) live an amazing life and you should know that that's because of you. ❤💕

I upgraded my hamster from a 350sq inch cage to a home made 750sq inch cage and she was so much happier this made me so much happier too because seeing her stressed was really upsetting

i love how you dont spend 23 hours talking about why we should subscribe and like, and you get in straight into the video. AND the video is very informative and fun to watch. Thanks!

I recently took your advice and updated my hamsters cage to 750sq inches of floor space. He is so much less bored and so much more active. Thanks for the advice.

Girl, you inspired me a lot. My robo cage was switched from a 54 sq inches wire cage to a DIY 930 sq inches enclosure. He seems to be happy now, I don’t know but I did my best to give him a better life at least when living in my home. Once again, thank you so much. Keep giving the community more awareness

This is super useful for anyone who doesn't know much about much about cages. Thank you for this 😊

The 7 people who disliked had their phones upside down.

Thanks for the cage info!! My hamster lived in a tiny tales cage and now she lives in a 600 sq inches bin cage. Thank you! 😊

I just wanted to say thank you for showing me and my mom the right way to care for a hamster. At first my mom didnt think that they needed that much space but I told her that Im not getting a hamster if it doesnt have at least a 40 gallon tank but she knew how much i wanted a hamster so we ended up putting my hamster in a 30 gallon tank because my pet store sucks and doesnt have tanks bigger than that which i thought was dumb but that was just temporary and we are working on upgrading to a bincage now with more things to play with, herbs, bigger sand bath etc. Anyways my mom now knows how important my hamster, pablo's care is and I'm happy about it so thank you again. ❤

It’s incredibly sad how an improper cage can affect hamsters for life. I rescued my dwarf hamster from a tiny barred cage without any way to burrow, no food except sunflower seeds, no wheel, no chews, no enrichment at all. She now has an enclosure a little larger than two square meters. 3450 square inches. (The ikea pax). She became aggressive with her first owners and still is extremely territorial. She always attacks anything that comes into the cage and can’t be touched. She has a German setup and still shows signs of stress if I don’t change it often enough.

I would be glad if I turned out to be a hamster of Victoria Raechel in my next life if I die.

Awesome video, very informative :D You did miss a point that I think tends to put people off about larger cages, which is how you clean them. Most people with small cages get nervous about the idea of cleaning a large, immovable cage (as opposed to just dumping out a whole crittertrail into a trash bag). They don't realize how easy it is, and how much less often you have to do it.

I just got a hamster today! He is the cutest thing ever. Yesterday night I went to get some cat supplies and I looked in the pet shop window and there he was! He actually turned around and yawned at me! I thought about out him all night and in the morning I went to get him. I also got a 75 gallon tank for him and he seems very happy. We named him Mochi. Thank you so much for your videos I have learned so much from them!

Sadly, my poor baby boy passed 🥺 he was a drawf hamster and he was the best. He was the cutest when he escaped, he was the fluffiest little boy ever. He is now playing in heaven with his sissy melody (they lived in different cages and never were together) and I hope my bubs is having fun with his sissy and running on many wheels up there ❤️

This video was perfect timing! I was just measuring my room for the cage upgrade I wanted to do. My female Syrian is a bin cage around 600sq in and still shows signs of stress, but soon she’ll be in a cage over 1,400 sq in and I’m very excited!

Hey Victoria! I’ve been using your channel as a huge influence and inspiration for my love of hamsters, and today, I made a deal with my mom. If I stay true to that deal she will let me have a hamster! Thank you so so much for everything, your information, your down to earth channel, and your adorable hamsters!!! 🐹

Honestly so grateful that you mentioned South Africa in this video. I’m trying to find a good size cage for my Russian Dwarf hamster and I cannot be more thankful for this

Am I the only one that gets excited when she posts a video, and scroll through her video page to see what videos i haven't watched😅😅😅

Hi! My name is Alec. I am 11 years old and I wanted to appreciate you for whatever you have done to help all of us in our doubts and troubles. Everything I wanted to know about hamsters, you gave me all the info, keep it up and thank you sooo much! I too have a RU-vid channel “ Alec’s channel” but I do safari videos and cooking videos.

i have a winter white, just got him today, and i got just a standard cage from the pet store to keep him in for the time being before we get him a proper cage which will be soon. ever since we brought him home, he’s been climbing the wiring on the cage and falling asleep and i just thought he was finding a comfortable spot. thank you for making this video!! will definitely be fixing his home

Thank you for this video. I have been doing research on what they need and have had trouble finding what size is recommended for a hamster and this video helped.

