Hamster Central - View Single Post

HammyGandB · 11-22-2022, 04:49 AM

Hi everyone, first time on this forum but it looks like an awesome community.

My partner and I bought our first syrian hamster last week, his name is Oreo. I had two hamsters as a child however, not as an adult I realize how I could have cared for my hamsters a lot better and want to do a better job with Oreo.

To get to the point, we removed the tubes from Oreo's cage last night and I would love to hear everyone's opinions on tubes for syrian's or all hamsters. We bought a traditional bin and wire cage for our hamster and the pet store said it was big enough for a syrian however, we plan on getting a bigger one soon. This cage came with normal sized clear tubes which attached to either side of the cage creating one straight tube, horizontally, across the back of the cage. The problem is that he would hardly ever come out of the tubes. After a week, we decided to remove the tubes because he just wasn't coming out as often anymore for food and water. We couldn't even get him to come out easily with treats. He started to use the corners of the tubes as his toilet, only slept in the tubes, hardly utilized the space in his cage and would move all his food into the tube. He just lived in the tube.

We decided to remove the tubes after reading on this forum that tubes aren't always a great idea for hamsters as it often leads to them just sleeping and using the tubes as their toilet, creating a bacteria issue, they can get stuck and airflow is an issue. Is this true? Do petstores advertise tubes as fun and healthy for hamsters when they in fact aren't?

I also wanted to remove the tubes because we were having to take the tubes out to clean them because of the poo and urine which would cause Oreo a lot of distress from the sudden jerking and movements.

I'd really love any feedback on comments on this situation... We really want Oreo to be happy but also healthy. Thank you so much everyone!

11-22-2022, 04:49 AM
HammyGandB Newborn Pup Join Date: Nov 2022 Posts: 3	Removing Tubes from Syrian Cage. Hi everyone, first time on this forum but it looks like an awesome community. My partner and I bought our first syrian hamster last week, his name is Oreo. I had two hamsters as a child however, not as an adult I realize how I could have cared for my hamsters a lot better and want to do a better job with Oreo. To get to the point, we removed the tubes from Oreo's cage last night and I would love to hear everyone's opinions on tubes for syrian's or all hamsters. We bought a traditional bin and wire cage for our hamster and the pet store said it was big enough for a syrian however, we plan on getting a bigger one soon. This cage came with normal sized clear tubes which attached to either side of the cage creating one straight tube, horizontally, across the back of the cage. The problem is that he would hardly ever come out of the tubes. After a week, we decided to remove the tubes because he just wasn't coming out as often anymore for food and water. We couldn't even get him to come out easily with treats. He started to use the corners of the tubes as his toilet, only slept in the tubes, hardly utilized the space in his cage and would move all his food into the tube. He just lived in the tube. We decided to remove the tubes after reading on this forum that tubes aren't always a great idea for hamsters as it often leads to them just sleeping and using the tubes as their toilet, creating a bacteria issue, they can get stuck and airflow is an issue. Is this true? Do petstores advertise tubes as fun and healthy for hamsters when they in fact aren't? I also wanted to remove the tubes because we were having to take the tubes out to clean them because of the poo and urine which would cause Oreo a lot of distress from the sudden jerking and movements. I'd really love any feedback on comments on this situation... We really want Oreo to be happy but also healthy. Thank you so much everyone!