Higgins

I wonder if hamsters have to fight off snakes who are trying to attack their pups or invade their burrows. Yes, Socks was clinging to the bars, also gazing up at me at 3 am 🥴 He was on his wheel at 5 am though, a slightly more respectable time 😀 so came out for playpen time then.
 
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Maz said:
Higgins was out tonight. He’s had to wait a while as Tino hogged the playpen a couple of times recently and then I had to wait for a week or so while infectious. I though he needed to be out as his ears have been down the last few times I’ve seen him - but it’s possible he had only just woken up - their ears are down sometimes when they wake up.

He walks into a tube now if it’s offered so he had some time in the playpen but was in a different mood to last time. Last time was when he was very energetic and fighting with my dressing gown belt. This time he was bs j to being cautious again and more interested in trying to chew the carpet where there was a little gap under the playpen.

He also likes his snooze cube but didn’t seem very settled in the playpen so I lifted the snooze cube with him in it onto the sofa with me and he had a couple of strokes and a bit if handling but didn’t particularly want to sit for long. I think he enjoyed a bit of a climb around on the sofa though. Back in the playpen I had put the snooze cube a bit close to the carrot Cottage so he decided to enjoy both at the same time.

Tino was really pestering - in his quiet slow way / to come out after I put Higgins back - he had his stomach up against the bars and was looking at me in a desperate kind of peeved way - so I swapped the playpen contents over and had him in straight afterwards. I’m sure they can smell each other at the edges of the playpen each time and they sniff curiously but don’t seem too bothered.

Here’s Higgins in his snooze cube

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Hello gorgeous man
 
So Higgins was out in the playpen straight after Tino - because Tino pestered and Higgins was more interested in pouching every little bit of his food.

He was cautious at first but soon started enjoying himself and getting lively. The idea was I would swap his Trixie wheel in his cage for the rodipet wheel while he was out. I first put the rodipet wheel in the playpen on its stand so he could get familiar with it before it went in the cage, but he didn't seem interested in wheel running. He eventually had about a 3 second run on it after I put a sunflower seed in it!

So once I left him to do his own thing and sort his cage wheel out, he got more active. Unfortunately the wheel swap didn't go to plan! I had the rodipet wheel attached to the bars but it kept slumping forwards and I couldn't understand why. It had a wood stand part between the wheel and bars and worked perfectly fine last time I had it screwed to the bars. I took it out and screwed it to the upright stand again and it was fine. Then I noticed two broken bars at the back of the cage! They had snapped off at an upright join. Not good! I think they were already broken and I just hadn't noticed until the weight of the wheel pulled them out completely.

So then had to fiddle around tying the trixie wheel back in again. I need a rethink on Higgins cage now. I pushed the bar ends back so they were safe but that might just be a short term solution. It is also an escape route! If he happened to push those two bars.

So having given up on swapping the wheel I went back to the playpen and Higgins got very lively again and kept trying to climb up my leg - he almost got as far as my knee :ROFLMAO:

So basically he needs a new cage ............ Or - I need a new back panel for the plaza - but I don't have a spare one as Tino is in the other plaza.

IMG_2662.jpeg

Forgot to remove the audio again so I'm talking to him like he's a baby - sorry!

 
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😄 Yes, I talk to Socks like that, and sing to him. I think he starts running on his wheel when I sing to drown out the noise 😉

Oh dear, the Plaza steel bars look so sturdy, but if course all bars are just held on with a little bit of welding which probably gets brittle with time. These things always happen when it's cold in the flu season and when the January squeeze is on us. If you have a car, cars break down at this time of the year 🙁 Viking Lazer could do a patch for you perhaps. It's worrying as escaping in front of you is one thing, but escaping unknown is a bit more difficult to deal with. A cardboard patch with reusable cable ties might offer a bit more security? 🏡 Just to stop him from trying to get through the bars.
 
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Well, now I have a 120 Plaza looking for a new home, free, but needs collection. It's a long journey from the North though. Also it is a bit of a tank. I'll ask a local rescue if they would like it, unless there is someone on here who sees this post and would like it, taker to collect 🏡
 
I already have a Plaza 120! I have some decisions to make ............ Yes I could just replace the whole back panel with a perspex one - except then I couldn't screw the wheel to the bars!

One of my two plazas is quite a bit older than the other and has been used and washed/disinfected quite a few times - I think the two bars that snapped have gone rusty at the joint - probably with all the washing and use. And are maybe weaker due to having had wheels attached at the back before too.

