Playpen Disaster!

[Homunculus]

Hello, well the other day i bought a play pen for my two chinese hamsters, i put them in it today and you wouldn't beleive what happened when i put my two boys in O.O Snow tried to climb up onto the pen and jump out! =_= the pen i bought was fairly large and was quite high. But my little escape artist took matters into his own hands and begun climbing...so i had to latch him off and send him and my other boy back into their cage. It was a horrible ordeal lol, for a second i almost had a runaway hamster...so i'm asking. Are pen's good to use for your hamsters? If not would an empty bath tub subsitute for the pen? And what other toys are safe to use when trying to give your hamsters exercise?

[Kaztrekie]

Eek that must of been a panic yesterday someone I forget who sorry brought a dog playpen for their hamsters instead these look a great idea and re much higher than the small ones you can get look under post I m so excited its there

[evel_lin]

Pens can be good providing they are escape proof but apparently your hams are too good at climbing! An empty bath would work well, lots of people suggest sitting in one with your hamster for taming

[gutterglitterxx]

I also use a doggie playpen for my girls. It is nice and roomy and super easy to store. The one I use is sort of like this one...

Go Pet Club Dog Pet Exercise Play Pen | Wayfair

Jasmine did manage to chew through one of the zipper access flaps one day but luckily I always keep a close eye on my girls even when they're in it. I did a quick sew job and sealed the hole back up. Jasmine is the destructive one!

[racinghamster]

Chinese hamsters are very good climbers and more like mice in that respect. If they have a large enough cage and good wheels to play on, they rarely need play-pens. Chinese hamsters don`t particularly like wide open spaces anyway and prefer to climb onto your arm or up your sleeve!

Chinese hamsters are usually better kept alone as they tend to fight quite badly if things turn sour, so make sure you have a spare cage/tank available incase they every start to fall out.

[Holly's Mum]

I think lots of us have found out the hard way that hamsters can climb out of the play pens, they can climb a lot higher than you would think. But the bath tub is perfectly ok, I use that for Holly and he is fine. Just put an old towel down in the bottom to pad it a bit, and all his favourite toys - spinner, tubes, boxes and so on, and of course make sure there is a little dish of water, and they will be fine there.

[HorseyMandz]

Massive cardboard boxes and bathtubs both make excellent playpens Visit your local pound/dollar shop or supermarket and ask for the biggest cardboard box they've got!

[cactus]

Both my syrians and one of my hybrids can get out of my playpen, I just turned it into a game, I actively play with my hamsters when they're in there and supervise them at all times like I do when they're on the sofa so I catch them at the top and put them back in on the odd occasion they do decide to try and climb out. I am thinking about getting a doggy playpen when I have the money though. I know a few members on here have made their own out of cardboard boxes that look amazing I wish I were better with DIY.

[iwasbornwright]

I use two big cardboard boxes joined by a large cardboard tube Wolverine loves it x

[Lougarry]

Cardboard boxes are great, but if you want something more durable, a rigid sided child's paddling pool works well, or Kissa posted a tutorial on how to make a collapsible playpen from Correx.