Are hamster balls good or bad?

[racinghamster]

Given their small size and weak eyesight, I doubt they feel good being stuck inside what is essentially a trap. If a hamster has a decent sized cage and wheel and has enrichment and a few cuddles, they don`t need a ball. x

[lovelyhamsters5]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

I made a home-made playpen (with tips from this forum!) Cardboard from large boxes would do instead of Correx/Coroplast but the Correx is quite strong. Video on how to do it below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvXJ-Jbo0CM

As for balls - they have their pros and cons. I believe they're not supposed to be safe for dwarf hamsters. For Syrians it's hard to find a ball big enough that is safe. We still have a ball and occasionally Charlie will go in it, but it is useful for all kinds of other things to (ie transporting them from one room to another for bathtub taming!) You can carry them carefully in it from a to b without them jumping out. Generally I prefer the playpen. Yes they do spend most of their time trying to escape from it but they probably run in the ball to try and escape too! I put a big floor cushion in ours at an angle, and our hamster runs up it and slides down again - sometimes he likes sitting under it as well. Just put a few toys in a cardboard tube, a mug on its side, and hide bits of food - that'll distract him from escaping (finding hidden bits of food).

Yesterday night I made a cardboard playpen and it's pretty big so I will start putting them in there and in the ball for a littlr bit, my young syrian Crystal is to small for a ball anyway she is the size of a full size dwarf hamster

[Pebbles82]

Excellent - that was quick. You have to watch any little gaps at corners - they try and pull them open! And chew at them, so keep an eye on them when they're in the playpen so they don't escape. You can also use the bathtub as a playpen (dry of course)