Do you think this is safe?

[Noahsark]

Hi everyone,

This been on my mind for a while, since day one I've had a tube buried under Noah's substrate (link below of tube) which not only does he love but he made it his home, recently I heard a lot of chewing going on but didn't think much of it. I cleaned his cage the other day, and upon inspection he's ripped most of it apart, little parts of the plastic were still in the tube but not it all, I was worried he'd been eating it, so I didn't put it back in. He's been looking for it since and I feel I need to give him another tube or something as he really loved it, and now he's made his nest in his pee corner.

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pe...venture-tunnel

Is it safe for him to sleep in something like this? I was always worried about ventilation, I'm thinking thats why he maybe chewed through it?

Does anyone have better tube suggestions?

Thank you for any replies in advance, as I said its been on my mind for a while, but now I've took it away I'm just not sure whats best for him, he loves a tube lol.
Noahsark

[cypher]

It's not safe for them to sleep in a plastic tube, it can get very unhealthy very quickly, if they build an underground burrow or dig under the house there will still be ventilation which there isn't in a plastic tube also I think anything made of that kind of plastic should only be used where you can see it so you can remove it straight away if it is getting chewed.
He will miss having his underground tube but will get over it soon enough so I wouldn't put another there.
Do you have a proper house for him?
They do need a good size house, if you don't have one a cardboard box will do, something about the size of a shoebox is good, no base just sat on a deep layer of substrate (with extra plain white shredded toilet tissue for the nest) & cut a door in one side, you can put a bendy bridge over the door to make it darker inside which they like.

[Noahsark]

I thought that, it’s just a shame how much he loved it, I won’t give him another! Never thought I’d stress so much about a hamsters house but I hate seeing him sad, he’s got a wooden house, and also a large wooden bendy bridge under his substrate, (like a cave) and many other hide outs, but nothing I think he’d sleep in. I can’t figure out where he’s peeing atm, will be pee on top of his food stash? He’s doing a bit of both in the corner, but he’s only sleeping in his cave sometimes.

[cypher]

Which wooden house does he have? There aren't many that are suitable, big enough or with a door that isn't so big it lets in too much light etc.
You may not want to spend this much money but just to give you an idea Rodipet do some really good houses, the two room granite house is a good basic house with enough room & the advantage that the top lifts of for spot cleaning or just checking what they've been up too & placed on top of a deep layer of substrate the house can then be used as a shelf too. They also make labyrinth houses which some people use for their syrian hams.
A bendy bridge doesn't really make a large or dark enough place for a nest unless they can dig really deeply underneath, I was just looking at your photo in the other thread again & you could use more substrate, really fill the base completely so he has something to dig into under the house.
With such a tall cage you could buy or make another shelf for the wheel to stand on too which would make better use of the space & he might sleep under there.

It might take a while for him to settle on one place to pee, do you have a litter tray? If you use a tray with some chinchilla sand (not dust) & when you find any wet substrate put that on top to encourage him to use it.
Sometimes they pee on the food stash but usually grow out of that so don't worry about that too much for now.

[Noahsark]

http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wcs...arrots-cottage
I gave him this back last night as another option, I can only find the small and large on the website but he has the medium one! At this point I’d buy anything to make him happy, right now he’s digging every corner in the cage and kicking up his substrate every where, it’s like he’s stress digging or something, either that or looking for his tube.
Every time I’ve cleaned him I make his base that wee bit deeper, I put a whole bag of snowflake wood shavings in the other day, the large one, I can always add more!
Currently in the process of making a wooden shelf and stairs to replace the green plastic, another shelf could be a good option, just need to get the first one done first lol. As for a litter tray, no he doesn’t, I was just spot cleaning every few days, I looked and all I could find were huge ones, And I feel I’m running out of space. At first I thought this cage was big enough but a detolf is looking better every day.

Oh and just to let you know that hanging castle is in the bin☺️

[cypher]

He will be a bit stressed now the tube is gone but try not to worry & just let him sort himself out he will get over it soon enough.
That house will be ok for now but not ideal & if they get peed on they need to be binned, if you use a wooden house it's best to paint the inside with plastikote water based enamel so you can just wipe it clean if need be.
I would just put as much substrate as you can in the base, now you've removed the tube it won't hurt to fill the base up.
Long term you might want to consider fitch as it's a lot more economical & nicer for them too. Most of us get the 10kg bag but if you have loads of space to store it the 20kg bag works out really cheap!

[Shadow Cat]

I have this hamster house that I found on eBay, the 15x15 one. My little fluff ball seems to like it. It’s nice and dark inside and plenty big enough for him and his food stash! I’m keeping my eye out for signs of chewing as I’m not sure what kind of wood it’s made from but he doesn’t show signs of chewing anything, much less his house.

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rodent-Hous...=1866657053007

[CMB]

How about a bendy bridge and a thick cardboard tube as an entrance. It might work as a compromise.