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Old 12-30-2015, 04:55 AM   #11
Pebbles82
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
Default Re: Is this hammock hamster safe?

A sputnik could be difficult to hang in a tank - probably not possible. I have to say Charlie likes the roof toys to sit under - they feel safe sitting under something - a shelf would do the same thing though. The downside to hanging toys and hammocks as well is it makes it difficult to see under them to spot clean or find the hamster.

I did see a hamster hammock/swing made from half an egg box hanging by sisal string, which could be fun. It would need to hang fairly low in case the hamster chews through it. I like the idea of a hammock but not something that swings too much or injuries could happen if they fly out. As Cypher says, some people make a kind of fixed hammock with a grass chill n chew mat and zooplus make a grass hammock, but those probably aren't available in the US.

As you have a tank you could probably do more with low level hides and toys due to having the height for deeper substrate.
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Old 12-30-2015, 05:43 AM   #12
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Is this hammock hamster safe?

Here are some fairly typical German hamster tank layouts. Like you they have a kind of racetrack shelf along the back. In this photo there is a wodent wheel on top of a subterranean house, which is also a good idea.

They tend to use a lot of natural cork and wood things like bendy bridges. The cork tunnels are quite big and one would make a nice floor toy which can also be climbed over or used as access to a shelf. If the substrate is really deep you can have one of the cork bridges (ie half a tunnel) underneath the substrate so it is also like an underground hidey place. Some people use millet to look like plants for edible decoration too. The green in the photo on the left is hay. The Germans say putting layers of hay in the substrate helps tunnels hold their shape. In the uk we're not big on hay - it can be hard to find good hay and if its sharp or scratchy I worry about it poking eyes. Although I remember a German member saying Hamsters are cleverer than that and fold the hay as they eat it to keep the ends away from their eyes. Even so hamsters can get eye infections and injure their eyes on sharp bits of wood or such like.

This aquarium set up shows millet strands being used like plants. It also has a 27cm wodent wheel on a shelf to keep the substrate area deep (although the wheel on this one is quite high and protrudes out of the top of the tank, but it could go lower and still give a good depth of substrate).

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/568368415447522005/

If you decided on a wodent wheel, one idea might be to have an additional low, flat topped house or platform at the wheel end, on the floor of the tank, with the wheel stood on top of it. The house would be buried by the substrate and you could put a tube down to the entrance door. Instead of having the bendy bridge separating the areas, you could then have all the tank with quite deep substrate.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/479985272758043320/

I also posted on your other thread with a link to how to hang the wodent wheel from the top in a tank, and that way you could also have higher substrate at the wheel end. The more full tank length of substrate you have, the easier it would be for a hamster to dig a tunnel. I have a bendy bridge dividing my wheel area in the cage, but only because the cage is so low that the wheel fills it! With your tank you can easily have it the same depth in the whole tank, without dividing it, by placing the wheel higher on a platform or hanging from the top.

Last edited by Pebbles82; 12-30-2015 at 05:48 AM.
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Old 12-30-2015, 09:45 AM   #13
Jenibelle
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Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: United States
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Default Re: Is this hammock hamster safe?

I don't think the grass matts here would work for me, personally. I believe the boyfriend is allergic to them.

I'm excited to use the cork, it looks very nice in all the cages I've seen

The bendy bridge isn't being separated for the wheel, it's being used to separate different substrates. That other area is going to be filled with sand. I did tweak it slightly though, which you will see when I picture-update the other thread!
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