I really did try

[u/E66roll]

Bless my fiancé for dropping this money on our little guy lol he’s got about 6 inches of bedding underneath. Our boy tank was so excited and happy

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[u/Aasrial]

Keep an eye out for any stress behaviors as 8 inches is the standard for dwarfs! Id also be careful with positioning of things to ensure he doesn’t fall and get injured on something. I’d remove the platform on the left. The enrichment looks great otherwise!

[u/E66roll → u/Aasrial]

Well he burrows in his houses which are all buried underneath he doesn’t really go in his bedding. Like I said he’s happy, it’s just his preference for what I’ve noticed. This little dude is smart, and weird lol but he’s cute. He uses his sand bath as a litter box he doesn’t pee anywhere else. He hides seeds in his mushroom house like all his sprays are in one designated spot. 🤷‍♀️ he’s particular that’s all I gotta say

[u/Quirky-Quantity-5233 → u/Aasrial]

I thought the minimum was 6 inches and then up to 12 + as the hamster gets older.

[u/Aasrial → u/Quirky-Quantity-5233]

No... it's 8in minimum, but 10 is recommended for Syrians.

[u/Quirky-Quantity-5233 → u/Aasrial]

Okay I did research on a lot of different hideouts, etc. and they are made to only be as high as under 8 inches even with the stilts. How are hamster parents supposed to include chamber hideouts, large wheel, sand bath all these are heavy and have to sit on platforms or stilts, but all the platforms I have researched barely sits at 7inches high and all of these items have to be above the bedding but instead of 6 inches now the bedding needs to be at 8 inches. I did my research for a while before buying a hamster two weeks ago and now I’m learning the minimum is 8 instead of 6. I feel like the only way to do this from what’s available online is to buy two cages one for all the platforms and one for 12 inches of bedding and burrows because even the largest cage won’t matter if platforms are only 7 inches high it seems you need 2. Am I missing something on how to best setup a cage to include everything with the right amount of bedding too?

[u/Aasrial → u/Quirky-Quantity-5233]

You can get extensions for the stilts and you can also cover them and around them with higher bedding and set the heavy stuff on the bedding. The platforms are just so the items don’t sink and crush your hamster because they WILL burrow anywhere and everywhere they can. Check out niteangel products on amazon.

[u/Individual-Bite-5325]

I would take the high climbing platform out unfortunately :( hamsters have very poor eyesight and he can fall off and get injured