3 room house vs 1 room house and separate toilet?

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MrsMAC

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Hi!

My first post here, just after opinions on this.

Do you think a one room house for sleeping and a separate toilet to hopefully potty train hamster is best or a larger 3 room house where my research tells me they'll likely use one room for the toilet is better?

I think the separate hamster toilet might be easier to clean but would like the opinion of experienced hamster owners.

Looking at getting the Savic 120 and trying to do it right
 
Hello and welcome :) Is this for a Syrian or a dwarf hamster? For a Syrian I like using a multiroom house and it doubles up as another platform as well. They nest in one room and tend to use the adjacent room as a toilet. That might leave a kind of unused room but allows for good access in and out of the house - the unused part tends to be like a run and under a top opening entrance (they usually nest in the darker area round a corner where light doesn’t get in).

A three room house is fine but you might find they need to walk through the toilet to get to the nesting area (or even nest on top of the toilet if both the other rooms have an entrance door and aren’t so dark).

I currently have the large Happy Henry Homes one, but Rodipet make good houses as well. Not cheap though. Or you can make a cardboard one :)

This is what mine looks like in the Plaza 120

IMG_1267.jpegIMG_1268.jpegIMG_1269.jpegIMG_1270.jpeg
 
I also really like the Happy Henry Homes cloud platforms in that cage as they fit quite close up to the edge of the cage, whereas a lot of platforms, the legs are in the corners and don’t fit well with the curved cage base. But then platforms don’t have to be at the edge :-). And you can use shelves instead.
 
Hello & welcome to the forum.

I think most like to have the toilet area in the house somewhere so a multichamber house is better than just one room with the toilet outside, it comes closer to mimicing their natural habitat & gives them a chance to choose the pee spot that suits them which they will usually do so a toilet outside the house might well get ignored or buried.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. I love that you are doing your research before you adopt a hamster. :)

I have a dwarf hamster and he never used a ceramic toilet so I do not bother using one myself. A multi chamber hide is great though and hopefully your hamster will use a ceramic toilet in one. Mine is from Rodipet. :)
 
Just to add - the Rodipet ceramic toilets don’t fit in the Happy Henry Homes rooms :-). But the plastic trixie toilets do!

Also if a one room house is large enough (eg a shoe box house) you can still fit a toilet inside it and the hamster will almost always use it (if it’s a Syrian hamster). They do seem to like having an en-suite bathroom!

If they do have a one room house then they sometimes choose a corner of the cage as a toilet and you can put a litter tray there - but it can be why hamsters pee in the nest if a house isn’t very large - because it’s their instinct to do their eating, sleeping and toiletting in their private dark place. A multiroom house mimics a burrow. If they decide a house is too small to build a cozy nest in, or isn’t dark enough inside, they sometimes just nest under the bedding or pile up the substrate under a shelf to build a nest.
 
Thanks so much for your replies, it's really helpful.

It is for a Syrian.

Looks like a multiroom house with an ensuite would be best.
Do you just remove the soiled bedding from the ensuite every few days and replace with fresh if you can't fit a toilet in there?
 
MrsMAC said:
Thanks so much for your replies, it's really helpful.

It is for a Syrian.

Looks like a multiroom house with an ensuite would be best.
Do you just remove the soiled bedding from the ensuite every few days and replace with fresh if you can't fit a toilet in there?
Click to expand...
I think it will depend where the hamster toilets. Some toilet in their sand bath which is great aa you can just sieve that.
 
I just empty the litter tray every 3 days or so :-) It has sand in it so I just tip it out and replace the sand. The multiroom houses have a lift off roof so it's quite easy to just take the toilet/litter tray out, empty it and pop it back again. Syrians will nearly always use it if you put it in the right place for them :) You can scoop out the wet sand in a sand bath but I find with a larger hamster like a syrian and a toilet sized area of sand, it needs just tipping out really. I wouldn't get the niteangel multiroom house though - the roof isn't that safe.
 
You'll have loads of space for a multiroom house in the Plaza 120 :). Which three room house had you been looking at?
 
Eyksta Wooden Hamster House, Corner House Hamster Hideout Cage Décor for Syrian Hamsters Dwarf Hamsters Gerbils Chinchilla Rat (Large 31 * 24 * 11 cm) https://amzn.eu/d/cFcs1Hi

I'd been looking at this one.

