? On heat

[Basia]

I am very reluctant to cover up the wire grill with anything, especially at this time of year, because the thing that bothers me with the gabber rex cage is possible heatstroke.
Many years ago I lost a pair of chinchillas to heatstroke and more recently a lovely dwarf doe who had babies in the nest. Luckily I did manage to hand rear the babies but I could easily have lost them too. It is absolutely devastating to lose an animal this way and I always take care to keep my animals as cool as possible. I think that this is the reason I am not particularly keen on the gabber rex.

[Holly]

That's very sad, Basia...but I have the opposite problem and I'm paranoid about keeping them warm and out of draughts in winter - probably why I love the Gabber Rex so much!

We have a rather inefficent boiler and it's very hard to keep the house warm in winter so I love the tank-type features of the Rex. Right now the four hammies in the Rex cages are all tucked away in corners of my west facing bedroom which has dark curtains and is cool all day until about 5 pm when the sun moves round. I leave a window open and a fan on in the evenings - and a good thing with the tiles on top of the cage is that I can take them off during the day anyway - he doesn't bar chew when he's asleep! Even at night they only cover less than a third of the grill area anyway - as he can only reach the roof in the two rear corners above where the shelf is at it's widest.

I think I'm going to try the roof run thing anyway - they are circular so, though they block his access to the roof, they'll actually leave more bars open to the air anyway.

[souffle]

I think that there is plenty air through the Gabber even with half the bars covered. Ours make 'summer nests' in the other corner of the tunnel bit which are more open if it is warmer. They never seem to suffer from the heat. With hamsters being so small they have a large surface area compared to their body volume so they lose heat quite quickly. Most hamsters I have heard to who have died of heat stroke have been in cars, sheds or in bright sunlight.
I am sorry to hear about your losses Basia. The mum must have been so dedicated to her litter she did not leave them even when getting too hot. Poor wee lamb. We did have an exceptionally hot time last summer and we are just not used to it really in the UK

[Basia]

Originally Posted by souffle

I think that there is plenty air through the Gabber even with half the bars covered. Ours make 'summer nests' in the other corner of the tunnel bit which are more open if it is warmer. They never seem to suffer from the heat. With hamsters being so small they have a large surface area compared to their body volume so they lose heat quite quickly. Most hamsters I have heard to who have died of heat stroke have been in cars, sheds or in bright sunlight.

That's a relief. Our house is fairly modern and belonged to an old couple before we had it who practically sealed it to keep it warm. It is a very warm house but I have the hamsters all over in different rooms at the moment to put them in 'cool' spots. I couldn't bear to lose another animal that way. The little rabbit was about 5 years ago Souffle but it was in a very hot spell and her babies were about 10 days old. She was an exceptionally good mother and I think it all got too much for her.
Sorry Holly - hijacking your thread