My First Ever Bin Cage

Top view of Steven’s first, 100 qt bin cage

Sept 24, 2020:

I knew I needed something better for my hams.

By mid to late September I had had Steven for almost two months. For most of his life with us he had been in a Kaytee Crittertrail SUPER habitat (which I hope to do a YouTube review of soon). It wasn’t a bad cage. Technically it meets the minimum size for hamsters. But, due to the confinements of the layout of the cage, there were limitations on how high/large a wheel could be, how deep bedding could go, etc.

Initially I wanted bars- my robo, Steven, was so shy that it was easier to interact with him through the bars than if our hands were in his cage. Even now, four months into having him, we can touch him and pet him, but if we move something in his cage or he sees our hand and it isn’t rubbing his head, he flies in the air running. It’s actually kind of comical how scared of our hands he is unless they are touching him! I try hard to rationalize what it is he’s interpreting.

I had my eyes on the Living World Eco cage (link to Amazon) It’s not sold in the US, but you can get it shipped from the UK for a mere $150! It’s also 1000 sq inches and looks gorgeous. ONE DAY!!! We all need goals, right?

In the meantime I tried to think more rationally. How can I give Steven more sand bath space, more bedding depth, more hides interest to his enclosure? Other than dropping $300 on that Living World cage, I kept coming back to bin cages.

But I felt so overwhelmed by making one. UGH I don’t have that time. I mean, really. I have a full time job, an hour commute (yes! Even during COVID times) and I have other personal goals I’m working towards. I have time to take on being a hamster mom, but I wasn’t so sure about making a bin cage. Also they looked so ugly to me!

And then one day, as I was perusing OfferUp for some good glass tanks (too heavy!) I found a 100 qt bin cage for sale and decided to just give it a try. Why not? Worse comes to worse I don’t love it, but I’m only paying $30 and it’s coming with some unused paper bedding!

Getting a bin cage really got my creative juices flowing. In a barred cage it kind if is what it is. But in a bin cage- the world is your oyster! After seeing a really cool Niteangel multi-chamber hide, we made something similar out of some wine boxes (see below). placed this in the bin with the wheel on top. I figured this gave Steven some new hiding spots and more vertical space for burrowing!

Best part is, since Steven is just a wee robo, I quickly realized a lid really wasn’t necessary for him. He can jump (as I’ve seen him do a few times) but it’s not THAT high. I also don’t even think he would try to escape if he could.

I spent the whole day working on his bin cage… how to get it just right? Where to put a sand bath? SO many questions! And then I let Steven give it a try…. See photos & video below!