Me: Yessssss! Thank you, Victoria! Without you, my hamster wouldn’t be happy! But he is because you helped me!

this was perfect timing because i am currently looking for bins i can use for my next hamster! and dont worry tori, i will always watch your videos 😇

Thank you. It’s not boring, it is informative. I’m not a hamster parent. They belong to my bro daughters. Just nanny the baby while the family are away on holiday. Your channel has honestly open my eyes. I even visited a hamster speciality shop recently so as to understand more on how to take proper care. Wanted to upgrade the enclosure but the shop want me to bring the girls down so they can be taught on how to properly take care and ensure a good life for the hamster. Thanks again.. 😀 from Singapore 🇸🇬

The dislikes are from the workers at habitrail

hey victoria! i was just watching your vids and it made me early to this one :) i just wanted to say that you have helped me so much with my hamster care journey, thanks to you i made a lovely natural cage and perfected all my mistakes! my current cage is a bin with a mesh top and it measures 762 square inches of floor space 😁💕💕

Finally, after having problems with my payment method, i finally solve it and manage to purchase membership again hehe, I miss this derpy emoji

I remember when I used to watch you when I was younger. Your content made me so happy when I was a kid.

This is crazy! People treat there hamsters like trash. It makes me want to 😭 cry

I love how much effort Victoria puts into her videos. The amount of research and planning really shows within every video she posts. She just really makes my day and I'm so thankful she does this for all of us hamster owners :)

Victoria : hamsters need large cage Me : ok why should I pay for a cage when I have a room for her

I wanted to buy a hamster today at petco but something told me to go do research on it before purchasing it and I’m so happy I came across your page, all your videos are so helpful!!!

I hate small cages SO much. When I first got my hammy, I got a critter trails house cage. I noticed he was biting on the bars and decided to upgrade to a 605 square inch bin cage and he loves it so much. Your videos have helped me so much on my hamster care journey.

My parents refuse to let me get a bigger bin with the excuse of “you alrdy got the biggest bin,there’s nothing bigger,” but they won’t even let me properly go out and look, I really feel so bad for my poor hammy, her bin is basically a bit bigger than the standard storage bin and she always tired to escape. I love my baby and I want her to have the best life but I’m so mad that I can’t. Edit: her floor space is around the bare minimum but I want her to have a full life

Not even 10 minutes old yet someone has already disliked. Lemme guess, petsmart? Edit: HA you thought this was gonna be the amount of likes I got?

My baby passed away last Saturday, but I'm still watching videos on Hamsters Proper Care as I still think I could have made her life better... She lived for over 2,5 years but I wish she would have lived more. When I bought her from the pet store I had no idea the cages they sold there were improper, but I realized really soon once she started biting the cage as crazy. I then set up a cage in my bookcase in my living room and it was definitely an improvement as it was about twice the pet store cage size, but she would still show signs of stress as she kept biting the wire once she got used to the new cage. I would then spend more time with her outside the cage and I realized it was less stressful for her if instead of putting her food in a bowl, I would spread it in the cage so she could gather it and walk around the cage. When she was about 1,5 years old my dad found a piece of old cabinet-like furniture in the streets and then we built a new cage from this. It was about 4 times bigger than the one I set up in the bookcase. And she would still bite the wires once she got used to it. But I realized that this time, biting the wire was her way of calling us because she would only bite it once she heard our voices, otherwise, she would mind her own stuff inside the new cage, which we called "Kimi's Mansion" (Kimi was her name). The last few months have been really cold here in Brazil, so we would put a hot bottle of water right behind her cage's nest spot on the outside so she wouldn't get too cold. This past week she seemed fine. But 2 days before she died she started acting a bit weird and I didn't realize it on time. She wouldn't gather all the food I put inside the cage, which she always did, even if she already had lots of food she would still gather any I gave her, but those 2 days she didn't, she only grabbed some part of it. And she also wouldn't bury herself in her nest, even though it was cold, she would sleep on top of it. Saturday morning I noticed she was walking curved and drowsily in a way she didn't use to do and her eyes were really runny, then I decided to take her to the vet, but it was already 4:00 PM when we got there and when the vet attended us the vet told us she was already dead even though she was moving the whole way there. I had searched a lot about runny eyes before as that wasn't the first time her eyes were runny, but I only found articles stating that this was a normal thing for an old hamster or maybe simply allergies from the bedding. Only after her death, I found an article stating that runny eyes were a sign of pneumonia. Especially if the eyes have rheum, which was her case the past 2 days prior to her death. If I knew back then that runny eyes with rheum were a sign of pneumonia I would have taken her to the vet way sooner and maybe she would still be alive by now... I miss her so much. I still have an alarm to remind me it's time to take her from the cage to play, but she is not there anymore... What makes me happy is being aware of the fact she would probably not get better treatment from other people. at least those are the odds since most people in Brazil and even in the world are not educated on hamster proper care and my girlfriend and I did our best with the resources and knowledge we had.

Thank you so much for the information you have provided throughout the time of your channel. It has been instrumental for my family.

I love how you make vids to help us I’m getting a hamster 🐹 soon and I wanted to know how to take good care of it I’ve watched your vids for a long time and your my idol 😊

Here is one tip for transitioning your hamster into a suitable cage. Since my hamster started out in a Habitrail, and it was super small, when I transitioned to my 800 sq in aquarium, to avoid stress I simply took the lid off of the Habitrail, and actually placed the old cage inside of the new one. This worked well for me because when she was used to her new one, I just took the old cage out. Hope this helps someone!

