My hammy doesn't get out from the tubes.

Ulvishammy

Ulvishammy

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Hello everyone, hope you and your hammy are good. I just got my hammy 3 weeks ago. Everything was fine since I made this tube 5 days ago, hamster tubes are super expensive in my country so I made it by water pipe. I barely see my hammy out of her tube. I think she is drinking less water and got fatter but I am not sure. I haven't seen her using the wheel for 3 days. She never gets out of her tube. She carried everyhing to the tube and there is civilization. Should I remove the tube or make it smaller? I don't know what to do, I am afraid that she will be sick from inactivity. please share your experiences with me.


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Hello and welcome :) I'm not sure which country you're in, but tubes aren't really necessary for hamsters and they do have a tendency to just nest in them and pee in them. They do better with a short run like a tunnel at floor level in the cage like a kitchen roll inner tube etc.

The main thing though is your hamster is in really quite a small cage and I'm also wondering if the bar spacing is maybe a little wide and they may escape. So at the moment, at least the tube is somewhere else to go :) Providing it's secure and she can't escape at any connections.

I know it can be hard to find good cages in some countries, but in that case, the best option then is something like a large plastic tote bin and you then mesh the lid so it has a secure top with plenty of ventilation.

If she is hiding away in the tube it's probably just because it's new and she's decided to nest in there. Have you got a name for her yet?

Does she use her wheel at all? That looks like it might be a little bit small as well. She may just be coming out at night and using her wheel when you don't see her. If things were going better before, then maybe remove the tube again (if that's possible and you haven't cut a hole in the cage for it?) and see how she goes, but maybe you could let us know what the bar spacing measures on the cage? ie the gap between the bars. It shouldn't be more than 1cm or she might try to squeeze through at some point.
 
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Hello & welcome to the forum.

It does sound as though you may be in a country where it is hard to find suitable things for hamsters but Maz has given really good advice & I hope you’ll be able to find something that works for your ham.
 
Thank you so much for your reply.
I am happy to find this forum. Thank you very much for each admin for making this forum.
Her name is Ulvi, a female Syrian Hamster. We talk with her everyday. She was getting out from her cage when I open the door and we were playing and she was exploring the room everyday. But she doesn't get out even if the door is open since I made the tube because she is always in there.

The cage size is 40x30x30cm and space between two bars is 1.1 cm. But she can't get out of the cage. Total length of her tube is 180cm and 5cm in diameter. I have cut some of the bars for the tube entrance and exit. But I can close them with a thin layer of metal and silicone. I will make a new and bigger cage according to your advice (This was the biggest cage in the pet store and they said it is fine). Last night,I left the cage in my roommate because he is stayed up late. He observed Ulvi at 2 a.m. to 7a.m. but Ulvi never left his cage and she never used her wheel. Should I make smaller and inclined tube or have no tube at all until I make bigger cage?
 
It might be an idea to check she isn't stuck in the tube as 5cm might be a bit narrow for her. They can grow quite large sometimes or if they have full pouches they can be wider than 5cm. Tubes for syrians need to be about 7cm diameter. I think it's unlikely she's stuck - she's probably just treating it as an underground hideaway, but best to check so I would take the tube out if possible and let her have a run around while you're fixing up the hole. The bar spacing is ok. Yes pet shops have an annoying habit of saying something is ok but good she gets to have out of cage time meanwhile. The recommended size is 100cm by 50cm although somewhere between 80cm and 100cm would be a big improvement for her as 100cm bins can be hard to find. Do you have an ikea near you? They do a 78cm Samla bin - it;s not big enough as it's narrow at the bottom, but some people get two and cut an end off and join them together to make a longer one :).

Can you see whereabouts she is in the tube? In case you need to cut the tube to get her out? The other thing is, is it possible she might have escaped and be hiding in the room somewhere? Sometimes they can push through gaps where tubes join.
 
Ulvi is a lovely name. :) I have not heard this name before. It is lovely you talk to her everyday.

Unfortunately, pet stores do not seem to understand hamsters and they just want to make money by selling their products. Do not worry though as you have found this forum now. :)

I think making your own cage is a brilliant idea. Although the cage is the biggest in the store, it is quite small for a hamster. I personally would not bother with a tube because I find hamsters just toilet in them and they are difficult to clean. This may surprise you but a 100cm by 50cm by 50cm is the minimum size cage we recommend in the UK. I understand that may sound very big to you but if you were able to make a cage this size Ulvi would be much happier.

