Living World Eco Habitat Cage

[LunaTheHamster1]

Thanks Amethyst.
Ria can you wait till Friday? ��I have to admit I didn't really like my first attempt at the cage setup but I made the video anyway. Going forward Hoping people can give me some better ideas. I had to reduce the substrate because Twinkle could escape over the top and my nerves couldn't stand it. He is so long he could reach up, he also jumps. If it was Star it would't have been a problem. Also I wish the ventilation holes were more towards the top, they are just over half way up and I am sure Twinkle chews at two of them. There are teeth scratch marks, although I haven't seen or heard him do it since he first moved in. I need to set up the nighttime camera to see what the monkey is up to when I am asleep

[flowerfairy]

Love your youtube channel! Roll on Friday.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

Ria can you wait till Friday? ��

Yeah, what time?

[LunaTheHamster1]

Originally Posted by flowerfairy

Love your youtube channel! Roll on Friday.

Thanks so much Flower Fairy. Thatnis so nice to hear.

[LunaTheHamster1]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Yeah, what time?

4pm oh gosh, talk about pressure Ria, I hope you like it.. i think I can improve on it, just not sure how yet. Now i finally got the hinges on, i can hang things from the lid, so I will see how that goes.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

4pm oh gosh, talk about pressure Ria, I hope you like it.. i think I can improve on it, just not sure how yet. Now i finally got the hinges on, i can hang things from the lid, so I will see how that goes.

Perfect. I love your videos and set ups so i'm really looking forward to see what you've done with the Eco Habitat. I always slightly adjust a set up a couple of days after or wake up during the night with a better idea and get annoyed because its not time to get up yet and that i ought to be asleep. This feeling that i could improve on something stays with me though.

[Pebbles82]

Love the lid video - a very clever idea with the handles and hinges and a neat mesh job . So is there a set up video I’ve missed or is it still to come

Re the vent holes in the Perspex. I have read of people covering those with a strip of mesh but not sure how easy that would be on the inside and no sharp bits. Maybe you can buy pre formed long narrow mesh pieces or something (like the one in the Marrakesh).

I am sure a hamster couldn’t escape with that meshed lid so even if using the holes to climb it shouldn’t do any harm.

I once planned a set up in one if these - but then didn’t buy it . It was for a platform along the back left wall with the wheel sitting on top. Platform and wheel height meant substrate limited in that area so then the right side of the cage was going to be deeper substrate with a subterranean house set into it (on legs). Didn’t get much further than that!

[LunaTheHamster1]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Love the lid video - a very clever idea with the handles and hinges and a neat mesh job . So is there a set up video I’ve missed or is it still to come

Re the vent holes in the Perspex. I have read of people covering those with a strip of mesh but not sure how easy that would be on the inside and no sharp bits. Maybe you can buy pre formed long narrow mesh pieces or something (like the one in the Marrakesh).

I am sure a hamster couldn’t escape with that meshed lid so even if using the holes to climb it shouldn’t do any harm.

I once planned a set up in one if these - but then didn’t buy it . It was for a platform along the back left wall with the wheel sitting on top. Platform and wheel height meant substrate limited in that area so then the right side of the cage was going to be deeper substrate with a subterranean house set into it (on legs). Didn’t get much further than that!

Thanks Serendipity, I can't take full credit for the idea, I knew I wanted to do something as I don't have the energy to keep lifting the lid on and off everynight and I was worried that I would drop it into the cage. I do not want another squashed Twinkle! So I did lots of research and came across a video where someone had done the same but hadn't really shown how they had done it, so I tried to show all the steps in my video. I left a link in the video description to their video.

The set up video is out tomorrow I keep saying this, not my best work,I truly think you are all going to be disappointed

I had some mesh left over and I had thought I could attach to the inside with zipties/string or a nut and bolt going through the end ventilation holes, but for now I am just leaving it.
He may have been just trying to work out what his new setup is all about. There are no teeth marks on any of the other holes.

I like your idea re the platform. I may work on that in the future. The problem is that the ventilation holes aren't that high up compared to the height of the cage, so you can't cover them up with substrate. i might pile up a bit more substrate in the middle if i can. I can't do it around the edges because Mr Twinkle will happily and speedily climb up and over given the chance. I see so many people with setups where they go right up to the top and they look so good, but Twinkle would be just up and over before I had finished lifting the lid.

I put his house on top of a massive pile of substrate to start with, but because it was at the edge he was up and over (although I had another house on top of that house, you will see in tomorrows video what I mean) So I had to reduce the bedding and move the house which was on top of the main house)
To be honest with all the bedding I gave him, he still didn't burrow. I had thought of moving his house to the middle, so i could add more bedding underneath, but I always think hamsters don't like that. I noticed it with Luna when I once moved her house to the middle, I think they feel safer when their house is up against a corner.

[LunaTheHamster1]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Perfect. I love your videos and set ups so i'm really looking forward to see what you've done with the Eco Habitat. I always slightly adjust a set up a couple of days after or wake up during the night with a better idea and get annoyed because its not time to get up yet and that i ought to be asleep. This feeling that i could improve on something stays with me though.

Thanks Ria,I always love yours.
I'm always tweaking things, I watch with hawk eyes to make sure nothing is too high or dangerous when I see them moving about in the new setup.
I sat and thought about the Marrakesh cage setup for weeks, and I wasn't happy, then all of a sudden it came to me and I quickly swapped things around and it flowed so much better.

[Pebbles82]

Ah I see - so it's when you take the lid off he gets out! I did see something once about this cage and the side holes - about reversing the perspex panels so the holes were nearer the top rather than nearer the bottom. Is that possible? Or maybe not necessary because as you say, really deep substrate isn't necessary. Six inches is probably fine as with a cage. If house was on top of that he almost certainly wouln't be able to climb out. But yes keeping the house away from the side holes sounds good. How about centre back? Then you can see him going in and out of the house. The platform for a wheel doesn't need to be very tall - it could sit at substrate level - just to keep it steady. But then you'd need the wheel at the back as well to be away from the side holes I guess.

I have seen hamsters piling all their substrate in one corner as a hill to climb to get out! Maybe when he is settled in the cage he won't be trying to get out each time - so it could be a time thing.

Don't worry about the video - there is time to change things when he's settled I'm sure it's fine anyway. Always interesting to see how people set things up.