Socks: Mouseworks Dynamic Cardboard Redesign and Basic Tunneling

Socks was awake at 5 this morning, sitting on his lava ledge making a gentle rattling sound and meerkatting, but I don't think he was bar biting. I stroked him and fed him peanuts and other food and he went about storing it in various nests. He has chewed part of the bottom of the Quaker Oats box away and has dug out a little nest in the paper bedding underneath the box furthest from the opening and darkest. I have plenty of strong cardboard so I would like to have a go at making a multi chamber house using slots to fit it together 🏡
 
I weighed Socks and he seems to have put on a few grams at about 185g. I have realised that having peanuts in his pouches can affect his weight by a few grams 😄
 
Socks Mum said:
I weighed Socks and he seems to have put on a few grams at about 185g. I have realised that having peanuts in his pouches can affect his weight by a few grams 😄
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He gets Harry Hamster every day in the evening and on most days a tiny piece of well cooked poached egg yolk or morsel of cheese. He and I also share a couple of plates (portion size appropriate) of human food grade sunflower seeds, monkey nuts, pumpkin seeds, linseed and I have ordered some hemp seeds. He gets small pieces of fresh food: one or two peas, two fresh sunflower seeds sprouted, or some cooked squash. I sprout the sunflower seeds in plain water, using ones from his muesli, and change the water everyday to avoid bacteria. Once they have about .5 to 1cm to sprout, I drain and store in a container in the fridge, disposing of uneaten ones in a couple of days. I also sterilise his drinking bowl and hamster bottle every day and try to do this morning and evening. Cheese is a bit salty so when he gets older I might use something else instead.
 
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The MCH Mark 1 is made! It's a wobbly affair, but we will see what Socks makes of it. It is extremely chewable, so may undergo renovations from the word go!
 
Well done, I'm impressed. And in such a short time too. It's actually harder than it sounds I think! We could do with a "pattern" for making a multichamber home.
 
Victoria Raechel has a video which I followed. I need to deepen the slots as there are gaps between the roof and walls which let in light. The short dividing pieces need to be used to place the slots in the walls. I had to recut them😗 But her measurements are good. I wasn't feeling very well so my cutting went a bit skew! Socks has been in and seems to be interested, but is keeping his cereal box as the main nest for now😄
 

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I am sure Socks will enjoy it. He may just need time to explore it. The Hamster House has a video too if you ever wanted to check that one out. :)
 
It looks fantastic! He probably will move in at some point, but it's a tricky decision when he likes the cereal box! You could try putting a sand toilet inside it in one of the rooms maybe and a bit of food in there and some torn up strips of toilet paper for nesting right next to the entrance :)
 
Thank you! 😊 You've encouraged me to go for Mark 2. I will try all these things! Socks stocked up on supplies this morning, I think he can sense the change in the weather!
 
It's such a great example of how you can provide lots of enrichment without spending much money :) We often say on here - cardboard is your friend! I think Raffy enjoyed his pringles tube more than the hay hides I got him!
 
Socks slept in this morning after an evening in his playpen and cage. The room temperature was 15.5C and had gone down from 18C. I was OK being in a nice warm bed, but I worry about Socks so I put on the electric fan heater and woke him up. He came out and ate some poached egg yolk and had a long drink, which I was relieved to see. He took some nuts back to bed and I left a bowl of food in his cage. I piled loo paper and birch bedding on his cereal box as it's not a well insulated box. He has dug a nest inside it, but that takes him closer to the plastic cage floor, which is cool. I have put a hessian dust sheet, PVC mat and tin foil under the cage, but I still worry about him being chilly. The room should stay at 28C during the day because of the central heating. I will get a couple of sea grass mats to put over and under his cereal box. 🛏❄️
 
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Socks Mum said:
Socks slept in this morning after an evening in his playpen and cage. The room temperature was 15.5C and had gone down from 18C. I was OK being in a nice warm bed, but I worry about Socks so I put on the electric fan heater and woke him up. He came out and ate some poached egg yolk and had a long drink, which I was relieved to see. He took some nuts back to bed and I left a bowl of food in his cage. I piled loo paper and birch bedding on his cereal box as it's not a well insulated box. He has dug a nest inside it, but that takes him closer to the plastic cage floor, which is cool. I have put a hessian dust sheet, PVC mat and tin foil under the cage, but I still worry about him being chilly. The room should stay at 28C during the day because of the central heating. I will get a couple of sea grass mats to put over and under his cereal box. 🛏❄️
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My Viking Lazer panels have arrived, so tonight I can get busy increasing the bedding depth!
 
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