Socks: Mouseworks Dynamic Cardboard Redesign and Basic Tunneling

That’s exciting! Did you get the ones for the standard plaza or has he now got some to fit the 120? Or custom sized ones? I know he’ll make them any size you want :)

That will also help keep him cosy :-) 15.5 is not too bad - if it went below that I’d be worried.
 
Thanks Maz, I got home and it was 17C, so not too bad, but I have bought more bedding and two seagrass mats. I hate being cold, do I want Socks to be cosy! I bought the panels for the HH cage, a front panel and the door panel, to reduce the bar biting, but since moving he seems to have stopped, which is great! The panels along with some cardboard should be enough to accommodate a pile of deep bedding. They are good quality and I would like to add more of the SP120 ones over time.
 
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Socks Mum said:
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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Does Socks have a wheel? I can't see one in the photo. Sorry if he does and I've missed it.
 
He's still doing his learner's 😄 Well, you are right, not actually 😚 but he is bugging me for one (Mom, when can I have a wheel?) One came with the cage, but it is too small for Socks. He hopped on and strolled along cautiously, but it is only 15cm and once he had finished trying it out I took it away and used it as a fruit basket! I'm sure he will have a great time when we get one, I just need to find the right one!
 
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I poured bedding into the cage and paper bedding. Sock's cereal box home looks like a thatched cottage! The Viking Lazer panels are really great and perfectly finished. The bolts 🔩 fit beautifully. I will attach them tonight. At the moment there are big pieces of cardboard on the back snd one side. I thought Socks would chew them, but they are still in one piece so far. They will help me to decide where to start placing the panels. Socks didn't do the playpen last night. He had his greens and egg and came out for a little bit to see what all the messing about was for. The seagrass mat on his nest box helps insulate it and when he is in his playpen, I'll undo the bars and put the other one under the bedding under his house. He got up after I went to bed and meerkatted. I gave him a peanut and went back to bed. He shuffled through the bedding and every time I started to drift off, for about an hour, he made a loud thud. Selfish mom that I am, I assumed he was monkey barring and went back to sleep instead of getting up to see if he had hurt himself. This morning he popped his nose out the front of his nest, but it was 15C and I think he thought it was probably a day for staying indoors. The central heating is on, so the room should go up to 18+C.
 
Socks Mum said:
I poured bedding into the cage and paper bedding. Sock's cereal box home looks like a thatched cottage! The Viking Lazer panels are really great and perfectly finished. The bolts 🔩 fit beautifully. I will attach them tonight. At the moment there are big pieces of cardboard on the back snd one side. I thought Socks would chew them, but they are still in one piece so far. They will help me to decide where to start placing the panels. Socks didn't do the playpen last night. He had his greens and egg and came out for a little bit to see what all the messing about was for. The seagrass mat on his nest box helps insulate it and when he is in his playpen, I'll undo the bars and put the other one under the bedding under his house. He got up after I went to bed and meerkatted. I gave him a peanut and went back to bed. He shuffled through the bedding and every time I started to drift off, for about an hour, he made a loud thud. Selfish mom that I am, I assumed he was monkey barring and went back to sleep instead of getting up to see if he had hurt himself. This morning he popped his nose out the front of his nest, but it was 15C and I think he thought it was probably a day for staying indoors. The central heating is on, so the room should go up to 18+C.
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I think the thud was Socks landing on the cardboard roof of his MCH. I'll pile bedding there 🪂
 
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You can't go wrong with the 28cm plastic trixie wheel really and it's quite cheap :-) I know some breeders wait to give them a wheel till they're a a few weeks older out of fear a hamster will go crazy on it and have a heart attack. But it's not something I've ever heard of and most hamsters have a wheel straight away. I did have a breeder hamster once and waited to give a wheel and yes there was plenty of monkey barring and even a bit of bar chewing (in a 100cm cage) but not much. They do go a bit stir crazy without one at night when they're at their most active. Once he had a wheel he stopped monkey barring and bar chewing. They can run about 5 miles a night!
 
Thankfully, Syrians aren't prone to diabetes :) But they do love their wheels! With the trixie, it's tricky having it stand on top of deeper substrate and keeping stable, but you can just tie the stand to the bars to keep it in place. Best to use sisal string for that in case he decides to chew it! The Silent runner is a similar wheel and you can get bar attachments for that, so it's very easy (and also completely silent! Apart from the pattering of feet). It's very easy to put at the height or place you want with the bar attachments, but it is more expensive. £28.99 and the bar attachments cost extra - £7.99. So it depends if a silent wheel is important or not! My trixie wheel is very quiet though - virtually silent. Some are noisy or rattly but you could always send it back for a replacement if you get one of those.
 
I like the Nightangel. I'm a bit unsure about the safety of the Trixie. I suppose it depends on the hamster. This owner said her hamster went up the side and is scared of it now as it turns with a funny momentum. She doesn't show it happening bit she describes it.
 
I can understand your concerns. I think the Trixie wheel is a more budget friendly wheel. If you wanted to spend more then there are the Niteangel, Hopes Healthy Treats wheel, Silent Runners. I think everybody will have different opinions about wheels. It can be quite individual.
 
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I haven’t heard of that being an issue. People have been using them for years :). If it’s just stood on the substrate, it’s not very stable. But if secured to the bars at the back by tying the stand it’s not bad.

It is more secure having one that screws to the bars though.
 
Hopes HT has nice products. Roll on payday! Socks is nest building tonight so I put the sea grass mat up as a large hammock and shredded loo paper for him. His MCH is almost dark with the piles of bedding against it and he goes in there a lot. If he comes out again and there is enough time, I'll put up the Viking Lazer panels. In the meantime there's lots of cardboard, but it doesn't look as nice as the panels. All the new stuff and the sound of me bumping around trying to put up the panels without taking the bars off has made him go back into his cereal box, but I can hear rustling!
 
Maybe you could put the panels up when he is in his playpen? It may be less disruption for him.
 
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