Opinions about habitrail ovo as playpen enrichment

[Hamsterita]

Hi!

I already have a cage, it isn't an habitrail, and I'm not going to change my cage. I'm opening this thread because I know that habitrail are terrible cages, but they would be ok as toys on a playpen?

I'm asking this because I was looking my local second hand advertising and I found an habitrail ovo advert. It's a bargain, actually I think that it may be a scam, because it's too cheap. They say that it's new, and only costs 20 euros. They sell these parts: (loft, maze and adventure pack)

Habitrail OVO - Products
Habitrail OVO - Products
Habitrail OVO - Products

Only the first one would cost more than 30 euros on a store.

I wouldn't think of getting an habitrail as a toy for its original price, but it's soo cheap that I'm really tempted with those. So I was thinking that maybe I could buy it and put it on the playpen as a toy, making a maze or using it as hide outs.

What do you think? Would it be safe? Would it be fun for my ham? Do you think is worthy?

[CMB]

They might be fun for your hamster to use in the playpen or even as an add on to big cage.

You may even be able to use parts of it in your hamsters main cage as a toilet/sand bath etc.

[Drago]

I agree with CMB, it would be a fun toy for your ham to use when she's playing, and ovo tubes are much larger and well ventilated so they're not quite as much of a worry

[AmityvilleHams]

The first one would be very good as a travel cage and could be used in a playpen if you get creative with a setup,but the use of the second is very minimal.The third would be very small and with the design it couldn't be used as an alternative sand bath or anything like that.The third would only work for very small hamsters or mice by the way,but Syrians(especially larger Syrians)would not fit well.

The second product could be used if split up into tubes,the pod as a sand bath for dwarf hamsters,and the pod with handle as a potential carrier.The tubes would still probably be too small for a Syrian as Syrians need to have 3 inches or 7.5 cm holes to fit the absolute maximum pouch size without getting stuck.They'd be wonderful for dwarf hamsters as toys and add on units to far bigger cages,but for Syrians they just aren't very useful

All things considered,for the price you'd pay only the first one would be worth buying.There are still so many things you could get for the money you'd spend which would be more appropriate for a Syrian and would have more use,so do look at other options before wasting money on something which you'd barely use

[cypher]

I think you could probably make more fun for your ham just with cardboard tubes & boxes & other free stuff tbh!
I had the same thought myself some time ago, thinking the second one might be fun for my first Chinese ham out of cage as she loved tunnels & exploring.... she hated it!

[Hamsterita]

Thank you CMB, Drago, Amity and Cypher.

After reading your comments and giving it a thought I think that I'm going to try it as playpen enrichment. I really haven't found anything that he really likes apart from the lower part of my radiator and my sheets/clothes . so maybe he would like a more closed enclosure. For some reason he doesn't care about cardboard toilet tubes on his playpen, neither about seesaws, bendy bridges and so on. Pringles tubes were a hit and miss on his playpen.


I would like to be able to get more things for him on physical stores but the offer where I live is very limited (almost non existent), so If I want different things I have to order them online and shipping cost usually is half of what I'm going to pay for everything so... If you think about that it looks like a even better bargain.

I already have a carrier, and I think that mine is far better, but If I'm not going to use one of them I could sell it.

Overall, I think that what's more important for me is that you said it could work, and it's safe (he doesn't pouch almost anything when he's out, and he's always supervised), and if it doesn't work I think that I could re-sell it losing a little bit of money, so in my opinion it's worth giving it a try. I prefer giving it a try and have to re-sell it later because it didn't work, that regret not doing it.

[Rooky101]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

The first one would be very good as a travel cage and could be used in a playpen if you get creative with a setup,but the use of the second is very minimal.The third would be very small and with the design it couldn't be used as an alternative sand bath or anything like that.The third would only work for very small hamsters or mice by the way,but Syrians(especially larger Syrians)would not fit well.

