Finding the ideal hamster cage ideas is exciting. You’re finding a home for your small rodent pet. The main problem is that most hamster cages you find in pet stores are rather small, hamsters need a cage of at least 800 square inches (minimum 40 x 20”). Anything less is a proven path to a stressed-out hamster.
A thick bedding for burrowing plus plenty of enrichment is also a must for a happy hamster that most standard cages cannot offer.
This article focuses on the hamster cage ideas that are large, durable, and exciting. Here’s where you get inspired from.
Table of Contents
1. Ikea Pax Cage with a DIY Lid
Highly common in the hamster owner community, Ikea’s PAX wardrobe frame is the top recommendation with a considerable size of 2.100 square inches, almost 3 times the minimum recommended space for a happy hamster. Extra pieces of wood are needed for the lid and glass panels are used for the front see-through panels.
2. Hamster Bin Cage
As plastic cages go, a hamster bin cage of around 50 gallons is highly prized. These simple solutions are adapted for airflow through the lid as the walls are solid. Use enrichment such as hamster wheels for a happy little pet. Hamsters may cover up to 5 miles per night!
3. DIY Pawhut Cage
A small animal habitat that resembles the popular Pawhut cage is a top DIY hamster cage idea. Pieces of wood and front glass panels are used for this large enclosure. Fill it in with enrichment ideas and consider a net lid for more air and a happy hamster. Another top reason to build a DIY Pawhut-like cage is its size. The bedding alone can be as thick as 15 inches as hamsters love to go deep.
4. Forest Themed Setup
This idea is based on recreating an actual forest through enrichment options. From moss to exotic coconut, it comes with plenty of interesting and safe elements for your small pet to enjoy. The bedding depth varies from 7 to 17 inches.
5. Ikea Pax Cage
Get an Ikea Pax wardrobe frame to build a large enough cage. You can purchase it without the shelves to save some money. Even more, you may buy the shelves later on when you plan to have a tiered cage system.
6. Glass Aquarium Tank
A coconut fiber substrate, deep bedding for digging, and glass walls make this setup an easy choice. At a size of 19 x 47”, the cage is large and provides plenty of room for exploration and digging. There’s no reason to go small.
7. Pink Hamster Cage
Have you ever considered a themed hamster cage? This simple setup is among the top options for a cheerful cage. Its enrichment includes deep bedding, a few pink walls, wooden bridges, and huts, plus dried flowers sprinkled for extra colors. Don’t forget about a wheel that keeps your little pet moving.
8. Leafy Hamster Enclosure
This impressive leafy hamster enclosure offers a whopping 2.400 square inches with plenty of room to dig. Dry leaves, branches, and dry grass are added to offer a bit more crawling and hiding options plus to add a natural touch to the enclosure.
9. Woodland Themed Habitat
Creating a woodland-themed cage is not difficult. It’s even cheaper than other types of cages as you can repurpose many natural materials such as bark. Consider adding elements such as tunnels and hatches also made from wood to maintain the natural aesthetic of the cage.
10. Spring Themed Habitat
Spring is all about flowers and nature. You can recreate an uplifting spring-inspired cage by combining various plants and flowers, just like the ones in the image. Use dry plants and flowers for a more long-lasting effect and consider adding various other elements such as stickers, bowls, and name badges to make the entire cage a happy place.
11. Beach Themed Habitat
Water, sand, and joy are the elements you can recreate with a beach-themed habitat for your hamster. You don’t need to use real water but consider the blue decor elements and toys that can liven up the cage. Add driftwood and playfish to make the case properly.
The GDLF hamster cage is perfect for any hamster species. The cabinets are big and can be used to store the hamster’s supplies.
12. Summer Seaside Setup
Starfish, shells, and hanging pink chews make this setup summer seaside-inspired. Even dried rosemary adds its charm to the cage while the painted walls add a bit of a personal touch to a very dear little friend’s home.
13. DIY Square Enclosure
Not all large enclosures need to be rectangular. You can make your square enclosure and as long as there are plenty of square inches to explore, this may prove just as good of a solution, even if viewing angles recommend square enclosures to be easy to walk around.
14. Wonderland Cage
Alice in Wonderland is much more than a theme, it’s an inspiration for a lifestyle. This cage idea uses some of the common elements from the story. These include a checkered platform, teacups, mushrooms, and poker cards. Make your cage setup inspired by the story.
15. Cozy Autumnal Setup
An autumnal setup is highly common among hamster lovers. This cage idea includes plenty of small ceramic pumpkins, a large Getzoo wheel, wheat, and Chipsi classic bedding. Recreate your own to a dreamy autumnal setup.
16. Valentine Setup
A Valentine’s Day-inspired setup is all about the love you have for your hamster. You can use pink as a theme color for the setup. Hamster-safe pink party spray is used to color both the walls and the bedding to live up the cage.
