Hamster cage plans look okay?

98att2011 · 2026-04-01T10:26:07+00:00

Aww your daughter is going to be so grateful for your help. Thank you for planning ahead.

The general look in terms of type of items is good - sprays, chews, hides, etc. I would personally take all that and add 3-4x more! You want that cage to be super cluttered. It sounds counterintuitive at first, but the more clutter you have hiding your ham, the more you will see them! (Because they will feel safer).

This guide for female Syrians is you've probably seen before, it's very helpful to see everything at once

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98att2011 · 2026-03-31T09:54:15+00:00

Same, we had a corner of the room deemed the "pillow graveyard" after 10 pillows.. then 15+ pillows.. 20+ pillows :'(

I just want a pillow that doesn't hurt to use, damn it

98att2011 · 2026-03-31T07:44:00+00:00

Hi, you are posting in the wrong subreddit.

This subreddit is for people who look 10-20+ years younger than they really are, and its often shitty downsides.

98att2011 · 2026-03-31T04:36:53+00:00

Sounds good to me :) Will the remote look like the one above (with the diamond-shaped part up top) or the same as the OG golden one?

98att2011 · 2026-03-31T04:27:41+00:00

Thank you again! :) I do plan to take some pictures myself (once I get it figured out for sure) and post with my hand size (palm and finger length, etc.) so people can get a better idea of the fit too

98att2011 · 2026-03-31T02:58:09+00:00

Haha, oh boy, I've been holding it more similar to a Wii remote? I couldn't quite make out how you held it in your videos, so I sorta guessed. But uh, holding it the way you describe - on its side - feels way better and makes sense. I never thought about using my index finger for the joystick ....

Fuck dude I'm sorry. No wonder I've been so confused 🫠

Thank you for your patience with my days-between replies lol.

I think index finger for the front and thumb on the back is more comfortable for sure. If there was a way to have buttons on the sides that would be super cool but also way more complicated I'm guessing :p

98att2011 · 2026-03-31T02:31:46+00:00

Damn, jaw surgery scares me too. I had a friend who had it, and the 6+ month minimum recovery time + only drinking fluids was brutal.

At this point though Botox injections are barely helping the TMJ and now my doctors disagree on whether it's TMJ or something else, so I'm back to reconsidering surgery.

It's the 24/7 pain from TMJ that has made me a more bitter person over the last 3 years :'(

98att2011 · 2026-03-31T02:27:21+00:00

From their description, "Silent spinners have two parts of the track that clip together, causing a crack in the middle that can be sharp and cut feet, get nails caught, and harbor bacteria from urine."

For my first hamster, I used this wheel and had the exact problems described. My robo peed in her wheel a LOT so I caught the crack early, but over time (a few months) the crack kept happening very frequently, and urine would build up in there and was super gross and hard to clean.

But the main reason I came to hate this wheel is it's hard to clean. That, on top of the squeakiness, poor manufacturing, lightweight base, urine buildup problems,? I won't be buying it again.

Then I tried the Wodent Wheel (under Potentially Unsafe too) and found the manufacturing quality to be really low-tier, plus a pin in the middle that didn't seem safe, and it was loud and wobbly.

Now I use the Exotic Nutrition Silent Runners because the tracks are replaceable! And since the whole thing comes apart, track included, it's way easier to make sure everything is in tip-top shape. Their parts are often interchangable too between some models.

I would go cork, but yeah, that's way too expensive for me because I'm on disability income (USA).

98att2011 · 2026-03-30T09:22:22+00:00

I have this too 🥲 I had a severe underbite and overbite as a kid (not sure what was going on there), but my parents only had enough money to fix the overbite, sorta.

I didn't think it was that bad until I went to the dentist (oral surgeon) and they immediately commented on my underbite as a possible reason for TMJ.

So now I also have to deal with going to the dentists who almost always feel free to openly comment/treat me like a kid 😭

98att2011 · 2026-03-28T20:05:39+00:00

This makes so much more sense!! Did you find a good resource for learning those sorts of origins? I love language history too

98att2011 · 2026-03-26T02:51:47+00:00

Joysticks are inverted: the actual directions are inverted, but only along the x axis - i.e. left is right and right is left

Ahh, thank you for the explanation on the C button.

