A cage divider is a helpful tool to organise the hamster’s cage properly. You probably have noticed how a lot of hamster cages are filled with bedding. Although there’s nothing wrong with it, this set-up can be expensive and also doesn’t allow extra enrichment for your hamsters such as a spacious sandbox, play area, and more.
In the wild, hamsters actually keep a tidy home. Underground, they create multiple chambers for food, sleeping area, and bathroom. In this article, I will show you a list of the best hamster cage dividers that you can either buy or create on your own.
If your hamster already has a massive cage, it makes sense to create a more organised home where you can maximise the potential of the cage and have areas with a different purpose.
THINGS TO KNOW FIRST ABOUT HAMSTER CAGE DIVIDER
Before you buy or create a divider for your hamster’s cage, there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure that it will work and most importantly, it won’t cause issues or injuries.
Dividing the cage to house multiple hamsters
It’s not recommended to house multiple hamsters in a single cage. If you have more than one hamster, unfortunately, it dividing one cage will not work as each side will be spacious enough.
When separating two or multiple hamsters, it’s best to buy a ready-to-use hamster cage or create a bin cage (more affordable). Depending on the style or design, you can stack these cages on top of each other (unless it’s causing stress to other hamsters).
Safe material
It’s vital that you use safe material for a divider. For example, a cardboard box with print on them might not be a good option unless you know that the ink used is food-grade or safe to be ingested.
If you are using rocks or stone, choose one that is not made of calcium minerals.
Use moss
Speaking of safety, let’s say you are going to use the bendy bridge. These bridges have tiny gaps between them. The gaps are big enough for your hamster’s leg to fall through. If a hamster gets stuck in those, it will chew its leg out to free itself.
To avoid this, you can use safe moss for hamsters and fill the gaps. You can also hot glue the holes but that’s a lot of work and most likely come off anyway.
Absorbent
It’s fine to use materials that are absorbent such as wood or paper-based. But you have to remember that you can’t clean or wash those. This means that when they start to smell or got wet, you will have to replace them.
Chewing
Again, materials made of wood or paper will not be chew-proof and hamsters love to chew on something. Your hamster might chew on hamster cage dividers made of these materials. This means that you might have to replace it at some point.
Chewing is another reason why you can’t use anything made of calcium minerals in case your hamster chew or bite on it.
Draw up your plan
Before you order some dividers, spend some time drawing up your plans so you can decide what kind is best to use. During this time, you can also see if creating your own is better than buying one.
We have a list of hamster cages from Reddit to help you visualise or get inspired with your new hamster cage set-up.
BEST HAMSTER CAGE DIVIDERS
This list is a mix of cage dividers that you can buy online and make on your own. Buying online is as affordable as creating your own. However, the options are very limited. Since these products don’t cost too much, you can buy the one you like and test it.
If these don’t work, then you can design your own. Once you have the materials ready, when the first design doesn’t work, you can make another one.
Bendy Bridges/Suspension
There are two types of wood bridges; with a hook and without a hook. The ones without hooks are usually much wider compared to the ones with hooks. This means that once it’s titled on its side, it offers a higher wall. There are different sizes (in length) you can choose from. Remember to fill the spaces between the wood sticks with edible hot glue to avoid getting your hamster’s feet stuck.
Cork Mat/Board
These are honestly a great choice, however, unlike the bridges, these are too thin to stand on their own. This means you can hot glue it on the cage floor, use heavy items (i.e rocks) as a support, or hot glue it on another cork mat as a stand.
Popsicle Sticks
This one is an affordable choice but requires your time and patience. Once you measured the size you will need, you can use hot glue to put the sticks together.
You can also glue multiple sticks side by side to make it thick enough to stand on its own. Make sure to use edible glue sticks and avoid coloured popsicle sticks (unless you know the pain is food-grade).
Tip: I like using the jumbo/waxing sticks since they’re easier to work on.
Rocks
These rocks are a little unconventional for a divider but they offer two purposes; division and nail trimming. Your hamster will have to climb these rocks to get in and out of the area. These rocks are heavy enough to hold bedding and very useful to ensure that your hamster’s nails will be trimmed naturally.
The hole in the middle also offers a little hideout spot which hamsters love.
Cardboard
Lastly, a card board will perfectly do the job as a divider. A shoebox is good since it’s usually thicker, just make sure there are no ink or staples inside. Cut them up the right size and you have an affordable DIY hamster cage divider. You most likely have to work on how to keep it standing up and watch out if it starts getting wet (avoid bacteria growing on it).
VERDICT ON THE BEST HAMSTER CAGE DIVIDERS
I personally love the bendy bridges, they are easy to use, can stand on their own, and comes in different sizes. They are also affordable which means if my hamster pee on it, I can easily toss it out and get a new one.
My second choice would be the reptile ledge. Hamster’s nails grow so quick and trimming their nails on my own is a little scary while bringing them to the vet can be costly. It also adds a nice little natural theme atmosphere in the cage.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Dividers are not only there to make your hamster’s cage cute and organised but it really helps ensure that the cage offers everything your hamster needs; from the sleeping area, food section, sand bath, and even nail trimming.
I hope that you found this list of the best hamster cage dividers helpful. I personally like using the bendy bridge, I used the other ones but I’m not creative enough to create the popsicle one. When I tried to look for other options, I realised there were not many.
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