Are hamsters really happy in those plastic tubey "Habitrail" homes? Has anyone ever actually asked a hamster?

Cadelaide · 2010-02-07T22:02:45+00:00

I'm new to hamsters and researching for DD's birthday, DP thinks those plastic tubey-spacey things couldn't possibly be a godd place for any creature. Do you have one? Does your hamster climb about in it and use all of the space or just huddle miserably in a little pod?

TheFallenMadonna · 07/02/2010 22:07

We have gerbils in a rotastak 'system' and they do indeed use every bit of it. They have bits they fill with bedding and sleep in, other bits where they prefer to keep their food etc.

Ours has two biggish cage-type areas, each with an attached wheel, one which looks a bit more like a tank, and two small pods, all connected with tubes.

JollyPirate · 07/02/2010 22:11

Hi, we have one and it's great. We have a Syrian hamster (the best bet for taming) and she was originally in a standard cage but we found that the cat spent every evening twanging the bars with sharpened clawsand I was worried about her getting injured hence the change in cage. We got this one and our hamster seems to love it - she uses all the tunnels and whizzes round the place doing busy hamstery things. We also have a plastic ball which we can enclose her in so that she can explore the living room in safety.

One warning though - the bloody cage was a sod to put together. Have some wine handy for after because you will need it. The cage itself is fine but the fecking tunnel was awful - especially trying to align the ends with the entrance holes. Cleaning her cage out sees a repeat of the process and I have resorted to taping the tunnel to prevent the danger of it popping out.

JollyPirate · 07/02/2010 22:11

Hi, we have one and it's great. We have a Syrian hamster (the best bet for taming) and she was originally in a standard cage but we found that the cat spent every evening twanging the bars with sharpened clawsand I was worried about her getting injured hence the change in cage. We got this one and our hamster seems to love it - she uses all the tunnels and whizzes round the place doing busy hamstery things. We also have a plastic ball which we can enclose her in so that she can explore the living room in safety.

One warning though - the bloody cage was a sod to put together. Have some wine handy for after because you will need it. The cage itself is fine but the fecking tunnel was awful - especially trying to align the ends with the entrance holes. Cleaning her cage out sees a repeat of the process and I have resorted to taping the tunnel to prevent the danger of it popping out.

junglist1 · 08/02/2010 08:50

They do use all the tubes, but be careful with cages where the tubes are on the outside as hamsters get out of them easily IME

Blondeshavemorefun · 08/02/2010 09:27

they do seem to enjoy the plastic tubey cages BUT often means they cant swing

and my hammys are great swingers (no comments bella!!)

they are s bugger to clean and often hammys can escape if the tubes arent clicked together properly

personally i prefer the normal rectangle cage with wire top so that they can swing

my hammys get several toys and rotate them so they dont get bored

a toilet roll gives them hours of fun

as well as a whole walnut or brazil in shell

AmazingBouncingFerret · 08/02/2010 09:31

My hamster loves to swing too Blondes. Im thinking of planting some pampas grass so he can covertly let other hamsters know about his lifestyle choice!

frumpygrumpy · 08/02/2010 09:36

I just got this one for my DD1 and her birthday/hamster.

Its a mix of both ideas really, she loves the internal tube and it also seems very, very secure. Has two top opening bits, the top section can come off etc.

Also got the playpen thing which is ace.

Blondeshavemorefun · 08/02/2010 09:52

yah for hammy swingers

Bella32 · 08/02/2010 09:53

Am saying nothing, Blondie

I've always kept hammies in Rotastak/Habitrail type cages, but they are a fecker to clean and Blondie does have a point about the swinging

My last hammie had a plain plastic/wire cage on two levels (Ferplast I think) and he was definitely happier and more active in that one than the Habitrail.

Blondeshavemorefun · 08/02/2010 10:25

are you insinuating that my hammys are swingers because of mr blondes and i's sofa activitys?

Fennel · 08/02/2010 10:30

Our hamsters have a mixture - rotastak and trad cage, connected by tunnels. They seem to like living in the Rotastak as their main home but visit the cage section for swinging, climbing and bar chewing.

they rarely use the little rotastak "bedroom pods", ours have usually slept in the big bottom rotastak section.

