As I have nowhere that I can make escape proof, I decided to use the bath as Esmeralda's play area. So far, so good.
I read that people put a towel in the bottom, with toys / hiding places, wheel, tubes etc on top. Again, so far, so good.
The towel was larger than the bath bottom, so I folded the extra cloth underneath, and popped her in there. She showed
absolutely no interest in all the things on top of the towel, but was fascinated with the 'tunnels' made by the folds of the towel. She then found that she could 'burrow' underneath the towel, and I spent 15 minutes watching a lump under the towel moving about in the bath.
This carried on for 4 or 5 days, until I thought, "Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". So I put the tubes, bendy bridges, half-coconut UNDERNEATH the towel, with toilet paper tubes popping out at the sides.
It works a treat! She has a great time, and tonight when I gave her a treat, she immediately popped back under the towel, through the tubes and (presumably) sat under the bendy bridge to eat it.
Is she weird, or do other hamsters do this?