Too steep?!

[Rorie]

Not sure if this should go here, or in the housing part...i obviously chose here.

Morris has been having issues going to bed, but i thought i was almost there. Last night i left him with the whole set up i have and hoped he would go to his actual bed (instead of relocating as usual!).

However, i got up this morning....he had not gone to his bed, nor had he tried to make a new one. Instead, he was sleeping in one of the tubes!!

I am wondering if i made his piping system to steep, and he could maybe not get back up to his bed? I was told they could clime vertical piping at one stage, but i do not believe that yet, so my tubing system is about 45 degrees as shown in the photo.

SO, any reason why Morris decided to fall asleep in the tubes? Are they too steep? I am worried i gave him a stressful night of struggling to get back to bed

When i woke up, i had to move him, so woke him gently and then moved him into the cage. I then blocked off the tubing. After eating a little, looking in his bed, he then tried to get down the now blocked off tube. He gave up after a couple of mins and then went to bed. Maybe he just likes sleeping in the tube?!

Thanks

[fluffymunchkins]

It is quite steep!
Some syrians are better climbers than others, maybe its just not his skill
You could try attaching fleece on the inside of the tube like i did for my rotastak:

but because yours is curved i would cut holes in the fleece then use wire or something to loop round and threw the air holes like i did here:

[Hope]

Those tubes do look kinda steep - can he manage them usually? Some hams are good climbers and some arn't!

Often though, hams like to sleep in the tubes as they feel enclosed which makes them feel safe. This is not to say the he feels unsfe usually, its just a natural instinct for them.

And as I have said before to you in another thread - hams will do what they want, you can't make them sleep in one area that you want them to, some peoples hamsters like to move their bed every couple of days. My hamster has a nest under the ledge in his cage but he also likes to sleep in his tissue box sometimes, or sometimes he falls asleep in his sandbath!

[Rorie]

Aw, i feel sad for stressing him out now! He used to run up and down the tubes, but then i changed them yesterday so that i had spare to connect up the next part of his home.

I saw him going down the tubes yesterday, but never back up. I figured this was because downstairs is more fun

Thanks for your advise, i think i will just re-arrange the tubes so that they are shallower. Maybe then, Morris will go to bed again. He seems to like his bed a lot, but i understand what you say about him choosing to re-locate, i can deal with that ok I will encourage him to go to his original bed until he is potty trained (by not giving anywhere else that is suitable -other than burrowing) otherwise there will be damp spots all over the cage!

Thanks again, i appreciate the advise and experience!!

[shazzy]

They could be a little steep, but...

When my Mo lived in a cage with tubes she always chose to sleep in the tubes - nothing I tried would stop her. Even now she likes to sleep in a very enclosed space and be squished, rather than out in the open.

So hams just like it this way, but unfortunately its not good for them to sleep in tubes as it is stuffy and bad for condensation