TrinityIsFallingApart · 08/02/2010 10:36

I would like to chuck in a thought

sorry to be a bother and maybe pop you bubble
but

hamsters are uselass first pets/pets at all
they are nocturnal

they make noise all night

they die quickly

are you sure you want a hamster

rats, guinea pigs, rabbits are all better and just as easy to look after

Fennel · 08/02/2010 10:50

not so, ime, we also have guinea pigs and have had a rabbit (high maintenance, he was) and gerbils. the hamsters are great pets. Ours are lively between about 5pm and midnight, so they are awake when the children are around in the evenings. very easy to look after. the only downside is they don't live that long, but that can be good if your child's interest wanes. my children are quite good long term pet-lovers but many children get bored, in which case a hamster is good as you aren't left cleaning out an unloved pet for the next decade.

Bella32 · 08/02/2010 11:50

Never, Blondie

PortBlacksand · 08/02/2010 11:55

There is a special circle in hell for whoever designed Rotastak.....

They are a bugger to clean out.

But better for Hammy, yes.

CantSupinate · 08/02/2010 12:00

I'm going to throw a spanner in the works. It turns out that a lot of the typical caged 'hamster' behaviours (chewing bars, running on wheels, swinging) are abnormal and therefore indicators of stress, and only arise because they can't express their natural instincts to burrow. Basically, if you really care about your hammies you should give them very deep bedding (several feet ideally) and let them burrow down to their heart's content.

In terms of Hammie happiness the burrows would be massive (read more).

Plastic pipes and tubes are probably not bad, therefore, but they don't deal with the animal's real needs in order to be truly happy.

Hulababy · 08/02/2010 12:00

We have a Habitrail system for our hamster and it appears to like it. It does indeed use the tubes, and the various different areas. We have the attached room for a cardboard maze too. Like this Currently have a cardboard truck in the bigger room which we hid treats in.

I wouldn't use one for gerbils as they bite more and plastic is not great! We had a large glass gerilarium for gerbils.

MrsChemist · 08/02/2010 12:09

I was going to post what CantSupinate said.

I believe there is a habitrail part that is just a big empty bit that you fill with sawdust so they can burrow.

One of my friends got a large, old fishtank, cut a habitrail tube sized hole in the top and filled that with sawdust (the tank, not the tube), and they seemed to enjoy that immensely.

Original poster

Cadelaide · 08/02/2010 21:55

OK, so a habitrail-type-thingy but with added burrowing pit.

Trinity, do not do this to me.

I have researched my pants off over this one. We already have g.pigs, she really wants an indoor pet of her very own, cat/dog out of the question, so it will be a hamster.

I have my hands clamped firmly over my ears and I am humming loudly...

OP posts:

nooka · 09/02/2010 03:33

We had both hamsters and gerbils as children, and I am sure the most fun they had was when they escaped (which they did on a frequent basis) as in order to catch them we'd have many little heads of food with things balanced precariously on top to try and catch them (which always happened in the end). We found gerbils more successful - we had a boy/girl pair and they had many many babies. They had a couple of big cages with lots of tunnels and a fish tank full of sand for burrowing. They weren't the best of pets though, as they had a tendency to bite (although that might have been my poor handling).

We recently had the school hamster for a weekend and dd who had been terribly excited showed very little interest and relegated the cage to the bathroom because the wheel squeaked so much!

seeker · 09/02/2010 06:17

You can have indoor guinea pigs - ds currently has two in his bedroom!

I worry about those plastic ball things - my dd's friend puts her gerbils in them and they zoop around crashing into table legs and thisga. I don't like the fact that they don;t seem to ba able to stop, and the banging into things can't be good for them, surely?

TrinityIsFallingApart · 09/02/2010 11:46

lol cadelaide

sorry but
(can't resist)

What about a rat, they make good pets

you can teach them to do tricks, if you get one it will get very attached to your dd

hamsters are shite in comparison

mloo · 09/02/2010 11:57

DD has pet mice, they have been terrific! Less work than most the other pet rodents, easy to find someone to look after them when you go on hols, social, cute, don't seem to bite...

Blondeshavemorefun · 09/02/2010 15:57

my hamsters get TONS of sawdust and bedding and also have little handmade beds for them to sleep in

they are VERY much loved