Blind Hamster Having Trouble With Levels

[Forrest]

I have a blind and deaf winter white hamster who has been having trouble navigating her cage lately... she has not been blind her entire life. Only recently with old age has she become blind and deaf. Unfortunately, my very stubborn parents are insisting that I can not get her a new cage (even though I pay for all of my animals myself and do not need them to drive me to the pet store). Her current cage has two levels, each one higher than the next and I am very concerned that she might fall off one and injure herself. The levels are not removable and I am not sure if my parents would "let me" get hammocks to put underneath them. Is there any homemade thing or way to prevent her from going up to the levels? She really enjoys them and spends most her time on them, but if she kills herself by falling off I would be heartbroken. Thanks

[AprilPearl]

By two levels, do you mean that there is the base of the cage and one level above that? Or are there two levels above the base? If buying another cage/removing the levels/buying hammocks is not an option, then I'd make sure to use a really thick layer of substrate. Like, really thick.

Or, could you potentially make hammocks yourself out of old material? Provided it is hamster safe, of course.

Never having had a blind hamster myself, I am sorry if I was not much use!

[Pebbles82]

I think older hamsters do need levels removing, especially if they are blind. I know I set my cage up all on one level when our Hamster was about 18 months old when he started losing his balance occasionally.

If the floor area is big enough to set up on its own you could maybe block off the upper half of the cage to block off the levels, although that would mean a bit of diy.

What cage is it? Do you have a photo? I can't imagine a cage that has non removable levels

[Pebbles82]

Alternatively you could make a bin cage. The Ikea Samla bin only costs £10. People then cut out panels in the sides and roof and attach mesh to them.

Something like the one far right on the top row is a good one

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ha...w=1366&bih=568

SAMLA Box Transparent 78x56x43 cm/130 l - IKEA

[alpacassei]

I have two blind Hybrid Russians. The best thing to do is remove the levels or move her to a bin cage. Before I moved my Russians to bin cages, I had deep substrate so they wouldn't hurt themselves if they fell off the edge and kept all their toys away from near where they could fall.