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Originally Posted by Serendipity7000
I think Happy is from Germany where they have amazing minimum standards and amazing cages and tank set ups  The tank is bigger than many people have in the US and Uk and there are different opinions on what is an ideal size and what is a good size Not dismissing what you said Happy, I think German ideal sizes are based on research and ideally we would all have that much space, but her choice of tank is bigger than most I think the German recommended welfare minimum is 100cm by 50cm.
Following on from cork logs - have taken a photo of them in my cage. It's a different set up to yours as it's a cage rather than a tank but it's just to illustrate how they can be used. One is a big one/large size and is a tunnel rather than a log/tube (ie open underneath) and our hammy climbs up it to the higher shelf and another tunnel. The other one is the small size (similar to the one linked earlier) and is round like a tube but it doesn't roll over as it wedges well into the substrate. He runs through this under the shelf and also climbs on it to get onto the shelf. My cage is only 100cm by 54cm and doesn't have particularly deep substrate (15 to 20cm). It's not perfect by German standards but our hammy is happy in it and he has a lot of out of cage time.
It would be amazing to have 30cm deep substrate in at least part of it. Sometimes they are happy with a good big house though and a bendy bridge over the door, that mimics a burrow and tunnel entrance.
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Oh that's awesome! I have seen a few setups using cork or chewable wood logs/toys and they always look so fun (especially in video when you can see the hammy happily exploring)
Yeah I felt off put by Happy saying that, I had hamsters years ago in only 20gallons and I feel so guilty about it, now i saved money for a big 50gallon tank for my new ham...I'd love to have a 1,000gallon tank but...I need the space and money for that. Hammies deserve the world! I totally understand German mentality. I see some people in FB groups in america with 12inx12in cages and it breaks my heart
I saw a video of substrate slowly getting deeper as the cage goes on (left is 5 inches, building up to about 9 inches) is that a good idea?