Hamster cages with integrated tubes

[Maz]

Opinion piece (although I think it's pretty much agreed on generally!)

Why hamster cages with integrated/ attached tubes aren't good.

There are quite a few cages on the market with plastic tubes going round and outside the cage. Some of them aren't great cages generally, but even the Hamster Heaven, which is a good sized cage, has them.

So the biggest problem with these external plastic tubes, as most owners find - is that it skews the hamster's normal behaviours, so instead of using the cage, they basically live in the tube! They might take all their nesting material and hoard in there and pee in there and it becomes a big mess. Which means the tubes need cleaning out a lot and that stresses out the hamster as their nest and hoard then disappears or all their familiar scent has been removed.

So why do hamsters nest in tubes? Good question. It seems surprising considering hamsters like being in the dark and tubes are usually clear and fairly exposed to light. I think it is that they are hard wired to feel safe in something enclosed that can protect them from predators - which is why they will sometimes block up the tubes as well - to stop anything getting in.

This issue can cause owners a lot of confusion and concern. But - remove the tubes (and block off the holes) and the hamster uses the cage and starts having normal behaviours again. No tunnels/tubes? Ok I'll dig a hole and sleep in it. If they have an enclosure like a house, that's dark inside, they'll build a nest in there instead. If the house isn't big enough or high up on a shelf they might not use it and decide to build a nest under a shelf.

But their priority is nesting and feeling enclosed.

I'm not sure where the idea came from to add tubes to hamster cages - someone somewhere must have done some research (or had some idea) that hamsters like tunnels so lets give them some tunnels. And make cages look more commercially interesting as well. But the thought seems to have only gone as far as making them commercially interesting, and not considered safety and behaviour.

So what else is wrong with plastic tubes on hamster cages?

1) They can come apart and the hamster escape - hamsters can even push them apart.
2) They get mess and pee'd in as mentioned above and need cleaning out a lot.
3) Hamsters can get stuck in them. One size doesn't fit all - some Syrian hamsters are much bigger than others
4) Some of the "runs" are too long and the hamster may have no alternative but to use the tubes to get to a food bowl, whether they like it or not.
5) Lack of ventilation - hamsters have sensitive respiratory tracts. And if they pee in the tube as well, the ventilation aspect is even worse.
6) Similar to 3 - the tubes aren't big enough to be safe.

Number 4 is my biggest issue with tubes attached to hamster cages - depending on the design, the hamster may be forced to use them if they want to eat - if the tube leads to a feeding area for example. Whether they're happy about it or not. And this could add to stress.

They are there to basically be fun toys for humans to watch hamsters zooming through tubes. While some people buying a cage might not realise this and think hamsters enjoy this and that's why they're sold, it would be better if more cages were sold without external tubes. They could add other attractive and useful contents instead - like a colourful wheel that's the right size.

Without the tubes and without a house on top of a shelf too high up, hamsters revert to their normal ground dwelling behaviours of nesting in a dark hide, burying hoards under the nest, and are able to build a nest with enough ventilation that it doesn't need to be removed. They start using the whole cage.

Many of us know the issue with tubes but for newer members - this is why advice is often to remove the tubes. The Hamster Heaven has a "penthouse" on top as well as tubes but there are the same issues with this - it's plastic and will get pee'd in and it's not possible to have lots of bedding under their nest. Thankfully that can be removed too.

Hamsters do like tubes and tunnels - but not as a means of getting from a to be and the tubes and tunnels need to be an appropriate size for the hamster. Rat tunnels are good for Syrians. So a tube at ground level in the cage, or as access to a shelf is appreciated by a hamster and enjoyed. And out of the cage they appreciate them as something to sit in so they feel secure. But as an integral part of the cage - they are not good.

If anyone has any information about the history of cage design with tubes and whose idea it was and what the research was, please add a link! Personally I think it was just some bright spark in a marketing department!

I believe it may have started with Rotostak units and other cage manufacturers copied/competed.

 

[Member ID2]

My Robo Scottie loves his tubes.

But they are individual, unconnected tubes inside his Hamster Heaven and they are easily removable for cleaning. I always have clean spares handy and fasten them into place with a cable tie.

Scottie runs through them, grooms, eats, snoozes and ocassionally pees in them.
He does not nest in them because he has a house, hides and substrate deep enough to build tunnels.

Scottie is smart, maybe he senses that he would lose his tubes if he were to nest in them because i agree with everything Maz has said above.

 

[Maz]

But they are individual, unconnected tubes

I think that's the thing Beryl - Scottie's are an added thing for him to enjoy inside his cage, but not an integral part of the cage and they are the correct size for the hamster. Most of us have floor tunnels and tubes for a hamster to enjoy inside the cage - it's referring specifically to the ones that go outside the cage and are an escape risk. Adding things later in a cage when they are already settled in works better too whereas if a hamster goes into a cage with the external tubes they use them for nesting etc because they haven't settled into the cage already.

I've changed the wording to say "integrated" attached tubes

What prompted me to write that post was a video - where they extended the tubes round the house, treating the hamster as some kind of toy.

 

[Maz]

As regards the history. I think the Rotostak designers were quite innovative and I remember the early ones - it was hugely different from the traditional tiny barred cage. I can vaguely remember the spiel at the time - that hamsters lived in round burrows with tunnels attached and this type of cage was to mimic that (a bf's hamster had one and it was all the rage). The idea being the round pods were the burrow and the tubes leading between the stacked round pods were like the tunnels leading to burrows. And nobody knew much different so it was accepted.

