trouble tube climbing

[winterwhite]

Does anyone else have winter whites that sometimes struggle up vertical rotastak tubes .Our winter whites are still quite young and do not live in the rotastak system but we like to excersise them in it.
However they sometimes seem to find it difficult to get a hold on the side of the tubes in the vertical areas of the set up.i have tried to combat this situation by building most of the rotastak set up on one level and by only going two tubes high at most up onto the second tier,i have also now placed the small ladders inside the tubes which seems to helped the situation.I will also experiment with wooden building blocks in the form of stairs instead of the vertical tubes .
I was curious if any other winter white owners had also experienced this with the rotastak tubes.

[internet_nobody]

They have furry feet, so aren't suited to smooth tubes. Mouse ladders should help them manage to climb!

Nor are WWs really suited to rotastak, modular cages really seem to promote fighting :S

[T-Bone]

The tubes are too wide for a dwarf hamster to climb vertically, i've only ever seen a syrian manage to climb them for any serious distance.

When we had rotastak we just linked all the different units (maxi unit, home and away, dining room etc) horizontally, though it can take up alot more space that way.

[winterwhite]

Hi internet_nobody thanks for the reply and your views.
I am aware that WWs have furry feet to help them maintain body warmth and to help with fast movement over sand dunes/snow in their native environment.
I also understand that they are not outstanding climbers but to be honest i never associated furry feet as to detract from their climbing ability.
Although now you have pointed it out ,It does make sense that furry feet must hamper the hamster from being able to get a good purchase or grip onto the wide smooth vertical surface of the tubes.
Ifind your statement very interesting when you say WWs are not suited to rotastak do you mean the size of the tubes in respect to vertical climbing or just rotastak systems in general and wondered if this is your own personal opinion based on experience ,or if their is actual evidence somewhere to support your views.
Firstly let me point out that i don't use the rotastak system to house our hamsters,but i do use it to exercise them in individually.
It is my understanding that the rotastak system is designed to recreate the tunnels and compartnents found in burrows of the wild hamsters and to give the hamster some sembelance of it's natural home.
In our case the wild WWs native home being Mongolia,Siberia,Kazakhstan & Manchuria i believe that the burrows found in these areas are reported to be between 2' - 10' deep and the home consisting of a horizontal tunnel around 3' long leading to the nest chamber and a numer of vertical tunnels connected to more horizontal tunnels.This in my opinion sounds very much like my large rotastak system ,or be it made from different materials and probably differing width of tunnels.
I fully understand that the hamsters we keep have never seen a natural burrow,but i believe even with extensive domestic breeding over many many years the hamsters still retain a natural instinct ,one that includes the need to burrow and hide and to enjoy objects such as large tunnel systems. Also in my home survey 4/6 of our hamsters agreed with my findings.
The other point you make about modular cages seem to promote fighting,. i find a fascinating subject for debate.
But before i begin let me point out that i keep all my hamsters in 2' - 3' glass aquariums on their own so the fighting debate is hypothetical as far as i am concerned but still very thought provoking.
It is my opinion that it is probably not down to the type of cage system that makes hamsters housed together more prone to fight.But the fact that hamsters have individual characters and any social group of hamsters kept in a relatively confined space will have social issues to resolve and this is done by fighting.The issues may range from a struggle for dominance within the groups hierarchy or pecking order or just down to a female not ready to mate and letting the male know her feelings in no uncertain terms.
Let me thank you again internet_nobody for your views and letting me think a bit deeper about the hobby we all enjoy.
Oh yes if any director from rotastak reads this post i will be willing to accept any free gifts you see fit to send my way,and maybe your vertical tubes need a re think for the dwarf hamsters perhaphs some rougher textured inner sides with a smaller inner width .

[internet_nobody]

In the wild they would not live in single sex groups, they'd be in breeding communities with an obvious alpha male and alpha female. It wouldn't matter too much to the group if there was fighting, and some hamsters died as happens in other communities of social small mammals. They would also spend a lot of time out of the burrow foraging for food, so even if rotastak replicates the burrow it is not a complete mirror of their natural environment. I think that the best caging is a large tank (which you said you use) as you can put deep bedding in to allow them to burrow, and they are free to choose where they want to burrow and nest etc.

I know several people, and have read many more stories on forums of hamsters falling out due to modular caging. One hamster decides a section is his, and won't let the other in, and they start to fight and it gets nasty. I had my first WWs in a large bin with some tubes attached, and the tubes did indeed become a problem for them, one would refuse to let the other in and they fell out. I now use the plastic Zoo Zone tanks, and touch wood haven't had any fallouts.

[winterwhite]

Hi again and thanks for the reply.You make some very good points especially the fact that hamsters in the wild would spend a lot of time out of the burrow foraging for food.This is an area you tend to forget about when keeping domestic pet hamsters who get food and drink served to them daily .
This has given me an idea where perhaps once a week i will feed a little less in the main bowl and hide food or treats throughout the tank and toys and make the hamsters work a little harder for their food,who knows this may stimulate our hamsters and they might
even enjoy it.
I am still not completely sold on the theory modular cages promote fighting ,i'm quite sure what you say is true and what people have told you is all true and that these fights have happened.But i still wonder how many people have kept hamsters together in non modular type cages,tanks,bins or whatever and still fighting occurs because or furry little friends decide this corner of the tank is mine ,or this clump of hay is mine, or if you touch that raisin your gonna wish you were never born. Anyway i will have to say the jury is out on that issue.
Great to hear that your hamsters are getting along fine in the zoo zone tanks and long may it continue.