Neither plaza is a complete cage exactly as I don't know which bits were from which cage! But that back panel is clearly one of the older bits!
 
Socks Mum said:
Well, now I have a 120 Plaza looking for a new home, free, but needs collection. It's a long journey from the North though. Also it is a bit of a tank. I'll ask a local rescue if they would like it, unless there is someone on here who sees this post and would like it, taker to collect 🏡
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Where abouts are you? Not that I need another cage!
 
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If you're wanting to sell it, I'm sure someone in London would love to have one. I've sold cages on ebay before. It would help towards the cost of the new one if you don't want to keep it.

I'm still thinking about my options for Higgins cage

1) I could get a perspex replacement back panel - I'm sure they'd make a hole for the wheel if I measured and asked him to do that. But - would the weight of the wheel pull the perspex out of it's sockets etc? It is also a fairly heavy wood wheel. About £30 for the panel. I quite like this idea but I've emailed Viking laser to see if the perspex would support the wheel - it might not.

2) I could set up the Plaza 120 for Higgins. I could manage that easier than the Aura as the base isn't so deep so the door is effectively lower. But I'd need to get new perspex bedding panels as the ones for the Plaza 100 are too short. I have used the Plaza 100 ones with it before, with gaps, but you do get bedding all over the floor and quite a lot of it! About £80

3) I could put the £80 towards a new cage. But I can't think of another one I'd manage as easily as the plazas! I'd love a Bucatstate but think I'd have the same issue as I had with the Aura - the door is higher and it's a lot of reaching down through the door for cleaning out - and where I would have it, I wouldn't be able to reach the top to lift off. Also thinking about it - I really do like them being able to sniff through the bars and smell the environment. Maybe that's just me.

4) I could change the cage layout and fix the wheel further along the back bars and put a perspex panel over the broken ones - I have spare perspex to fit that cage. But that might be too much stress for the hamster, the shelf wouldn't fit and the whole of one end of the cage would change - plus I'm not sure I could have such a good set up Similar issue if I had the wheel at one end. It would probably be less stress just to move to a different cage with the layout identical.

5) I could buy a new plaza 100 for £80 (the same price as the perspex for the plaza 120).

I'm mulling it all over!
 
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I would buy a new Plaza 100, it might last longer than the old one because of the rust. And it's nice to have a new cage 🍻
 
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Higgins and Tino both had a peanut and papaya cookie along with the food and veg tonight. I give them some kind of treat most nights but usually just something like two or three pumpkin seeds in shells, or maybe a monkey nut.

Tino didn't appear, but Higgins always appears as soon as he hears the cage door open! His little head pops out of his multiroom house, So I gave him the cookie rather than leaving it in the cage. He got hold of it and staggered around with it straight to the entrance of his large ceramic hide.

I thought - you'll never get that in there :ROFLMAO: And I told him that. For a while he was half in and half out of the large round ceramic hide but somehow he did manage to get both him and the cookie in there. All his food goes straight in there. It is stuffed to the top with bedding and food! He sits on top where his food goes, pouches the lot and then disappears round the front/bottom of the hide and puts all the food and treats inside it.

Unfortunately he also uses that hide as his toilet :rolleyes:. So last time I had to throw the lot away and he is quite anxious about food now and pouches it as soon as it appears. Hopefully his pee area will be separate from the food now ,.....

I still haven't decided what to do about his cage. At the moment I've just made the two broken bars safe and they are behind his trixie wheel. I'm pretty sure he can't move them but I need to make a decision about what to do!

I almost decided just to buy another plaza 100 and swap the back panel (rather than move everything to the new cage. But then I think - he does have quite a lot of large stuff in there and not much floorspace and maybe he'd appreciate a bit more space. His cage set up isn't quite as good as Tino's.

What I;'d really like for him is a 100cm cage like the Plaza, but slightly deeper - rather than going bigger all round like the Plaza 120. Although I am still thinking about using the Plaza 120.

The only real 100cm cage that's deeper is the Barney cage - which only has small front doors.
 
😄 I have just the place for that! Very cute 🥰
To buy or not to buy, and if so, what? That's a good idea, just replacing the back panel.
 
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I know but it seems very annoying to buy a whole cage just for a back panel when I could buy a different whole cage! Except a different one would probably cost more.

I'd really like a Ferplast Karat - but they are so expensive on Amazon - and only have small doors. Although the top lifts off easily. Always wanted one - although it wouldn't work for a shy hamster. But Higgins isn't that shy.

