Since having so many baby hamsters we have had to increase our hamster housing dramatically and have found that plastic bin "cages" are far easier than wire cages for dwarf hamsters.
They not only allow easier access to the hamsters but are cheap, don't spill bedding all over the place and easy to clean. We find that they are particularly suitable for dwarf hamsters who don't climb quite so much as Syrians, but they can also be used for syrians.

Here are some examples of the layouts that we have for our dwarf hamsters:









As you can see there is plenty of room for a bedding box, food bowl, wheel and some playthings and we use about 2 inches of hamster safe wood shavings, which they love to burrow in. We also added some shelves to some of them as recommended by Catherine using a glue gun.
You can also mount water bottles either using adhesive patches and flat backing or drill holes and use a conventional bottle as below:



These bins cost £3 in UK as compared to the cheapest wire cages which start at about £20.
So if you have a lot of dwarf hamsters - no contest.

Here is an example of how you can adapt these plastic bins to make them better for your hamsters:

Hamster bin cage pictures

I am impressed. You make them look very fancy. Truthfully I hang water bottles using drapery hooks, twist ties and duct tape. I glue gun the wheels the way you have, but my water bottles have to be moved up and down as babies are born and then grow. I think the dimenssions of my bins are a little bigger floor space wise, but not as deep. I have a bunch(95)of little plates that I use for food dishes. They are actually the little side plates that airlines serve your bread on during inflight meals. I got them at the salvation Army store. Why 95? They were on for $0.05 each and that was all the cash I had on me at the time. The bins are easier to clean aren't they. And I like the easy access I have to my hamsters. maybe that is why we are so close. Certainly the are cheaper. I pay $10.00 each. Wire cages run from $30.00/tiny cage to $100.00 or more depending on how fancy you get. I don't know that the dwarfies really like fancy. Mine like the homey touch.

i have a mini bin for herbal, and have made ashes hidey hole area from a bin too... they're really useful things. I've found that heating a knife and melting the plastic is much easier

Hey becci nice new signature. We bought a great wire bar cage yesterday for riley for only £20.00 - a great deal as  the cage is massive! My favourite cage by far is still plastic bins, they are such easy access, easy to clean, very cheap and come in a good size range.

Bins for dwarfies is the way to go. I have their food in bins as well. They are clean and cheap and easy to handle. I have plastic that is almost clear so I can see the hamsters through the side, but it is the open top that works the best. I can put a cage by the bed and check on hamsters at night without really waking up(if there is medical need). I don't know who thought of bins first. Maybe a lot of us just came to the idea at the same time.

Yeah, they are a safe, non-climb-able, easy to clean cage and you can fill them with lots of woodshavings for the hamsters to burrow in - no mess either!

unbelievably- herbal can climb a bin....its mad...i'm not sure how he does it !!
i've made the hole at the front of ashes bin a bin bigger...i dont want him to have to squish through it - so i made it bigger.... in the process i burnt my finger but there we go !!

I've had some bad glue gun burns until I got used to using it. Those are the hasards of the bin set-up. Certainly they are safer. I have seen dwarfies get feet stuck in the wire mesh and get hurt. Maybe Herbal climbs a wheel to get out. That is how some of the dwarfies escape, or rather emancipate themselves.

nope ... his wheel wasn't even in there when he climbed out... i tried him in it when he 1st came home... with just a few toys...nothing near the walls - he scrambles up...its like he has suction feet or something  

With our experience of young syrians, their climbing capabilities far exceed those of the dwarfies. We don't use the bin cages for syrians, only dwarf hamsters.

Maybe Herbal is part Gekko. Has he ever run across the ceiling? Are syrians better jumpers or do they have incredible reach. Some Dwarfie escapes involved lodging stuff under the wheel and then climbing it. In some cases the male climbed as high as he could and boosted his mate out. Pretty clever if you ask me.

syrians can jump along way...sometimes i think herbal is part flying squirrel- jumping is one of his favourite past times and i'm forever altering thee cages to give him more stimulation from climbing. The syrian in general is a better climber than dwarves - they love vertical challenges in their younger years at least, where as dwarves find verticals/steep slopes a challenge.
They are clever little things ....fortunately due to the size of his cage herbal will rarely even attempt to escape now, but if you're using a bin with a syiran, it needs to be large, well ventilated , and have a lid - for sure!

alas the burn is no longer a blister -phewf

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unbelievably- herbal can climb a bin....its mad...i'm not sure how he does it !!

  -  he he, ad elly is ment to be the super hamster!
I burnt John wth the glue gun whilst putting glue on the wood out the gluegun - oops  !

Although we have one master escape artist who is black, syrian and incredibly cute! Sooty has had THREE escapes since we got her, naughty girl!

at least you know she's creative

They have all the time in the world to think of ways to escape. How can they fail? And some do like their outings. So it is your little bear who escapes. There is always one.

We have come across some bin cages - about twice as big as the ones we use for £5, so obviously we got some! They are really big and spacious, harry and gromit (the two hamsters that we kept from the first litter (seperatly living), dont yet have a page but will come soon!) still live in the other ones, but sunny and elly have one and so do the pups. I think we will get two more for harry and gromit. Oh and gromit? We gave him the name because he was beat up by his brothers and could have died - he had a close shave - so we called him gromit because one of the series of wallace and gromit is called "a close shave". Long explanation!

I have seen the close shave episode. I love Wallace and Gromit. I have had a Wallace hamster. Can Gromit be far behind. The bins are really the easiest way to go and I may yet phase out some of the wire ones. I still like to use the double decker ones as they give double the floor space with out taking up more space. Retired hamsters like them.

i just made ash a new pigloo from one of herbies old bin cages turned upside down

I love the word pigloo.  How is Ash doing. Does he still play with Herbal?

Yes my syrian use to have a bin cage.
It was very big and quite cheap.
But now i use a wired cage because i can't find a top for the bin and i don't space for megan's cage
but i still do recommend them.
I just don't use them because i have no space anymore  

Hi Stephanie and welcome to the forum.
We are very big fans of the plastic bin cages as you can probably gather here, but we do find that they are most suitable for dwarf hamsters as they don't have the same tendancy to climb all the time like Syrian hamsters.
Syrian hamsters love to climb and wire cages, with horizontal bars are better for this.
How many hamsters do you have and what types?
Let us know and please post some pics if you have any.

I use the double decker cages because they give senior hamsters twice the area, but only take up half the room. I keep the bins for the breeders. I have 3 habitrail cages, but they are going to be replaced. I don't like them. I split bins in half when I need to let hamsters see each other, but not get at each other(old retired lonely males).

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I use the double decker cages because they give senior hamsters twice the area, but only take up half the room.  

I'd love to see a picture of one of these - any chance of posting one, thanks  

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jumping is one of his favourite past times and i'm forever altering thee cages to give him more stimulation from climbing.

Riley sometimes cannot be bothered with the tubing to the next floor, so she simply jumps down - lazy little hamster!