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Old 06-14-2022, 10:51 AM   #101
Ria P
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Default Re: Raphael (Raffy's) Adventures

Is the Barney's top door a good size or would i need to take the top off every time i need to spot clean?
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Old 06-14-2022, 01:23 PM   #102
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Default Re: Raphael (Raffy's) Adventures

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Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
That's a thought. I don't like small doors but they would also stop Clive from trying to jump out the big door. He has actually managed to get past my hand while i was opening the door and jumped out before i managed to grab him. He is such a slippery hamster.
I can only speak to the benefits of this with rats, but I honestly prefer smaller doors now. It can make cleaning and adding in new things a bit harder but it makes it fairly easy to keep my rats from just running out of the cage any time the doors get opened.

I could see a lot of different species kept in cages benefitting from smaller doors in general, including hamsters in some cases.
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Old 06-14-2022, 01:44 PM   #103
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Raphael (Raffy's) Adventures

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Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
Is the Barney's top door a good size or would i need to take the top off every time i need to spot clean?
Yes the Barney's top door is a good size. Although I find the big front door on the plaza easier for reaching in to replace and spot clean things. If you ever do have to remove the top from the Barney it's a nightmare! It's huge (deeper than most cages by almost 2").

Amity - depends on the hamster. The Barney was good for gregarious Newt who would just sit at one of the small doors waiting to come out. But for shy Pickle it didn't work at all - very hard to get him out - hence I swapped cages for him.
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Old 06-14-2022, 02:35 PM   #104
Ria P
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Default Re: Raphael (Raffy's) Adventures

It just occurred to me that my OH would struggle to reach in through a small door with his porridge.
Clive will have to stay in the Alaska or quit porridge and he wouldn't like that.
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Old 06-14-2022, 04:58 PM   #105
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Raphael (Raffy's) Adventures

That's not so difficult - you can just put the spoon with the porridge on the shelf next to one of the small doors. But if it's hand feeding yes it could be harder.
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Old 06-14-2022, 05:01 PM   #106
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Default Re: Raphael (Raffy's) Adventures

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Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Amity - depends on the hamster. The Barney was good for gregarious Newt who would just sit at one of the small doors waiting to come out. But for shy Pickle it didn't work at all - very hard to get him out - hence I swapped cages for him.
Completely true - you definitely have to weigh the pros and cons with hamsters and keep the individual hamster in mind too. I do think it could be a bit challenging for more shy hamsters that aren't already decently tamed with smaller doors though, so that's a similar thing to consider with cage choices in general. Same with top opening ones though, like the Duna style cages and tank style cages in general.

ETA for the porridge hand feeding through smaller doors really depends on door size. I'd imagine the Barney doors would certainly make things trickier, where doors like what I have(more medium in comparison but a lot smaller than the doors on the Plaza for example) are a bit better with that. It'd probably be fairly easy to add a spoon or small bowl though, especially with the right setup having a platform of some sort or shelf next to a door.
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Old 06-14-2022, 05:05 PM   #107
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Raphael (Raffy's) Adventures

Raffy escaped from the playpen tonight! He's been an absolute tinker all night. He is in the habit at the moment of only wanting to chew the carpet in the corner of the playpen. So I put him back in his cage. He then started bar chewing. So I got him out of the cage again. Back to chewing the carpet in the corner. If trying to move him away from there he bit my finger again (but I had gloves on). That's when he bites - if you try and moving him away or put your finger near him when he wants to chew the carpet in the corner of the playpen!

So I put a hide in the corner to stop him chewing. OH and I were watching something on TV (I think he was trying to get attention). Next thing I know, Raffy is OUT of the playpen sniffing my foot! He nearly disappeared under the sofa, but OH nipped round to get a tube and we managed to distract him into the tube rather than under the sofa.

Back in the playpen, chewing the carpet again. Couldn't put the hide there as he climbs on top of it and out of the playpen! So I put the tube in that corner instead, thinking he couldn't climb that (slithers down!). But he can! Twice he was trying to climb out and hanging on to the edge of the playpen with his paws. And I picked him up and put him back in the playpen.

But yay! I picked him up! Twice! And he didn't struggle or nip, he accepted it - because he was too obsessed with trying to get out of the playpen to notice.,

Back in his cage and he was bar chewing again. We were up late and I think as it was after midnight, it was "his" time, the lights were still on so he was making his presence known.

I am sure he stopped as soon as the lights were out.

He is full of energy and I think he needs to free roam - I was hoping to get him hand tame before doing that. But - I think that will come - he's used to hands a bit now and walks into a tube ......OH says - he's not like the other hamsters, if we let him free roam he'll climb something (curtains?). We shall see.

I think he needs some distraction in his cage. I still have the rodipet labyrinth house to add so maybe now is the time to do it. The shoebox house isn't working out that well - lots of empty space inside and he just tips the potty over - I think the lab house will work better and distract him into something new - maybe!

I think he needs the new bigger wheel as well (when it arrives). I've also bought a flying saucer for the playpen. Had the old one for years and it got broken (trod on it!).
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Old 06-14-2022, 10:40 PM   #108
Ria P
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Default Re: Raphael (Raffy's) Adventures

Yes, he needs to free roam. I think that will make him a lot happier and probably easier to handle because he can tire himself out. The restrictions of a playpen seem to only annoy and aggrevate him. He has so much energy to burn off.

Barney: i know of one for £20 but have decided against it. Never thought of putting the porridge bowl on a shelf by a small door, thanks, i doubt that i'd get on with the small doors though.
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Old 06-16-2022, 05:20 AM   #109
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Raphael (Raffy's) Adventures

Well I don't know what was up with Raffy that night, but he was happy as pie in the playpen last night and spent ages in there doing all sorts. I suspect it was attention the night before. I was watching TV and talking with OH! Last night I was giving Raffy attention in the playpen. No more bar chewing. Although he has now learned that escape is possible! But didn't try too hard. Need to keep things away from the edge of the playpen. I did let him have a little go in the Savic Rat ball for 5 minutes as well. He seemed to find that interesting. I only do that as an occasional thing. Need to get the room hamsterproofed in one corner (a tricky corner). It used to be hamsterproof but I dismantled that corner.
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Old 06-16-2022, 05:48 AM   #110
cloudy
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Default Re: Raphael (Raffy's) Adventures

How funny! He seemed to want your attention and once he had it all was well.
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