Cleaning deep substrate

[kiania]

Considering how tiny she is (although she is about double the size she was when she arrived ) compared to the amount of megazorb - I would certainly not disagree with that as a strong possibility!

[p_anda]

If you feel bad for destroying their handy work, just try putting some cardboard tubes in the cage and burying them or buying some plastic tubing and doing the same. That way you can just lift those out for cleaning, then put them back and bury them again. Though you might want to keep in mind that your hamster may not choose to use them, but I think it's worth a try

I clean deep substrate only every 2 weeks, just spot clean in between

[kiania]

For Nimh, I don't think she's getting cleaned out more than once a month - she isn't dirty (except her wheel, which is a smidge grubby) - she smells good, and her megazorb looks pretty much pristine Every 2 weeks would be insane for cost of substrate, even with megazorb and her current cage - she's got almost half a bag of it in there

As for tunnels, she is currently in a Perfecto, so her batcave is dug out beneath the lowest shelf (the substrate goes up to shelf-height), not really a tunnel, more just entirely hollowed out That said, I spoke to Rodipet, and they are thinking of doing international shipping in April - I so want their ceramic tunnels and houses. They are hideously expensive, but I'm hoping my partner will give me animal vouchers again this year, then I can buy some for both sets of hams. She does like making her own tunnels though - I have a cardboard tube stuck into the space where her batcave is - she fills it with megazorb and makes her own entrances But yes, once she's moved over into the Detolf, she won't have the shelf, so I'm thinking Rodipet (or cardboard in the short time in between) might be the option there

Looking forward to the Detolf No horrible shelves to try to spot-clean under