Hello and welcome to the July 2020 Cage Makeover! It’s about time Beanie had a deep clean, and this time I’m going to replace all the substrate! It’s at the stage where it feels like there’s more poop than substrate, if you know what I mean. I hope this post is entertaining and inspirational if you’re looking to make your hamster’s cage a little more interesting 🥳
I will be linking most if not all the DIYs’ Tutorials I use in this post at the very end!
- Step one is to remove everything. I like to take all the toys and accessories first, then Beanie usually comes out of her nest on her own while I’m removing the substrate.
- I removed all the old substrate, and cleaned the interior of the cage with my water/vinegar cleaner.
- A tip of mine is if there’s 6 inches of substrate all around the cage then it’ll be plenty, however you adjust it. I encourage you to add more!
Since all the substrate is new I’m only going to use toys Beanie has used, to make her feel safer 🙂
Beanie hasn’t been burrowing much lately, so I wanted to encourage burrowing by creating some underground nests for her with Pringle cans and houses. Beanie really enjoys having some burrow starters, and if your hamster isn’t burrowing I highly recommend trying this (then you can eat Pringles, too 😄).
I added the wheel, a sanitized rock, one of my two-tiered towers, a small bendy bridge and you might be able to see the little entryway of the buried igloo hut next to the tower.
Although I scatter feed Beanie she does enjoy sitting in and munching in a food bowl, so I put a largish bowl next to the bendy bridge.
I also added a few more hiding places and foraging toys for good measure.
After adding Beanie’s water bowl the cage looked like it was missing something, so I added a Navy Blue ceramicish flower pot. We are getting into summer, and I thought she could cool off in it if she wanted to.
Then I went nuts and sprinkled shredded tissue everywhere. No shortage of nesting material here!
And I’ll draw this makeover to a close with a good ol’ before/after.
Beanie now has lots of substrate for burrowing, and the cage has been jazzed up. Beanie is a happy hamster 🤩
I hope this post was entertaining, and gave you inspiration for your own hamster’s cage! If you’re interested in more hamster-related content be sure to like this post and follow the blog, and I’ll be back on Tuesday with more small pet care, DIYs, recipes, cage setups, stories and more, have a ham-tastic day!
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