The one my bf's hamster had at the time was bare - no substrate - just a bit of nest but it was left open all the time so the hamster free roamed and came and went from the round base unit when it wanted. I hate to think what could have happened! This was a long time ago. I also hate to think about the hamsters living in those who didn't get out to free roam easily.

Because what they didn't account for was hamsters leave their burrows and tunnels and night and run for miles. (The little wheel was supposed to allow for that).

It is a shame that such an innovate design which also had some very good design aspects to it (the way water bottles fitted and the locking rings) wasn't based on welfare research - but then there probably wasn't any welfare research back then.

The original ones were three round plastic "burrows" less than 12" diameter I think, stacked on top of each other with vertical tubes leading between the round plastic burrows - internal tubes - and usually a kind of little lookout thing on top (which was an escape route if pushed off). The internal vertical tubes were definitely smaller than the usual 6cm tubes on cages now. The one on the left on the photo on this page shows it. (They have attached another one on the right).

All About Mice » Product Reviews - Rotastak

They must have realised at some point that the round plastic pods weren't big enough, so the more recent versions had a bigger oblong base unit - with virtually no ventilation! And they introduced the long external tubes as well as the vertical internal ones.

I think that is when other cage manufacturers started adding all these vertical external tubes. And to their credit, Savic produced the Hamster Heaven - a cage that was a suitable size for hamster but still had the popular external tubes. This was seen as a HUGE cage and literally heaven for a hamster.

I don't know the date the Hamster Heaven first appeared but it was certainly one of the most popular cages about 7 years ago and probably the largest available in the Uk (I'm counting Zooplus as Germany!).

But the external tubes had become seen as a away of making cages colourful and appealing and fun to owners seeing hamsters shooting through the tunnels.

One of the other big downsides to the Rotostaks was all the add on modular things - additional tubes, encouraging people to make longer runs of tubes and leading to other add on units. People would get quite creative with this but the poor hamster would have no option but to use a long run of tubes, with nowhere to stop along the way, if the food was in one unit and the wheel in another.

The internal vertical tubes are definitely not big enough Syrians. The first cage we bought when we got Charlie was a 3 tier rotostak space command! I thought - had one of these before, they're fine (without doing any research) and he grew large and got stuck in the tubes. The middle tier had a few ventilation bars near the top and he hung from these chewing them, desperate to get out.

They were still very popular 7 years ago!

 

[Maz]

Strangely, a google search doesn't reveal anything particularly about a "history of hamster cages" so maybe we should write one . How it went from here - to here - to here......

 

[Maz]

I thought I had better call this an opinion piece - although it's pretty much accepted! I know some people say their hamsters like their external tubes and fit in them (in the hamster heaven eg). But the problems are very common.

 

[Member ID2]

I totally agree with everything you've said in your post, Maz. I also think that your article is very informative and important because it explains why the external tubes should be removed.

The reason i posted about Scottie's tubes is to show that tubes can be part of the enrichment if used in a different way providing the hamster is small enough to use them safely.

Even the penthouse could be used as a hide if a hamster got very attached to it.

 

[Maz]

Absolutely - I've added rat tubes inside the cage as enrichment - the difference is it's big enough for a Syrian and it's not an escape route. It's interesting that they don't try and nest in the larger sized tubes - presumably because they're less enclosed. Anything that extends outside the cage is an escape route and they can get full of condensation as well.

I'm still not keen on the penthouse! Because it has a solid plastic base doesn't it? I kept the pod house from the hamster heaven shelf to use out of the cage and they enjoyed the familiarity of it out of the cage - it fits well in a guinea pig pet carrier as well, as a little house.

 

[Member ID2]

I think it has a solid base, same as a coconut or ceramic hide. I meant that it could be used as a hide, not as a substitute for a house.

 

[Maz]

I understand that and good point, ceramic hides have a solid base too . I was just thinking if it was familiar they would still use it as a house and not a hide. Sometimes when people put a good house in the hamster would still use the old familiar one and they needed to remove it to get the hamster to use the better house. It does sound like it would make a good extra hide if a hamster is already settled in a house. You must have a few with all your cages from rescues! I have never actually had a hamster heaven so not sure how big the penthouse is. At the time, I bought the Savic Mickey 2XL instead as I didn't want the tubes and penthouse! And I did want the narrow bar spacing. Such a shame that cage doesn't seem available any more. It was only ever available on Amazon anyway.

 

[Member ID2]

Yes, i had a few penthouses but chucked them out because there are better hides available.
I have lots of tubing and used some of them for bin cages i donated to a rescue. I attach a tube so it can be removed and closed off with an end cap should a hamster decide to nest in it. Usually they just like to run through it.

 

[Maz]

They love tubes as toys . The long runs of external ones aren't good though. Robos need them level of course as they can't really climb upwards with their feet (some dwarf hamsters may be the same).

 

[Member ID2]

Talking about cages and tubes. I've always wondered how hamsters are meant to get up and down in one of those awful Omlet cages. The connecting tube is vertical.

 

[RainbowBrite]

The Omlet also do a tiny cage aimed at guinea pigs. It is so small and unsuitable.

 

[Maz]

Talking about cages and tubes. I've always wondered how hamsters are meant to get up and down in one of those awful Omlet cages. The connecting tube is vertical.

It's not good! Vertical tubes really aren't good. I think some can't manage at all and others manage it but when they get to the top there are grid bars round the edge of the platform. It's an awful cage! It looks nice, but apart from being far too small it's also not secure. I remember someone posting about how her hamster could push the edge of the bottom tray out from behind and get out that way.