Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000
Option 1.
- Lower the top shelf to the same level (or very nearly the same level) as the bottom shelf.
- Don't use the ladders as ladders - use them as "joining pieces" spanning the two shelves. Both across the back next to each other. This leaves you with a "hole" at the front.
- Use a tube as access from the substrate up to one of the shelves.
- Add an additional small shelf to the bars at the front over the gap and the tube. That makes it the equivalent of a full level. The hooks on ladders are a bit of a risk at present as there's a gap between the ladder and shelf where a foot/leg can get trapped.
- No need for deep substrate but at least 4" is needed anyway. Corn cob isn't really suitable for hamsters - I can't remember why but there is some health issue associated with it. Carefresh, aspen, hemp, Finacard, Fitch are all good options.
Option 2:
- Put 2" deep cardboard strips all round the inside of the bars above the top of the glass base.
- Put 6" depth of substrate in (ie to top of glass base ish).
- Leave the lower shelf in and remove the other shelf (better to fall onto substrate than bounce off the edge of the shelf and land on a ladder.
- Put the cardboard house on top of the substrate at the end where the higher shelf used to be
- Put any hard toys and the wood sticks on the shelf with the wheel
- Get some cardboard tubes as floor toys to fill up the floor space a bit (eg kitchen roll inner tubes - soft to land on).
- Don't use the ladders with the hooks as they are at the moment and the hamster could still fall on the ladder even from less of a height. A good option as a ramp which doubles up as a floor toy is a large cork tunnel sat on the substrate and they can run up the side of it. If you don't want to buy one then you could use a bendy bridge ramp and stick some hemp mat to it.
Hope that helps. I would probably go with option one.
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I went with option one (kinda), have a look at the photos I uploaded in the last message, the only problem is that my hamster doesn't like tubes or ramps too much, he just uses them to get down, and he always goes to the wooden shelf climbing on the cage, it should be safer now right?