Does anyone use a rope bridge?

[Gust0o]

I keep seeing a lot of rope bridge toys, which look like they might be rather fun:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Play-Bridge-With- ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pet-Play-Bridge-W ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Play-Bridge-2-Sto ... dZViewItem

My first Syrian, Hobbs, is on his way - and I'm determined that he be spoilt rotten, as a rehome.

So, does anyone have such a bridge?

Do the hamsters enjoy it?

Better yet, how do you feel a Syrian would enjoy it?

Thanks in advance!

[Bunsey]

i've had things like this and they're much larger than they look and the hamsters don't really play with them. the rungs on the ladders are too far apart. they're better for rats and mice. hamsters aren't very good at balance!

[Gust0o]

Got any recommendations, then, for climbing-inclined hammies?

Bob, my partner's Syrian, is a hearty climber - in effort, if not in style.

I've seen people slip cardboard between the ladder rungs - I'm guessing this is a sensible precaution, from the sounds of things!

[souffle]

We don't encourage our hams to climb. Hamsters have very tiny bones and even a short fall can cause an injury. Our Nelson fell from the roof of his gabber and bruised a leg (he was 'acrobating') and was quite lame for a bit. Broken bones are very hard to heal in hams and they are very hard, in fact nigh on impossible, to splint. If you have a climber I would ensure you have a deep layer of soft litter and also that there is nothing they can hit if they do fall such as a pottery feeding bowl. Ledges should overlap so that there is never a large drop distance. Probably the ropes would be rather too risky though Chinese are agile climbers and would likely enjoy them.

My two Winter Whites have a suspension ladder and one of them uses it a LOT. He loves climbing the ropes and every so often he pops up at the top and crawls along the ladder. He's pretty adventurous though.
I have various toys underneath (a 4x4, a log, a critterbath) so if he falls, its a tiny drop and he won't hurt himself.
I also got one for my Syrian but he hasn't shown much interest in it so far apart from nibbling on the ropes.

[Catja]

My syrian Algy loves climbing on his but he is in a tank cage so its not very high and he has an extra thick layer of shavings in that part of his cage.

My other two syrians totally ignored theirs and no longer have them