Granite Cooling Stone Safeness?

[mikew]

I just wondered whether these Granite cooling stones are safe for Syrians? https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072HJMW..._OgmtzbZEHWK4M

[cypher]

Totally fine, just try to put it somewhere they won't try to burrow under as they are a little heavy, I have granite slabs or houses with granite roof for my dwarf hams with no problems at all & they do stay nice & cool in hot weather.

[Pebbles82]

Yes they're good I have one on a shelf and used to have one on top of a flat-roofed house. As Cypher says they're too heavy to sit on substrate as they could squash the hammy if they dug underneath it. You can also use a small terracotta plant pot, or a plant pot saucer or a ceramic mug, and put them in the fridge, then put them in the cage about the time they wake up. I used to have two to rotate so one was always in the fridge.

[mikew]

Thanks Cypher. Just trying to get a plan together for if the crazy hot weather comes back here.

[Pebbles82]

The only thing is, it looks like the granite might be polished - which is ok but could be a bit slippery/slidey. I have this one which is rough granite, so it also helps keep their nails shortened with it being rough. I have it on a shelf underneath the water bottle - good for soaking up drips as well. It costs a bit more because of the postage from Rodipet in Germany.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rodipet-Gra...odipet+granite

[Pebbles82]

Last year I was letting our hammy run around in front of the open fridge door to cool off lol. He was very tame though and quite old so I wasn't worried about him running away or getting behind the fridge. Some people put a bag of frozen peas on top of the cage as well but that's best only done when you're around or they could chew the plastic bag open through the bars.

[SKB_Hamsters]

I use a granite cooling tile for my Syrian, Pumpkin - she really liked laying on it in the evening this week during this recent warm weather. I place her tile on the shelf above her house so she couldn't dig beneath it and when the weather was really warm I placed the granite tile in the fridge for a little while to cool it down slightly.
Before I used the granite tile (as the one I have is fairly larger as it designed for chinchillas and is what I used to use when I had guinea-pigs) I used to use a leftover ceramic bathroom tile which also worked well.

[DrropS]

I purchased from pets at home a cooling pad which starts cooling itself when your pet is going on top. I was a bit concerned that Daisy would chew it, because she is a hige chewer, even it is made of non toxic material. But I got surprised and she didn't chew it at all and she was enjoying it.

In case your hamster is not a huge chewer you, I would say the cool pod is really nice.

[AmityvilleHams]

Gel based cooling items really shouldn't be used inside the cage whether your hamster is likely to chew or not.Safety is extremely debatable at best with those things,and while they're fine to use externally there are plenty other alternatives to use inside the cage rather than taking such an avoidable risk

[mikew]

Thanks for all the info.

When it was really hot the guy in PAH suggested using a frozen bottle of water wrapped in a towel and place against the outside side of the cage ham sleeps on. Has anyone used that?