Do Hamsters Truly Like Mazes?

[Zenshii]

Hello everyone! I have a question, if you don't mind sharing your opinion!

When the time is right, I wanted to start taking Dango out for playtime in my bathroom. It is a hamster-safe room where he can free-roam, and I will set up hides and toys for him.

I wanted to make a few fun play structures out of cardboard boxes and paper towel tubes for him to explore. I was also thinking of getting him a maze to go through, maybe to find small treats.



That's where my question comes in. I know the stereotype is that mice and hamsters like to go through mazes, but is this true? Is this a good idea for an out-of-enclosure playtime activity? What do you all think?

I'd love to hear your opinion! And if a maze isn't a good idea could you maybe suggest some good alternative activities we could do together?

Thank you so much!!

 

[elusive]

I’m not a fan of this sort of thing, I think with this type of maze it’s too cramped & the spaces are too enclosed, I find they enjoy things like tubes & hides in the play pen, you can connect up tubes or just put them close together so they can either keep going through or pop out, it’s a lot cheaper too as you can just use things like cardboard tubes & boxes that you may have anyway.
Other than that I’ve used houses & things they can climb on like cork tubes or tunnels. If you have a large enough area to sit with them they like human climbing frames too!
Have you seen this thread, you might get some ideas there.

Playpens and Playareas

This is a thread about playpen options :-)

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[elusive]

Forgot to say for hiding little treats dig boxes are a great idea & probably more fun than a maze.

 

[Zenshii]

Thank you so much elusive!! I'm glad I asked about this. I'd never want to stress Dango out and make him feel trapped! I loved your suggestions and I'm going to do that instead! I'd love to make some things for him and also maybe get him some special hides just to use at playtime.

Again, thank you for sharing! I really appreciate this and I'm certainly not going to use a maze then!

 

[Member ID2]

They wouldn't feel trapped in a maze but would simply climb out or over it. I'd make one out of a cardboard box if you want to try it but i have no idea if they like a maze or not.

 

[Hank]

I did try to make a maze out of cardboard, after a few times round, my hamster decided it was easier to climb over the walls
She does, as said in this chat above, like lots of tunnels, she sometimes creates her own little maze, going in and out of the tunnels in a routine, if they are close enough together