Thanks for the advice about the Niteangel one, I'd read that about the roof squashing the poor little hamsters, 😢
 
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That looks ok except my concern would be it doesn't say what type of wood it is. As it has two doors it might not be particularly dark inside. Some are a lot more expensive though and it's not a bad price.
 
Maz said:
That looks ok except my concern would be it doesn't say what type of wood it is. As it has two doors it might not be particularly dark inside. Some are a lot more expensive though and it's not a bad price.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll carry on the research! Am excited to get it all set up nicely.
 
I think this Rodipet medium sized one has a good layout :) It costs about £30 if you convert it to pounds. Postage is extra unfortunately which bumps the price up. I always used to use their large multiroom house, but I'm not keen on the layout of the current large one. the Medium one has a good layout though.

Rodipet® furling Goldi Medium

ʄʋʀɬɨɴɡ: A Unique Home In a burrow deep within the bedding, there lived a hamster. This was no ordinary burrow - it was not a dirty, ...
www.rodipet.co.uk www.rodipet.co.uk

If you like the idea of a three room house like the one you saw, Amazon sells this Getzoo one which is similar. Again it's not cheap at £32 but at least there isn't postage on top. It only has the one door so the Hamster is likely to nest in the furthest room (round the corner where it will be darker) and you could put a litter tray in one of the other two rooms. However, due to the corner design, the hamster will probably have to walk through the toilet to get to the entrance - if that matters!

Getzoo 3 room house

I would have got the rodipet one but decided to get the larger Happy Henry one as it was the same layout as the previous house I had and I liked the layout - until I found the ceramic toilet wouldn't fit! But the plastic one does. The roof does lift up very easily but it's very lightweight so it's fine really. Their delivery times can be quite slow though.

www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk

Hamster Chamber House - Formaldehyde Free, Non Toxic, Wooden, Slot Together & Mo | Happy Henry’s Homes

Slot Together Wooden Hamster Chamber House Made from robust materials Assembled without glue or nails Flat packed to save on packaging materials Modular, allowing you to change the design to suit your requirements Chambers can be changed into two main configurations Removeable roof for checking...
www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk
 
Maz said:
I think this Rodipet medium sized one has a good layout :) It costs about £30 if you convert it to pounds. Postage is extra unfortunately which bumps the price up. I always used to use their large multiroom house, but I'm not keen on the layout of the current large one. the Medium one has a good layout though.

Rodipet® furling Goldi Medium

ʄʋʀɬɨɴɡ: A Unique Home In a burrow deep within the bedding, there lived a hamster. This was no ordinary burrow - it was not a dirty, ...
www.rodipet.co.uk www.rodipet.co.uk

If you like the idea of a three room house like the one you saw, Amazon sells this Getzoo one which is similar. Again it's not cheap at £32 but at least there isn't postage on top. It only has the one door so the Hamster is likely to nest in the furthest room (round the corner where it will be darker) and you could put a litter tray in one of the other two rooms. However, due to the corner design, the hamster will probably have to walk through the toilet to get to the entrance - if that matters!

Getzoo 3 room house

I would have got the rodipet one but decided to get the larger Happy Henry one as it was the same layout as the previous house I had and I liked the layout - until I found the ceramic toilet wouldn't fit! But the plastic one does. The roof does lift up very easily but it's very lightweight so it's fine really. Their delivery times can be quite slow though.

www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk

Hamster Chamber House - Formaldehyde Free, Non Toxic, Wooden, Slot Together & Mo | Happy Henry’s Homes

Slot Together Wooden Hamster Chamber House Made from robust materials Assembled without glue or nails Flat packed to save on packaging materials Modular, allowing you to change the design to suit your requirements Chambers can be changed into two main configurations Removeable roof for checking...
www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk www.happyhenryshomes.co.uk
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Do you have to treat the Happy Henry wood or just use it as is?
 
With the wood houses, as Rainbow says, you can waterproof them with the water based plastikote enamel paint, which is pet safe and makes them wipe clean. I tend to only paint the inside usually and the roof (ie the bits likely to get pee on them). You have to be a bit careful with the Happy Henry ones as if you plastikote the whole lot, it might not fit together properly and the jigsaw type pieces be too tight. Or you can paint it after you put it together (that way it's permanent and you can't take it apart again - that's the only downside).

With the rodipet and getzoo houses that isn't an issue.

If you make one out of cardboard - no need to paint it! It can easily be replaced :)
 
And do you all put them on stilts?

The more I research the more complicated it gets! 😄
 
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