How to make a rat cage safe for a hamster?

[Hammy992]

I have used a cargo net in the Alexander before, I think it was from pets at home and it was relatively tightly woven. He did chew the thing to pieces but that was when I resorted to using it as a barricade to the hole he was chewing in the cage - when it was hanging he never even took a nibble. Luckily he didn't seem to actually eat any, just left mountains of shredded twine in the corner for me to clean up.

Last night I put Custard in the cage for a supervised play test run. It's not finished yet but I figured if I watched him explore the cage it would help me see areas that need the most attention. And bingo! Turned away for a few seconds looked back and he was trying to reach out of his Sputnik to the bars of the cage, almost gave me a heart attack! Shelf went in immediately.

The way he does things almost seems like he knows when he shouldn't do something but goes to do it anyway. Like he was eyeing off this space where another shelf is going, I saw him wave a paw over the edge so I said "No". Looks at me, looks at the ledge, looks at me, goes for it. Theres a hammock right underneath so he didn't take a tumble but I think it will be much more secure with a shelf instead.
He was quite curious with the cage and especially the door which unlike the Alexander is on the front, which he can reach when it's open. Will have to make sure that locks securely every time as he is a bit of an explorer.
Heading to the shops today to see what else I can find... he's a lucky boy his presents are costing more than everyone else's this Christmas!

[Pebbles82]

The big shelves sound good As you say there's always a gap (and they always find it lol). If he's such a chewer, hammocks could be a bit of a problem but Zooplus sell grass hammocks for about £3 and someone on here used a chill n chew mat as a hammock as well. You'd still need to keep an eye on them so they don't fall down if chewed I guess.

It sounds similar to setting up a Mamble, even though taller. Another option to deal with some of the height could be to put cardboard round the inside of the bars, just above the base - maybe 6" high cardboard all round - and have much deeper substrate. More cushioning but also reduces the height by about another 15cm.

Putting a full level in could solve most of the issues - if you measure the inside width and depth a hardward store could cut a piece of wood to size and also cut out a section maybe 3 to 4" by half the length for an access ladder. Then you'd just need a shelf over the access part and the corner shelves add additional interest and levels as well. The full level is probably the safest way to prevent falls for a chewer.

Anyway as CMB says maybe post a photo and we can spot areas and make suggestions.

If it was me I would go with - full level plus an extra 6" of substrate Plus your corner shelves on the upper level.

Then you'd end up with something similar to this

https://www.amazon.de/Schulte-M%C3%A...los+k%C3%A4fig

The Carlos cage is 89cm tall - the equivalent of two Barney cages on top of each other. Instead of the extra cage base half way up you'd have a wood level - so ideally it would need to be higher up than half way as it's harder to land on than substrate. To avoid having a very steep ladder up from the base, the extra 6" of substrate with the cardboard round the base, would mean a ladder/tube access wouldn't be so steep.

[Mollie]

When I said a 'Cargo net' I meant one of the sturdy rope ones like this:

https://www.viovet.co.uk/Boredom_Bre...Fe-37QodDUoNsg

- they last for years. I machine wash mine although they have shrunk over time!

They are very useful for breaking falls and they can be put at an angle too.

Amityville - I respectfully disagree! I think Fleece is far, far more likely to be chewed.