Setting up my Alexander cage

[Scarlett Empress]

I am going to think long and hard about setting up my new cage for Marty. I want to make sure that

(a)it's nice and accessible for cleaning out every part of it without doing my back in.

(b) part of it at least will replicate some of her old layout.

(c) the bigger things are firmly fixed in, as far as possible, to reduce noise!

And of course it must have lots for her to do.

Anyway - I had been hoping that if I used the long house that came with the cage, that I would be able to get her wheel on top like so -


Too tall by an annoyingly small amount! SO I have hacked a few bits off the house -


I could hear my mum thinking, "She paid all this money for the cage and now she's chopping bits off it? "

Anyway, this means the house has to fit inside the base, and not rest on the edge - I am adding a couple of sturdy cardboard tubes at the back to support the roof.

So, the wheel now fits on top of the house! I am putting a tunnel leading from the door of the house so she can have nice deep substrate, I just tried one of my Pringles tubes here for the moment - well she'll still have a Pringles tube tunnel, it will just be a little bit longer. I'm thinking of putting the smaller house that came with the cage up the side of the wheel, as that's the position she has her nest in, in her current cage.

There will be lots more Fitch in - I just put the remains of my old bag in to get an idea.

I've only put one of the shelves in - and the ramp -


I'm thinking of putting her Rodipet labyrinth up the back right corner, on some legs so it stands a little way out of the Fitch.

I've already had a little fiddle and put the doorway into the house under the ramp, I thought that made the entrance a bit more private!


Now, maybe this is a daft idea, but this little window -

I was thinking, if Marty decides to use the house for her nest, maybe I could put a little box on the outside of this window? With a little removable lid? In the hope that she might actually like to use it as her larder! I think it's worth a try!

I've started on a new Pringles Supertube!


I thought, if she has the ramp to run up and down, and the tube to run up and down, that's a lot of space to run up and down! I like to make my Pringles tubes look nice by wrapping them in sisal twine.

I eat a lot of Pringles so I can give my hamster a better life

Anyway that's as far as I have got for now!

Please bear in mind there is a long way to go on this set up, lots more to be added, I am just taking it a step at a time.

[CMB]

It looks good so far. You may want to fix the Pringle tube to it can't move by attaching it to the wire bars on the side of the cage.

[Bec]

The set up looks great, Marty is certainly in for a treat.

Just one thing to bear in mind, the little windows in the house which are quite small, you may want to block those up, I have the same cage and our previous hamster, Neptune actually got himself stuck. He was a very large Syrian, the link to the thread is posted below.

Neptune Scare!

[Pebbles82]

It all sounds good! Like the tunnel entrance under the ramp - I bet she'll like that. It'll be interesting to see where she decides to nest The box outside the window sounds good! Otherwise she would probably just block up the window so if it leads somewhere that sounds interesting.

I'm impressed at your alterations to the long house - can't work out how you did it lol. Yes the Alexander height can be deceptive. I think it's quoted as 50cm high but I'm sure someone told me the internal maximum height is about 47cm - so maybe the height includes the top handles. It'll be easier doing this set up than the last one I reckon as you know Marty's personality and likes and dislikes now (maverick?!!)

If you get time I'd love to have the internal dimensions! I always had to guess at it when trying to work out if what I wanted to do with it would work. ie internal height to highest part and internal height to where it starts to slope in.

[SKB_Hamsters]

Your cage is looking so good so far - I'm looking forward to seeing the finished cage. I really like your Pringle tube tunnels - I'm sure Marty will enjoy her new tunnel to run up and down.

[Pebbles82]

I was going to mention the window on the house on the shelf too! I remember Neptune's scare! It is a "getting stuck" risk - but you could board up the window or something.

[Scarlett Empress]

Thanks CMB! Yes the tube will be fixed to the bars when all is set up!

Oh my goodness Bec I had seen mentions on here of a hamster getting stuck in a house - I didn't realise it was Neptune and this house, as I hadn't seen the actual thread before! Thanks for the warning - I had been wondering if Marty would try and squeeze through the hole, but if a great big hamster like Neptune thought he could get through such a tiny hole, I am sure my little 210g girl would think it was worth a shot - the hole WILL be blocked for definite!

Thanks Serendipity oh goodness knows where she will decide to nest, she never does what I think she's going to! It does help knowing what she likes in her present set up though. Yes the internal height is quite a bit less than 50cm - there are the little feet on the bottom of the base for a start, and also the bottom kind of bows up a bit too so that's awkward! I will measure properly for you later. When you said about boarding up the window, that made me think - I might clad the front with lolly sticks! Make a bit of a feature out of it!

Thanks SKB I think she's going to love having such a long tunnel! I will probably make the tunnel into her house a little longer too.

I am wondering about taking her Rodipet house out of her current cage to fiddle with - she has totally blocked up the front entrance, all she does is sit on the roof! So maybe if I just pile some more Fitch in the space and squash it flat, then just put the roof back for her to sit on, she won't mind too much and I can just play around with the actual house.

[Bec]

No problem, hope the advice helps. Lollipop sticks are great to use to block the window.

The other thing I noticed is the ramp, as Neptune got a bit older he would find it a bit more difficult to run up the ramp. I added in Lollipop sticks to make this easier for him to grip.

Here's a pic on Pluto's thread (page 4) to give you an idea.

Pluto's Thread

[Scarlett Empress]

Thanks for the link & tip Bec those coloured lolly sticks look good! I was thinking of putting cork on the ramp for more grip, she has a lot of surfaces covered in cork in her present house (I think it must feel nice to walk on, and it's a bit of soundproofing!) but maybe I will add lolly sticks too, for the future. I was thinking of putting some lolly sticks on the slopey sides of the little house - she did climb on top of it the other day with no problem but I think a bit of extra grip would be good.

I think I need a trip to Hobbycraft to stock up on lolly sticks and hot glue sticks!

[Pebbles82]

Ooh a cork ramp sounds lovely! I like the idea of the feature window I suppose a lolly stick either side could look like shutters.

The Skyline Ted base (Charlie's holiday cage like a mini Alexander/Barney) also bows up in the middle. It wasn't an issue except the interior height varied at the corners and the centre and with it being a smaller cage the Trixie 28cm ended up on a lean and didn't quite fit! So I had to get a smaller 27cm wheel to fit it. It made a difference of about 1cm in height between the centre and the edges which was rather annoying. I kept it though as it was a good holiday cage. It also had a long house like the Alexander and Charlie seemed to really like it. Marty may still enjoy the Rodipet house - I think they always like hidey places to go Charlie loved the top entrance but got to not being able to get up there so I blocked it off.