Good question about the glue. I swear by this stuff - it’s what people on the German hamster forums use. No smell (other than a faint sort of copydex smell), very strong non toxic wood glue. It’s called Ponal Classic. It only comes in a biggish bottle for about £10 but I think it’s worth it - I’ve used it for many other purposes since and it’s my go to wood glue.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ponal-16803...DING_ADHESIVES
I actually don’t use sand baths for Syrians - I just use a litter tray with sand in which they pee in. None of ours have seemed that interested in sand except to pee in and a couple positively objected to it! It’s not essential for a Syrian although is essential for a Robo.
That wheel! I have never seen those before! Looks amazing - it must be a new thing. I can’t really tell from looking at the rear photos but it does look like it doesn’t remove from the stand to screw to the bars (probably can’t due to the angle anyway) so yes it would need to stand on something. I have sometimes used another, smaller house under the substrate as a stand.
In terms of that and platforms - have you seen the getzoo platforms? They are very good and come in various sizes and heights. They are easy to use in tanks but as with most things in legs, they don’t fit right up to the edge due to the sloping cage base. However you can doctor them slightly by just taking a bit of length off the back legs so they’re wedged against the sloping base.
For the maze house I find it fits quite well up to the back and one side without wasted space - if the legs are at the front, one side and one in the middle.
I think a screw in shelf would be easier in that cage though. If making one you’d just need a small drill bit to drill in for holes for screws to go in, plus some screws and large washers. That is all the bought shelves come with.
I found screws won’t go into the wood unless a hole is drilled first with a very small drill bit.
Just wondering if there is any other way of attaching the wheel. I have a Karlie wood wheel hung upside down so no need for support and leaves plenty of substrate under it. That would only work if the wheel is removable from the stand and reattached again after the stand is slotted through the top bars.
Or you could just tie the stand to the bars - not sure how secure that would be. I tend to attach wheels to the bars so they don’t take up too much space and protrude too much but on the other hand, a shelf under (or house under) provides another hide.
It doesn’t really matter if all the floor space has lots of items - makes it more interesting, like an obstacle course
. Good access is important though - being easily able to get to shelves etc. For the house I just put a bendy bridge next to it. But they tend to sink if used for a shelf.
If the Ferplast tubes are hamster sized ones you need to be a bit careful that they’re big enough for the hamster. Some hamsters can get stuck - especially with full pouches. If it’s a straight short run it might be ok but depends on the size of the hamster. As a general rule, rat sized toys are better for hamsters. And yes they do take up more space - but you also have the roof. I used a Savic rat tube tied to the roof (sisal string) which led between the maze house roof and the shelf- diagonally across the cage roof. It actually led into a Sputnik at each end as didn’t quite reach.
But they could still do with floor access to the shelf as well. You could just tie a tube to the bars at sn angle leading to the shelf. But as that cage has a large front door I found anything going up to the shelf obstructed the door (as had the wheel at the back). But doesn’t obstruct it too much.
Generally shelves are better for cages and platforms better for tanks.
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