I watch videos of somebody who lives in a country were it is difficult to find hamster things so she makes everything herself.
 
Thank you for really quick reply :) She doesn't get stuck, the tube is transparent so I always see her. She can get out from both sides of the tube, we tested it by putting some lettuce in the cage and she took it last night. (She did it while we are sleeping) She can rotate around herself inside the pipe. Also I am giving her a little cotton every time when I clean the cage and she took sawdusts and cottons to the tube. She is moving from one end of the pipe to the other. I am planning the take out the tube. And see how she is handle it. I am also sad because I think she loves that tube :D Also I don't have Ikea in my city but I can find it online.

Ulvi is a Turkish male name which means Supreme :D
 
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When you say cotton, do you mean fluffy bedding or cotton material? It would be best not to use that as they can cause blockages if swallowed or get threads wrapped round their teeth and hamsters tend to pouch things. Torn up strips of plain white toilet paper are best for nesting material and they like it as well - they pouch the strips to take to their nest. It sounds like she's building a nest in the tube! They do that sometimes and then it gets stinky if they pee in there as well - then it upsets them when it needs cleaning out, so it probably is best to remove it when you get chance :-)

For substrate/litter on the floor of the cage, what is called sawdust is usually pine shavings. Those often haven't been kiln dried, unless it says they have on the packet and that can be harmful for them as pine or softwood shavings contain phenols. It'll be ok until you can get something else, but safe substrates are aspen (which is a hardwood - some reptile shops have it), or paper based bedding, like Kaytee Clean and Cosy if it's available. Or if you have a shredder you could make your own by shredding paper kitchen towels :)
 
I was giving cotton pleats because I saw it online, she makes a big bedding from small amount of cotton. I will give toilet paper now. And for substrate I was using pine shavings and It doesn't says it is klin dried. I will search for aspen. Thank you so much again. Love you guys and this forum. :) :) :)
 
Hello everyone, I hope you and your hamsters are fine. I made a bigger cage and bought a bigger wheel following your advices. The new cage is more than double of the old cage. This was the biggest option I could find. You can see the new cage and wheel in the photo below. But I have any other problem. My hamster sleeps at the white bed which can be seen in photo. She always poop and stores her food in the bed. I don't know what that is mean. Is that a bad thing or normal behaviour? If it is a bad thing, what should I do ? In addition, I am still in search for base material.

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It is so nice to see you got a bigger cage for your hamster. It sounds like she likes the white hide. I do not think it is anything to worry about if she is sleeping and pooping in it. Hamsters like to have a special place to store their food. You could always add another hide just to give the option to store food there too. Is it possible to add more bedding? This may encourage her to use her bedding to burrow and make a nest. You may also like to tear up some pieces of tissue for her to use to make her nest.

I am going to post a link to some cage set ups members have posted just to see if this helps you at all.
thehamsterforum.com

Show us your cages 2023 onwards

A new thread for 2023 to show cage set ups :) Some may have changed or be new but feel free to add your existing set up again. It's mainly so all current ones are viewable in the same place.
thehamsterforum.com thehamsterforum.com
 
Just thought I would link this thread. It has ideas of things to make for hamsters using cardboard. 😊
www.thehamsterforum.com

Cardboard creations

This is a thread to show how many things you can make for your hamster or enclosure, out of cardboard :-) Cardboard is your friend.
www.thehamsterforum.com www.thehamsterforum.com
 
Hamsters do poop and store food in their beds, although they often urinate in a different place. It sounds strange, but hamsters can benefit from eating their poo as it is more digestible the second time round. Their poo is dry (unless they are ill) and doesn't smell. It is possible that in the natural world, hamsters would have an important role in assisting the growth of plants that rely on them for nutrients while germinating. Your new cage is very nice!
 
Lovely to see that yo were able to get a larger cage for your ham.

Don’t worry about storing food & poo being in the same place, that’s totally normal for pet hamsters, in the wild they tend to have extensive burrows with different chambers for sleeping, storing food & toileting but in the cage storing food in the nest is normal & poo is dry & harmless so no problem with that being there, you can clean it up after a while if it tends to buid up but no need for that yet.
As Rainbow suggested adding another hide or two will give your ham more options for what to do where but it all sounds fine so far.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. Your new cage looks much more spacious for Ulvi. 🙂 She is most likely still settling in. Maybe leave a small pile of toilet tissue / kitchen roll paper in stripes and she will use this to start nest building. Do you have a small tissue box? This would be helpful as an extra hide? sorry the picture is a bit dark, thought it may be of help.

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