The Karat is actually half the price on German Amazon than it is on Uk Amazon! And that's including postage. But - it would almost certainly get broken. Reviews regularly complain about a box full of broken glass - and if it's shipped from Europe ..................

Also, realistically, I couldn't have a glass cage in this house. With two males who seem to keep breaking everything lol! OH is the worst for that. It just wouldn't be safe! Although I did have a glass tank once and it survived ....
 
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Ok so as suspected, Viking Laser say a full perspex rear panel with a hole for the wheel bolt wouldn't work - the weight of the wheel would bow the perspex panel. So that's the cheap easy solution off the list ha ha.
 
I did have another idea to put the front panel at the back. And get a new perspex front panel and door! Now the front panel has the door in - which obviously wouldn't be used at the back of the cage and would just stay shut. What I'm not sure is, whether I could still attach the wheel to the bars if it's over the door area - the door might not be strong enough. Although - if it had perspex along the inside covering the bottom half of the door that should hold it in place - hmmmm.....

No I think it would strain the door if I had the wheel in the middle .......

Unless - I had the door upside down - that might work.

Ok I decided to just buy another Savic Plaza 100 :-) It's the simplest way and the current cage is on it's last legs. It's annoying as I already have a spare base and some spare parts from a previous one that gave up the ghost. So when this new one arrives I'll actually have four bases and two cages :ROFLMAO: . I did think about moving/upgrading Higgins to the Plaza 120 but then I'd need new bedding panels and the 100 is easier for me to manage and he seems quite happy in it. Although at some point I might change the layout at the left hand side where the shelf is now he's a bit bigger/older.

I did look at some nice other new cages - but none had a big front door. Except a version of the Meewoofun and I was thinking about that - but it has gaps at the edges and Higgins likes to chew.
 
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The Karat is interesting. Those glass rims could be a magnet for falling glass or ceramic bowls and hides. They must be the bane of hamster sitters 😬 The Plazas are good cages, well designed and versatile. Pretty indestructible until they get old and rust. If you have a hammy who doesn't bar bite or climb, they are great. They need a reinforced wheel section. I'm pleased with the Omlet. The Plaza 120 is large and the Omlet leaves more room for Socks' playpen. The wheel is lovely! It fits onto narrow bars, so might need to sit on its stand in a different cage.
 
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Yes it would be awful tp spend a lot of money on a glass cage and then break it :ROFLMAO: Ultimately though it's the lack of a front door again or I would have been very tempted.

You are quite right about the plazas - they are indeed versatile and easy. And they do last a long time. Higgins has the older of the two that has been used and disinfected multiple times. I don't think the back needs reinforcing for a wheel generally, but the rodipet wheel is particularly heavy. I have had it in plazas before though without any issue.

The temptation of the square glass base of the Karat was also that it is deeper - no perspex needed - and I could use the rodipet wheel on its stand without losing floor space :-) But I bet bedding would still spill over the top of the glass base without perspex on the bars as the base is 25cm tall. It is also a very tall cage at 61 cm tall, so a bit too tall if you had 20cm of bedding in the 25cm base. It would be ok if you had 25 cm bedding but then it would fall out or need perspex anyway!

They never seem to get it right with these hybrid cages! ie clear base and barred top - which I think a lot of people would like. The Omlet gets that almost right - part clear base and still has a large front opening door on the bars.

Many years ago, I did look into getting a custom perspex base made for my Barney cage, but it was going to cost a fortune! And it still didn't have a front opening door!

The plazas may not have a clear straight square base, but they are very good to use for both hamster and human :)

I think the bars only rusted on this one as it was probably the one that was soaked in disinfectant after the moth outbreak - plus it was the oldest one. If the bars are even a little bit chewed in a particular area, they will go rusty after getting wet. There is the odd bit of rust on other bars on Higgins cage but I covered it with the perspex panels.

I think I will probably end up using the whole new cage and transferring everything across, because to just change the back panel, I'd have to take the whole top off anyway and remove all the shelves attached to the bars. It's a shame as it would smell a lot more familiar if I just changed the back panel and be less of a change for Higgins. I'm still thinking about it.

If I have to remove all the shelves (the big one is attached to the bars front and back) then I might replace the big shelf with two cloud platforms like Tino has (I do have two spare ones) as that would give a little more room in the cage. On the other hand it would probably mean losing the roof run. Higgins does love sitting in his sputnik! I need to work out whether it would be possible to keep the roof run still with the cloud platforms.

Ideally I'd like a 100cm plaza the same depth as the Omlet cage! But not as big as the Plaza 120. The Plaza 120 is lovely though and when set up it's great.
 
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