17. Colorful Summer Setup
A colorful summer setup can be made with a bit of spray paint and inspiration. This setup is all about painted decoration such as colorful wooden cacti, pink tunnels, and colorful glass jars. Use a glass terrarium to make the enclosure stand out.
18. Christmas Setup
Regardless if it’s Christmas or not, you can decorate your hamster’s cage with Christmas trees, plastic gingerbread, and plenty of green and colorful sprayed elements. Buy in bulk to save some money.
19. Natural Forest Habitat
Coco chips, aspen, sand, paper, moss, and 13-inch bedding are what make this cage special. A forest-themed option is all about the natural elements you can think about to get inside of the cage and elements such as hay and forest bark make it stand out.
20. Halloween Themed Habitat
Spiders, ghosts, and plenty of pumpkins make for a top Halloween-inspired habitat. A festive habitat is a great DIY project throughout the year when you may run out of cage setup ideas for your hamster.
21. Colorful Hamster Setup
This 39 x19” setup is all about the colors. From pink pebbles to green sheets of paper, it’s all about the combination of colors that liven it up. It’s its 7-inch hamster wheel is pink. Recreate your own with glass walls to see it in all of its glory.
22. Niteangel Vista Hamster Cage
This Niteangel Vista Hamster Cage is all about the display. It features glass walls and an angled top as the back is taller. From bridges that bend to ceramics and all types of sprays, it’s the ideal setup when you want to showcase your enclosure. The Niteangel is also one of the larger setups at 47 inches in length.
23. Mushroom Wetland Setup
Ever wondered what makes a cage look like a forest apart from trees? It’s the little mushrooms. This idea is all about combining small and large colorful mushrooms into a moss-filled set up to recreate a forest right in the cage.
24. Woodland Animal Theme Cage
An animal-themed cage is always a good idea for a hamster’s cage. This setup is all about visibility so the animals are moved to the back. Recreate your own and add original white bedding from Fitch with additional acorn hidings.
25. Glass Tank with Autumn Scape
Rodent supplies are now easy to find. Use a glass tank with autumn-inspired elements, dry plants, and tiny wooden houses and wooden hides your hamster can hide in. Don’t forget about the bedding which can also be slightly autumn-inspired.
26. Glass Tank with Ocean Scape
Blu crochets, tiny lighthouses, blue rocks, bridges, and tiny boats inspire this glass tank with an ocean scape. Consider buying your marine-inspired crochets to bring this cage to life further.
27. Halloween Autumn Scape
Reused bedding that makes the hamster feel right at home can be a solution to start your Halloween Autumn Scape idea. This large cage comes filled with mushrooms, moss, and other orange pottery which gives off the impression of eternal Halloween.
28. Desert Themed Setup
Show your hamster some love with a unique desert-themed cage. This setup is easy to recreate by considering bedding and element colors. Go for pale, cream, gray, tan, and brown color elements that recreate the desert in a cage. Don’t forget about the cacti and desert plants.
29. Halloween Hamster Cage
The spider hides, ghost hides, and pumpkins, all on white bedding are what make this Halloween hamster cage unique. A few themed stickers and fake spiderwebs are also worth it for that ‘wow’ effect.
30. DIY Forest-Themed Square Cage
A DIY forest-themed square cage is all about natural diversity. Deep bedding of at least 15 inches, glass walls, and plenty of natural elements such as forest bark and tall dry plants make this cage look as natural as possible.
31. Garden-Themed Hamster Cage
Garden elements are all about recreating the outdoors inside the cage. This idea is based on pottery and garden decor elements. Find your miniature ones to create a summer-inducing cage appearance for your tiny rodent pet.
32. Rosy Garden Setup
Hamsters aren’t truly interested in roses but they certainly add charm to their cage. You can consider a Niteangel Vista cage for your setup filled with roses. Combine roses of a single color for more visual unity or multiple colors for a charming summer-themed garden of roses.
33. 75 Gallon Hamster Tank
A large 75-gallon hamster tank has plenty of space for your hamster’s miles per day. This aquarium tank has multiple chambers and tunnels in which you can recreate and leave treats to encourage all-cage exploration.
34. DIY Cage with Ikea Linnmon
Ikea’s Linnmon is just as interesting as its PAX system. This wardrobe frame comes with an incredible size advantage. It offers more than 3.000 square inches for the hamster to explore. Given the depth of this wardrobe frame, you won’t need a lid on the cage either.
35. Homemade Woodland Enclosure
This enclosure has an impressive size of 49 x 29” and features plenty of woodland-specific goodies. These include dry vine branches and dried rosemary. Wooden toys with access holes, tunnels, and wooden bridges also fit in nicely with the wooden theme here. The exercise hamster wheel is a supersized 10-inch option with adjustable height.