What should be our hamster cage minimum?

So if you are part of any famous hamster forum you might know that they all have a minimum cage size for hamster, and our forum should be no different. Leave your suggestion in the comments, however keep in mind these things:

• The minimum should be a size that will allow all the needs of a hamster (water bottle, food dish, two hideouts, proper sized wheel, chews, and two toys).
  
• This number should be more than or equal to 360sq inches
  
• If you do not know a lot about hamster care please do not post just a random number
  

So, to start off, a good number in my opinion is a 40gal aquarium, or about 540 square inches.

For a Syrian hamster, I recommend, as you stated, a 360 sq cage which can, of course, be a lot bigger. (12 inches by 30 inches)

For a Chinese or other species I recommend at least 288 sq. (12 inches by 20 inches)

An appropriate size is about a 20 gallon aquarium, as you suggested, a 40 gallon is an excellent choice and should be bought if possible, however, for some it's simply to expensive. Although, some skeptics say that because dwarves hamsters tend to be more hyper, a cage larger than 360sq is idea. However, this is completely up to you, that being, if the cage is above 288sq..

I would say we should have it at 360 sq. Its easy to remember and it is a base. Of course people should go bigger but 360 is a good size.

MrHelpful wrote:

For a Syrian hamster, I recommend, as you stated, a 360 sq cage which can, of course, be a lot bigger. (12 inches by 30 inches)

For a Chinese or other species I recommend at least 288 sq. (12 inches by 20 inches)

An appropriate size is about a 20 gallon aquarium, as you suggested, a 40 gallon is an excellent choice and should be bought if possible, however, for some it's simply to expensive. Although, some skeptics say that because dwarves hamsters tend to be more hyper, a cage larger than 360sq is idea. However, this is completely up to you, that being, if the cage is above 288sq..

Mr. Helpful, sorry if I sound rude or mean, it's just that I'm typing this really quickly, and I get quite defensive sometimes....

So, 288sq inches is a very inappropriate minimum! Just because dwarfs are smaller doesn't mean they need smaller cages! The reason, is that dwarfs are way more active then most Syrian hamsters, which means that to keep them entertained they WILL need more toys. And Syrians will need less toys, however they need bigger toys..... so at the end, independent of the hamster species 288sq is way too small. And when you said 288sq, I think you might be thinking about a 10gal aquarium, but 10gal aquariums are tiny and produce ammonia really quickly, which will end up with the owner having to clean the cage weekly, which will most likely cause stress to the hamster. Or the hamster might have respiratory infections. I have a 20gallon (360sq inches) aquarium for my Syrian, and it is just horrible! At the moment Rhia has an 8inch wheel, since she is still a pretty young Syrian, however once I put my Carolina Storm Express Wheel in there, it uses 1/3 of the cage! Not to add that Rhia only, and only, has 2 toys, and I can see that she does get bored with only 2 toys! I only consider 2 toys the minimum because some hamsters will do just fine with two toys. To be honest I can't wait to get my new cage!

20 x 30 is a good minimum for all hamsters I think.

I think 360 is a good base, but 450+ Should be strived for/emphasized. There's nothing wrong with a 360 in my opinion, but I found that my robo seemed to be happier in his 55 gallon I just got him.

Soo... 400 maybe?

I think 450. 360 square inches is pretty tight, and I had trouble fitting everything I wanted in my tank of 450 square inches even. It held everything essential, but I had trouble fitting the larger toys I wanted. Now, in my 75 gallon tank I can fit all I want and more, but the 75 gallon is obviously not ideal for everyone.