[sammy87]

Oh when i mean by spot clean is what i mean by cleaning that corner. Its just raising the platform and getting to it will upset gus no end so its the whole often but less impact or less often and greater impact argument.

When it comes to cleaning, it all comes back to tmy raining when i did a national diploma in animal care they were very much weekly clean out no matter the size of the pen. If you did it less you risk the animals welfare has nothing to do with smell. This was very strict. During this time i started to get small mammals as pets i have had a wide variety over the years, at first of course i followed the training you never want to risk an animals welfare, but i soon realised that weekly was more than was needed and the stress you could cause wasnt worth it so i have reduced slowly over the years till once a month. However, i still worry about the welfare issues and where you have a animal that is a little more stressed making them are more prone to illness i like to air on the side of caution.

In terms of my bin cage i went with drill bit holes all small and out of reach but this allowed me to cover the lid and some of the top sides allowing abit of alot of ventilation and hopefully hrough flow. There shoild be enough as i not had issues with other hamster that have used it in the path but i will keep and eye on it. I also had a few vets eyeing them up.
The huge tube complex to be honest sounds more impressive then it is really, at the moment, i managed to put a large hole in the lid of the bin cage so that i can extend the tube out of the box, that currently goes round in a circle to a little room but once he is settled in, it is going to also connect up to a box the same size so he will have double the room to play with. But i need lockdown to end so i can borrow my brothers handyman tools.
I can understand what you mean about top openning lids. I had been wondering also whether fasten of the lid when you release it make a loudish click which might not be helping either.