Igloo/bed box for prolific chewer

[spacebyte]

Since moving Luna into the Detolf she has had many sleeping spots. In the Alaska she just used the whole area under the shelf as a bed, but now that isn't really an option.

At first she was in a shoebox, but she chewed through it quickly and also push the lid off it a few times. Her water and food bowls were balanced on top- a mess was made.

Right now she's in something very similar to this out of grass and cardboard, which I got at the local pet shop. This has been working out fine, nice flat roof to keep the food and water on top without getting substrate in it, a nice cozy place for her to live.

But then I had to take her out of the Detolf and into the bin cage for half an hour while we assembled our kallax. I put the box in the bin with her, and noticed she had chewed a huge hole in it. She also had peed on it at some point- I think she peed in the bin cage and got it on the box

I've replaced it with a new one, but this is going to get expensive if she carries on chewing holes in things!

Has anyone got any recommendations? A plastic flat topped box with ventilation anywhere? I don't know how good an igloo would be - I want to keep her water elevated from the substrate and she needs to be able to climb up to get at it?

Would wood have the same kind of issues? I'm finding it hard to find a variety online at the moment

[cypher]

The hay houses are meant to be chewed really so it's not surprising she did & there isn't anything you can do about pee on those, once they've got pee on they do need to be binned.
Any wooden house would need to be painted inside with plastikote before use to pee proof it & make it easy to clean, there aren't that many flat topped houses available in the UK, one you might consider is the lief cabin or if she's used to sleeping under a shelf then maybe you could just get or make a free standing shelf to put in the tank.
The ferplast guinea pig house is another option or the corner guinea pig house from zooplus, you can just use a cardboard box too & replace it as needed.
Plastic houses aren't ideal really, even with some ventilation holes you can still get condensation build up & they can be damp inside.
Rodipet have some great houses that quite a lot of us use but it is a bit expensive buying from Germany.

[Vectis Hamstery]

Most of my Syrians have cardboard nest boxes as they enjoy chewing them and I seem to have a large supply of boxes to replace them with if they get chewed/peed on. The plus side is that these nest boxes don't need cleaning and are free, though they aren't pretty. Amazon delivery boxes are a favourite with my lot as they're nice and thick.

I've found there are a few reasonable wooden houses with flat tops - you just need to look in the chinchilla section For example, I got this house at The Range recently - it's open on the base which I like and the entrance hole is big enough for even my largest Syrian.
https://www.therange.co.uk/pets/smal...lla-hut#309087
It may still get chewed, but adapting houses is part of the fun for hammies!

I've also adapted wooden bird nest boxes by making a larger opening for duprasi nest boxes, though those are enclosed so would need to be platikoted if using them for hammies (I haven't platicoted the house from The Range).

Also, hammies don't have to have a food bowl and enjoy snuffling about for scattered food, so you wouldn't need a flat topped nest box if you scatter fed and could have a bigger choice of homes, such as playsticks (http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pe...2522Wood%2522# which can be got from other sources cheaper).

[chesca_27]

For Jasper, I have a wooden 'shelf'. It is actually an Ikea magazine rack/wooden document holder. You just have to remove one of the sides/base and it becomes a shelf. It is a nice size to make a nest in. You can plastikote it, but Jasper never pees on his as he makes his nest lower than the base of the shelf. I keep his food, water and sand bath on top.

It is easy to climb up as well. Larry-Jasper is only a dwarf and he manages fine. I do have a bendy bridge next to it, but that gets ignored.

In the DIY section of the forum, there is a tutorial on making a ramp and fence for it, but I haven't because it's 2inches tall and it's surrounded by bedding and cage walls.