The second product could be used if split up into tubes,the pod as a sand bath for dwarf hamsters,and the pod with handle as a potential carrier.The tubes would still probably be too small for a Syrian as Syrians need to have 3 inches or 7.5 cm holes to fit the absolute maximum pouch size without getting stuck.They'd be wonderful for dwarf hamsters as toys and add on units to far bigger cages,but for Syrians they just aren't very useful

All things considered,for the price you'd pay only the first one would be worth buying.There are still so many things you could get for the money you'd spend which would be more appropriate for a Syrian and would have more use,so do look at other options before wasting money on something which you'd barely use

I am not sure if this is just my hamster but he can turn round in the tubes fine!! He is quite a large Syrian too and enjoys using the ovo habitrail as an extension to his cage!

[Hamsterita]

Well, I already have the cage, tubes and other stuffs and I'm impressed, the cage is huge compared with what I was expecting (69 x 33 cm). I think that as CMB and Rooky suggested it could be a good add on to a cage, but I'm going to stick to my original plan because the tubes look really tiny to me and I prefer to have him supervised all the time when he's using them.

Anyway, I think that I should keep it even if Blacky doesn't like it, because if I ever have a dwarf it could be a good addition to the tank if the tubes are used only to walk from one place to the other.


BTW. The cage wasn't new, and it had several parts cracked, the girl that was selling it to me insisted that it was new and that she just have broken it because she slip on the stairs when she was in her way to giving it to me, but I didn't believe her, because it was already glued, and it was dirty as f*ck. I said to her that I didn't want a broken cage and that she could keep it, so she lowered the price to 15 euros and I accepted. I asked her if I needed to know something about any particular diseases that the previous little owner of the cage could have (and still be the bacterias on the cage) and she said over and over again that no ham was ever in the cage, that it was new, blah blah blah. My ass. I was going to take precautions anyway, because I didn't believe a word of she was saying, but when I arrived home and checked the stuff carefully I saw wood shavings stuck in the joints, a yellow stain on one of the ovos, and a lot of black stains all over the place... so all went straight to the bathtub with litres of water and bleach. I let it soak all morning and then I rinsed it and sprayed it with pet disinfectant (once I have used chemicals... why not have the full pack), and rinsed it again. Tomorrow I'm going to clean it again with vinegar, to remove any trace of the other products, and I'm going to rinse it a couple of times again before use it. Do you think guys that it would be ok?? Any suggestions???

Once I finish with the clean up I'll post some photos of his new playpen.

[BorisPasha]

oh my goodness why do people tell lies when it is so obvious they are lying?!? I'm glad you managed to get it cheaper after that!

It sounds like you're being very thorough with the cleaning (I don't blame you, I would be the same!) and I can't imagine anything nasty would still be living on it after all that but I'm still a newbie so I'm sure others will have better advice.

I'll look forward to seeing it when you get it up and running and I'm sure Blacky will have lots of fun with it

[Hamsterita]

Well. I spent a whole week cleaning the thing. I think that I spent more money cleaning it than in the habitrail itself. First I let it soak a whole morning in water with bleach, then I rinsed it very well, then I applied pet disinfectant and gave it a good scrub to get ride of any trace of bleach, then I rinsed it again, and finally I applied a solution of water and vinegar scrubbing the whole thing, I rinsed it, and I applied the solution again, I rinsed it well, let it dry, rinsed it again, and let it dry again. I was worried of using bleach, but I was ever more worried about nasty virus/bacterias on it, so I cleaned it over and over again after using the bleach, and that way I think that it is almost impossible to find traces of the chemicals. My bathroom has smelling at salad for four days.

I think that it was worthy anyway. Blacky liked the habitrail a lot. I think that he thinks that it's like a theme park. The first time I used the main cage too, but he feels too confy in there and he doesn't get out, so now I'm using only the tubes and smaller ovos.

This is the set up of the firsts sessions.
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And this is how I'm using it now.
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He usually takes a very looong groom session in the tiniest ovo, and then he roams around a little bit. In the photo on the top you can see him grooming. And here he is exploring
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