carried the purchased hamster home in some small cardboard box or small cage, you should not immediately, upon arrival home, stubbornly “smoke out” the animal from this mini-house, to which he had just begun to get used to.

Some act completely soulless when they literally throw a hamster into a cage, turning over the box in which it is located. In this case, the hamster, as it were, forcibly enters the new conditions and already obviously treats them with distrust. It is better if you carefully turn the box on its side and put it directly into the new house (if it is an open box or aquarium) and let the animal crawl out of the "nest" into a larger room. If you are going to put the hamster in a cage, then hold the box to the open door and the hamster will soon crawl out “into the light” into a more comfortable dwelling for him. After that, you can remove the box, replacing it with another dark "shelter" (this will be discussed later).

In order for your hamster to quickly adapt to new conditions, you must prepare in advance everything that is necessary for him to live in a cage, and not produce “furniture furniture” when the hamster is already in a new place - all these “perturbations” in his presence can scare him. Therefore, it would be better if, even before the “settlement” of the hamster, you fill his new dwelling with sawdust, paper or hay, place various “hamster structures” there, put food and drink. In this case, the hamster will be very pleased.

Housing ready for life and filled with all sorts of things will certainly arouse his interest, and he will begin to “settle in” with might and main: build a crowbar from “improvised materials”, stuff his cheeks with food, etc.

Yes, do not forget that hamsters are completely independent, they will definitely put everything in its place in their new home, possibly radically changing the environment that you have created for them. Try not to change anything, leave everything as it is. And, if you want the hamster to quickly get used to his new home, leave him alone for a while, do not pick him up, do not pull him out of the house unnecessarily. It is desirable that you give him at least half a day or a few hours for adaptation.

Taming a hamster
Your hamster's adaptation will be even more successful if you are kind and gentle with your furry pet. In order for the hamster to quickly get used to your hands, you must accustom him to them. If you keep it in your hands all the time, squeeze it and perform similar “manual manipulations”, then the hamster is unlikely to like it. Rather, on the contrary, he will begin to hate you. This is especially true for small children, who usually, when they see a fluffy animal, do not let it out of their hands for a long time, squeezing it tightly in their palms, casually stroking it against the wool and making it move in the direction they need. Naturally, such treatment of the hamster will only hinder successful domestication.

However, careful handling and gentle strokes for taming may also not be enough. First of all, you must "convince" your hamster that it is your hands that will feed, water and hold him, and therefore, he should not be afraid and trust your gentle hands. Put some hamster yummy (seed, nut or dried fruit) in your palm and calmly (without sudden movements) bring it to the animal sitting in your house. It is possible that the hamster will get scared and run away to the side, and maybe bite you out of fear or for protection. Do not be afraid, do this procedure periodically, and the hamster will eventually get used to your hands and will not be afraid to take food from the palm of your hand. You must be patient, but also persistent in your desire to tame your hamster, so sooner or later curiosity will take over, and he will calmly react to your “intrusion” and approach your palm, recognizing it by smell.

So that the hamster is not afraid of human hands, you must ensure that young children are also careful in handling the hamster: do not squeeze him tightly, do not beat him, do not throw him into a cage from a height and do not force him to do something that the animal cannot and should not do by nature.

How to build a cage
Three-liter jars, cardboard boxes, an aquarium, and a cage designed for a parrot can serve as a home for a hamster. Another question: will a hamster be good in such a dwelling? Hardly. In addition, sooner or later you yourself will realize that you made a big mistake by placing your hamster "where you have to." Therefore, do not be stingy and get a special cage for your pet. This is a square or rectangular cage with a base of approximately 25x30 cm and a height of at least 25 cm.

A wooden cage is undoubtedly better for a hamster, after all, wood is a natural material. The floor of the cage should be plastic, and the bars should be metal and not thin (otherwise the hamster can easily gnaw through them or even crawl between them). The only drawback of a wooden cage is that a hamster can gnaw on the wooden walls of the cage, grinding its teeth, but this happens extremely rarely, especially if there are other items in the cage that will help the hamster to carry out this procedure.

In any case, a cage is always better than a box, a jar or a glass aquarium, because, unlike these types of "dwelling", a sufficient amount of oxygen enters the cage, and it is much easier to clean the cage: just take out the bottom and sweep the bars and walls with a dry brush. And clean up the cage you need it as often as possible - at least once every three days, because no matter how clean the hamsters are, they are living creatures.

Recently, a special type of housing for a hamster has appeared on sale, which consists of several plastic boxes connected by plastic pipes (such a house is an imitation of a real underground hole that hamsters build in nature). However, this type of “cage” has a number of shortcomings: in order to clean such a house, it takes a long time to disassemble it, and most importantly, an unpleasant smell lasts for a long time in such a house.

By the way, you can build a cage with your own hands. To do this, you need multi-layer plywood or wooden boards about 12–15 mm thick, which are mounted like a box. On the front side of such a box, you can install glass (it is better to use plexiglass - it is lighter, thinner and safer) or a mesh of rods. And the top of such a cage must certainly be open and protected by an impenetrable mesh or board with rods.

Behind the glass
Another type of dwelling suitable for hamsters is a glass aquarium, which is usually made of thin glass or plexiglass with a mesh top. These glass cages of different sizes and heights are ideal for all kinds of hamsters.

Glass aquariums have the appearance of a box with an open top. From above, it is covered with a special mesh of metal twigs or a wooden grate. In order for the aquarium to have a sufficient amount of air, special ventilation holes are drilled in its walls at a height of 10-15 cm from the floor. The height of the walls in them does not exceed the width of the base, so that the walls of the cage do not fog up and the cage is well ventilated.

Glass cages are good, first of all, because they are perfectly visible from all sides (after all, we still get hamsters in order to watch them); in addition, in such cages there is a sufficient amount of light and air, at the same time, hamsters are warm and comfortable in them, here they feel protected in the full sense of the word.

The most important condition: in a glass cage, the floor must be completely covered with a dense bedding of paper, sawdust, pieces of felt or hay so that the hamster is not cold.

Despite good ventilation, in a glass aquarium it is desirable to create climbing conditions for the hamster, thanks to which he could climb to different heights. For this, various wooden knots, plastic and wooden cubes, ladders attached to the walls are suitable.

In addition, it is very important that it is in such a cage, which is well lit from all sides, that the hamster has the opportunity to retire in a secluded dark corner. For this, a plastic house, and a wooden box with a manhole, or even several multi-tiered “mink” boxes, are suitable. It is not difficult to remove such a cage, especially if the walls in it are retractable.

However, while a wooden cage with metal bars is best dry-cleaned and only occasionally wet-cleaned, a glass cage always needs a thorough wet cleaning (to remove odor). The main thing is to wipe the walls of such a cell with a damp cloth without any addition of cleaning (chemical) agents, and then wipe it dry with another cloth and additionally dry it in the sun or not far from heating appliances.

The location of the cage or box
Do you think you bought a hamster, put it in a cage,