Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000
There is definitely a market for suitable hamster hides and bridges (and ladders that attach safely).
The only real suitable hamster hides, in my view, are from Rodipet or Getzoo and postage is expensive (and the houses are expensive). And those aren't all quite perfect either - rooms too small or compartments in the wrong place. They are pretty good though (especially the rodipet ones).
It's basically a box with holes isn't it? With the comparments in the right place.
Just about everything else is either too small or made with nails or has unsafe entrance sizes or windows.
The Ferplast Guinea pig and Rabbit houses are a good "nesting box" but as Cloudy says, the doors are very large.
I found a few "copycat" labyrinth houses on Amazon that looked ok, but on closer inspection the dimensions were only enough for dwarf hamsters (and some of the wood looked a bit rough and splintery).
Happy Hamsters links a couple of Etsy sellers for houses - one labyrinth house looked quite good there, but some of the inner entrance doors were in the wrong place. Rodipet has it right there (with the Syrian labyrinth house) - the nesting area needs to be round a corner so it's dark and the toilet tray area needs to be easily accessible for it, with the top hole well away from those area.
They are expensive and I usually end up cutting a compartment out. They would also be better with doors rather than holes - when our hamsters are older I end up cutting out the bottom part of the hole to make a door - so they can still get in and out of the house (when they can't pick their feet up or have a lump or something).
So if you're thinking of starting a cottage industry - please do! I'd buy one!
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This is great information, thank you!
Having a look at Rodipet and Getzoo items, a nesting box/multi-chamber and the like all seem to range between 20-40€. I would be bummed to buy an item for a price I felt high and then still have to customize it. With the compartment placing, size and better quality sorted - what would you say would be a fair price? (without shipping)
Paying attention to the shape of doorways is something I could definitely do, I can totally see the benefit there.
Haha, excellent, I will make sure I make it known if I end up doing this.