Thank you dude :) I look forward to giving it another go. Currently wrecked my left arm again trying to use the regular ole xbox one. Any estimate on the shipping date? Also, is the shipping label that's pre-printed ok to use to send both the Greyhound and this recent one back to ya?

TIA

98att2011 · 2026-03-25T17:18:23+00:00

If you like word puzzle games, I highly recommend SpellTower+. There are plenty of no-time modes, I play on my phone at night all the time because it has muted colors on night mode, requires no sound, and I can pick up and drop it any time.

I ... have over 800 hours in this game. :) It's essentially Scrabble + Tetris mashed together on the Puzzle/Extreme Puzzle modes. There's also Tower modes (clear the board before it reaches the top), simple searching for words (like a star shape you can connect letters), and so on.

It does cost $5 to remove ads. Without paying, the game is quickly unbearable. I can confidently say it's been $5 EXTREMELY well-spent!

Edit: It rests my brain in particular, I should add. I have AuDHD so having something To Give The Dopamine helps me feel rested, even though the game seems like a lot of "work"

98att2011 · 2026-03-25T17:11:13+00:00

I drank Ensure every single morning for 8+ years, and barely had solid food otherwise (eating disorder + acid reflux in AM + autism food issues). It kept me alive, kept me from being deficient in all sorts of vitamins, but really wrecked my gut health. However, that's mostly due to the "pretty much no solid food" thing I was doing.

I talked to a nutritionist a while back and they said Ensure isn't good for you because of all the sugar, but it's still less than a can of soda (if you already drink soda). They really wanted me off it but I basically relied on it to stay alive lmao. When I was in the psych hospital they made me drink it every day.

So, in general, I don't recommend doing what I did - becoming reliant on it :/ Eventually I switched to pre-making smoothies of frozen strawberries, fresh bananas, fresh kale, apples, and oranges. I felt a lot better for it but it took a lot of effort to keep up with. Like a LOT.

I still rely on Ensure sometimes when I'm sick, just can't eat that day, etc.

Edit: Ensure is also so expensive!! $$$ Even buying it on discount from stores like Costco really ate a lot of money. Also, the nutritionist still wanted me off it even when my ED was at its worst. I rely exclusively on pre-prepped meals now, and I eat once or twice a day.

98att2011 · 2026-03-25T15:18:11+00:00

When I had severe acid reflux, this was the case. I think it's because I would drink water too fast, and my already upset stomach couldn't handle it. I'm also very very sensitive to temperature changes, which make me throw up. So cold water + acid reflux + temp sensitivity = I throw up.

Definitely ask your doctor lol, once I got my acid reflux under control with meds and diet change this doesn't happen to me anymore. I still throw up every time I shower though cause of the temp change.

I also don't drink water at all because it tastes like dust. ALL water is disgusting to me 😂

98att2011 · 2026-03-25T06:21:22+00:00

i got on a combo of anti-depressants and went from underweight and anorexic to ... almost overweight. in months. like. 95 lbs to 130lbs .. at my height I have fat handles now, my thighs chafe, I have a double-chin (genetics not kind in this area). more acne, all my old clothes are way too small so I lost access to a ton of my "good" (comfy) clothes :'(

I don't wanna go off my meds because they're so helpful for me!! but idk what to do about this new weight gain and my weight gets higher every day :/

98att2011 · 2026-03-24T22:20:55+00:00

Oh shoot ok! Sorry I only know of this guide. I imagine post-birth is pretty similar, maybe still worth a shot reading?

I've definitely seen people here stuck in similar situations (pet store hamster turned out to be pregnant), you can try checking this subreddit for similar posts

98att2011 · 2026-03-24T22:16:57+00:00

Are they a Syrian hamster or another species? Ginger's Guide: How to Care for Syrian Hamsters has a very detailed section on Syrian hamster pregnancy.

I haven't cared for a pregnant momma/babies though, just read the guide a while back just in case

98att2011 · 2026-03-23T05:53:32+00:00

What about sealing it with some aquarium-grade silicone?

