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Old 02-16-2013, 03:21 AM   #1
aaronjb
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Default J.F's new Alexander has arrived.. thoughts on this layout?

So while I get around to building J.F. a proper vivarium style cage I really wanted to buy him a bigger cage than the one we got from P@H (which, as you can imagine, is tiny) - especially as he's starting to seem a little bored and nibble at his bars..

So I ordered an Alexander from Zooplus along with a few (ok, far too many!) things to go in it..

I'm a little worried about the drop from the top shelf to the floor with the layout attached - although there'll be a good few inches of substrate & bedding below it and we've blocked most of it off with one of his three houses..

In his cage right now are:
A chinchilla bath w/ sand
A hamster toilet
A 12" natural wood wheel
A huge house/burrow maze
A half log
A cork full log
A hamster bridge to one exit hole
Two log bridges
One small house that came with the Alexander
One larger house that came with the Alexander

I think we'll probably never see him now! Especially as I may have dropped him earlier today when he was in my hands and attempted to escape - right now he is clearly annoyed with me for persuading him into his ball from the floor (I had to go to work, unfortunately, or I'd have let him explore) as he's attacking me if I go near


I went searching for Plastikote paint today - Halfords used to sell it but apparently now all they sell is Hammerite and their own paints (For the Americans here, think Pep Boys or Autozone) - shame B&Q is miles away!

I think I have some PVA somewhere I can water down, but does anyone have any thoughts on using sticky backed lining paper (the kind you can do shelves with) rather than paint on the shelving & platforms? I have a load of that left from building the airing cupboard storage..
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Old 02-16-2013, 03:40 AM   #2
Kissa
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Default Re: J.F's new Alexander has arrived.. thoughts on this layout?

If I were you, I'd fill the base of the alexander with substrate -- it provides plenty of cushioning in case of a fall, and gives lots of digging opportunities. Although it does mean you'd have to put the wheel on a shelf, I believe the alexander is tall enough for this though. Both of my hamsters have their houses buried in their substrate -- they started doing it themselves and I thought it would be good insulation for winter. They only have one each, though. Oh, and I'd advise you to plastikote or something the house/burrow maze thing. I had one for my Syrian and she took to peeing inside it, and because it has a floor in some of the compartments, the pee couldn't drain into the substrate.

I believe PVA is a good plastikote equivalent. It's child safe, so I'd be comfortable using it with hammies.
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Old 02-16-2013, 03:56 AM   #3
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Default Re: J.F's new Alexander has arrived.. thoughts on this layout?

Definitely lots and lots of substrate.
Maybe a hammock or a sputnik, or both.
Some hanging toys on the sides/corners of the cage.
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Old 02-17-2013, 04:35 PM   #4
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Default Re: J.F's new Alexander has arrived.. thoughts on this layout?

Thanks for the comments guys - we PVA'd all the wood parts and bought some chew toys that attach to the cage bars, plus some hanging food treats and some nutrient stone things..

We also rejigged the layout a bit so the shelves are much lower down, then laid trails of food around to show him the way to things and added his burrow box from his old cage along with some of his substrate (and a load of his poop in his new poopenhausen!) - while we were doing all that he had the run of the ground floor in his ball so he had a nice run and explore (and a pee .. in Amy's hand )

So here he is, exploring his new home - he seems bright as a button and he's explored everywhere already (he's only been in there an hour!), found all his houses, eaten some food, drank water, had a sand bath and, I think, pooped in his WC..
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Old 02-17-2013, 04:36 PM   #5
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Default Re: J.F's new Alexander has arrived.. thoughts on this layout?

Oh I forgot to say - we may well add more substrate next time, we'll see how much he burrows now.. he's turned into a climber instead!
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Old 02-18-2013, 07:09 AM   #6
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Default Re: J.F's new Alexander has arrived.. thoughts on this layout?

It looks great. Nice and Spacious. Makes my ZZ2 seem small. My female Syrian has that maze house and she won't go any further than the first room unless I take the lid off. I get the impression she finds it a tight squeeze...she is generally a very nervous girl. I haven't tried my male with it but I don't think he'd fit with his large rear end.
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Old 02-18-2013, 07:22 AM   #7
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Default Re: J.F's new Alexander has arrived.. thoughts on this layout?

I did wonder about the size of the maze house but, at the moment, J.F. is only small (he's about 16 weeks old) - heck, I watched him go into his upstairs house via the window instead of using the door - but pretty much the first thing he did with the maze was disappear into the front entrance and reappear out of the top onto it's roof

I couldn't find him this morning so I suspect that might be where he decided to sleep, too - I was running out of the house to work so I didn't want to risk waking him up to find him..
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Old 02-18-2013, 09:42 AM   #8
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Default Re: J.F's new Alexander has arrived.. thoughts on this layout?

The cage is looking fantastic!

I really would add a hammock or two though.
If you said hammy is a climber you wouldn't want him to fall and hurt himself.

You can get rat hammocks from all over the place....LittlePetWarehouse, ebay, The relaxed rat hammocks, fuzzbutt, etc.
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Old 02-19-2013, 03:40 PM   #9
aaronjb
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Default Re: J.F's new Alexander has arrived.. thoughts on this layout?

We're probably going to make him some hanging things like a hammock - although he's definitely gone back to burrowing now!

You can't properly see it in the picture but he's excavated all the substrate beneath the left hand side and then all the way over to the right hand side at the front so he can live under the burrow and store his food in the middle compartment; you can just see his butt there poking out from the hollow underneath
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Old 03-16-2013, 04:19 PM   #10
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Default Re: J.F's new Alexander has arrived.. thoughts on this layout?

We cleaned his cage out again today (our weekly full clean) and Amy decided he needed a revamp and a new layout.. So, here's some pictures of it!

What you can't see is under the right hand (high) shelf - there's a hollow log raised feeding bowl & burrow combination and a hollow cork tree log. Under the left hand (low) shelf is a giant chinchilla sand bath that's sunk into the substrate so it's easy to get into (this one) and a poopenhausen (which he seems to use as a place to store food! )

The hammock was something Amy made up while I was outside putting new discs & pads on the car, but he seems to like it - hence the shot of his fuzzy butt


Incidentally.. he appears to be a she. We may have a gender confused hamster now..
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