I have 2 guinea pigs, and it’s kind of funny to me that hamsters need more than or the same amount of space as they do. It really goes to show that an animal’s size has nothing to do with how much space it needs. Guinea pigs need a lot of space, but it seems that hamsters need even more to be really happy, but they’re much smaller! (My guinea pigs’ cage is made of these cnc grids that you use to make storage cubes. It’s 4 grids by 2 grids; a pretty common cnc cage size for 2 piggies. Just if anyone’s curious.)

i got my hammy a new cage about 2 months ago, it’s over 800 square inches. originally i had a large trixie wheel but after noticing my hamster monkey baring i realised the wheel wasn’t spinning well and replaced it with an orange sugar glider. he absolutely loves it and it and is always using it just goes to show how important some of these things really are!!

That one dislike is petsmart or petco

My first hamster used to love to travel - he always knew when we were going to spend the weekend at my nans as he would always come to the front of the cage whenever I said 'we're going to nannys'! This was the only other place, apart from the vets where i would take him, but as he got older, i usually stayed at home with him. but, because the vets is closer to my nan's house, we stayed at my nans cause it was easier to get to the vets if there was an emergency. And he passed away in my arms at my nans, so the whole family was there to say goodbye, and it also meant that I wasn't alone when he passed. He was the most loving hamster I had ever met and everyone loved him, especially my cat, who would always sit and sleep near him or on his cage and she never tried to hurt him and she never left my side when he was taking his last few breaths in my arms. R.I.P. Snowy ❤❤❤❤❤

My detolf is actually a centerpiece in my living room, its completely natural and Ive even built a raised lid for it! it's a tiny piece of nature in my home and I cant imagine anything smaller. 💕

Tori I would have never known about Large hamster enclosures without you! You are probably the best hamster owner in the world! You are like a walking talking hamster encyclopedia. Ha ha! Anyway I love you so plus your pets of course! Keep up the good work

Thank you so much for this video! I will be buying my hamster a large cage now! Because I see how happy they are with a large cage! My hamster is in a small cage right now and she is always chewing on the bars but now I know she’s not happy and i want her to feel happy

thank you! I got a hamster about 2 days ago and this helped me go from a tiny tales cage to a bin cage in under 2 days. I'm also considering adding to it and giving him 2 separate bins that are attached by tubes. I really appreciate this and i want my hammy to live a happy life

You have inspired me so much. My female roborovski used to live in a 10 gallon tank with a 6.5 inch wheel, few chew toys, 1 hideout and 2 inches of cedar bedding. Now, she has the savic hamster heaven, a 12 inch wodent wheel, 10+ chew toys 6 hideouts and 6 inches of carefresh bedding. Thank you for teaching me so much.

This video bizarrely randomly popped up last week & i watched it & i have already upgraded my hamster to a massive 100cm wide x 85cm depth x 60cm height cage with 2 floors, It takes up a lot of space, I've spent over £150 on loads of climbing frames & bridges with lots lf fun things. She absolutely loves it!! Plus its essential to hold them & give them plenty of love & interaction everyday x

i got my hamster last week, buying the biggest cage in the pet shop (375 sq inch) then i watched yours vids and saw that my cage was too small so i bought a 560 sq inch cage and my hamster is loving it! tysmm

I was looking for this type of video. Thanks for uploading a video like this, cause I wanted my own hamster and my mom told me to do research

I remember watching your hamster videos before my hamster that I told you about like 6 months ago when I asked about hamster cage sizes, you will play a special place in my family history

I got my first hamstera couple years ago and tbh when my parents said I could get one the first thing that came to mind was getting one of those cute colorful cages from the pet store. I had had rats before and I knew they required a lot of space and a lot of enrichment because they are so active and intelligent. I didn’t realize that hamsters where the same, I thought they were a low maintenance animals that sleeps all day. I was so lucky I found tour channel or my poor hammy would have suffered. :( It’s great that you are putting correct information out there and you are doing a good job! I love your educational videos because I always learn so much

I just upgraded my cage, I used to have a 450 square inch cage, but then I just bought a new bin cage! It’s around 900 square inches! I really want my hamster to be happy, you have helped me SO much with my hamster care!

I’ve been watching your videos for a year now and the entire time I have been begging my parents for a hamster, today they finally agreed and I’m getting one in a month! I’m so happy and will continue to watch your videos to make sure my hamster lives the best life!🐹🤍

Thank you for mentioning HSS, I've been searching for the size of cage :) I was recommended to watch your videos :D

Every time me and my dad walk by or go into a forest, I always ask him: "is there a hamster living here"? Lol

I just wanna say I appreciate how long it must have took you to mark out those cage sizes in tape😅

This is absoloutely great. So many more critters will be happy because of you : ) funny: It seems that countries' minimum size for hamster cages seems to correspond with how humane they are regarding health insurance and other human minimums ie. Germany vs US. ; P

This video will soon have half a million views. That's half a million potential pet owners that you've educated to see the world from their pet's perspective. You're doing amazing work. Soon your standards will be widely accepted, & people will be working hard to build even bigger living spaces for the animals they love. Life in a cage is stressful for any animals that have developed over thousands & millions of years to live in the wild. We need to do the very best we can for our animal companions.

Title should’ve been: Let’s talk about hamster cages....again