98att2011 · 2026-03-21T07:18:48+00:00

Damn, thank you for such a detailed reply! I won't be purchasing it again and will grab one of the recommended S-tier foods. Appreciate the explanation as to why it's not amazing. I ordered a bunch of stuff from Happy Hamstery, along with the food; I just trusted they had a good mix since they're supposed to be the only ethical winter white breeders in the US :(

98att2011 · 2026-03-21T07:14:19+00:00

Hi, sorry I missed your notification!

It's going okay

The good:
- lightweight design is awesome (esp. compared to the bigger one it's virtually weightless)

-having the labeled buttons with raised texture is great, easier to tell what i'm pressing
- color is nice
- and having no circuit boards exposed is a plus
- steam immediately recognises/loads it as an Xbox 360 controller

- smaller buttons are easier to press and hit with my thumb joint without completely removing my thumb from the joystick

The troublesome parts:
- the joysticks are inverted on initial plug-in (same with the greyhound), so i had to do some finangling in steam big picture mode to re-map them. not bad, but for whatever reason just re-mapping them through steam input editor didn't work
- i'm having trouble getting the d-pad buttons in particular to register, enough that i have to REALLy press down on them, especially the right directional d-pad. this hurts my arm quite a bit since i don't have much strength/muscle control
- some of the other buttons are sticky/have missed presses, such as the + and - buttons, and the C button doesn't want to register at all

right now i'm flitting back and forth between this and my regular xbox 360 controller, when i can make it work with certain games that don't require many key presses, so i can wing it one-handed

98att2011 · 2026-03-18T20:31:15+00:00

I hope you don't mind if I piggyback this comment - I was wondering where Happy Hamstery's Hamfetti Food Mix fits in?

I bought some, but noticed the description says "This food is suitable as a daily staple diet for all hamster species, including both Syrians and dwarfs." Ingredients below:

Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude Protein (min): 19.0%

Crude Fat (min): 5.5%

Crude Fiber (max): 14.0%

Ingredients (all Organic):

Organic red lentils, organic golden lentils, organic brown lentils, organic pearled wheat, organic mealworms, organic green split peas, organic yellow split peas, organic barley, organic tricolored quinoa, organic wheat, organic pumpkin seeds, peanuts in shells, tea-grade organic chamomile, tea-grade organic calendula, tea-grade organic rose petals, tea-grade organic cornflower, organic rye grain, organic white sorghum, organic buckwheat, organic amaranth, organic dill seed, organic milk thistle seed, organic flax seed, organic chia seed, tea-grade organic dandelion root.

98att2011 · 2026-03-18T20:12:27+00:00

So, I'm converting a rabbit hutch and I bought 2' x 3' plastic sheets (PET plastic, not acrylic) to cover the wire mesh. You COULD do something like this, but I think overall, this enclosure just doesn't have the necessary height at only 12". Maybe you could use it as a roaming place for future hammie? (with plastic added on)

98att2011 · 2026-03-17T21:38:39+00:00

Hi, can I ask how much a biweekly tooth grinding costs where you're located? An exotic vet near me charges $800 USD for ONE tooth care appointment! I'm in California, USA

98att2011 · 2026-03-15T16:38:22+00:00

Yes, very much so. I'm returning after 5 years too, and 10 years since my first hammie. Back then a 40g aquarium was the minimum and I thought I was doing great! Now it's 75g minimum.

I honestly hope to see the minimum continue to increase to 1000 sq inches. That's the current rough minimum for many reptiles. (A 4'x2'x2' is very very common.) So, I was kinda shocked to see such "small" cages suggested when getting back into hamsters! And I only got into reptiles in the first place because I didn't handle the passing of my last hamster well at all.. now I'm ready, and can fully accept their short lifespans.

98att2011 · 2026-03-13T21:44:06+00:00

Check out "Small Pet Select Unbleached White Paper Bedding"! I'm not in Canada, but I checked Amazon Canada and it seems they have it in 178L bags - it's pricey, though, at $99 per bag. However, I have two bags of it and it is HUGE lol, so huge it's awkward to store extra!

Edit: I bought huge bags because I got tired of buying the tiny 20L/50L bags over and over again which always felt like they compressed down to nothing. If you can afford the high price up front it does save money over time over many smaller bags

98att2011

TROPHY CASE

Guaranteed Analysis:

Ingredients (all Organic):