Should I get a larger cage for my two dwarf hamsters? How large?

Question

I have two Russian female dwarf hamsters and they share a 25 x 30 x 50cm wired cage from pets at home which was highly recommended for two dwarfs. It seemed cramped with all the chews and toys, so I removed most of the toys which made it a bigger spacing things out.

Rosey, one of my dwarfs, started to bar climb and chew on the cage, because she loves to have lots of toys in the cage. I need to get a larger cage for the two. I want something large and cheap.

The zoo-zone 2 was recommended. Is it a good size or should I look for something else?

Answer 1

If you want something large and cheap: build yourself.

My advice for easy, cheap AND easy to clean:
Take waterproof wooden plates, and build a box with 3 sides.
In the 4th side, attach wooden sticks, to create a groove to slide in a pane of acrylic glass or something similar -> You can see the hamster easily, and you can slide it out to clean the cage!
Build a lid with a hamster-proof grating, and you are set.

This way, you can build it just the right shape for the room, and easily add a second level as well (4 sticks, a plate on top, and a way for the hamster to climb up. Put that in the box, and you have a second level).

Also, you should possibly be aware that "recommended" in pet-store-lists usually is the absolute minimum. I saw recommendations for 1m² per hamster (Minimum base size is half of that, so 5 levels of 0,2m² would not count... 2 levels of 0,5m² would).