Dewey the Hamster is SO SILLY

[lilydarling]

In the middle of the night, I can usually ignore the sounds that come from our hamster Dewey's cage and from our bunny Oreo's cage. Last night at 3am, however, I was awakened by the hamster, and actually got out of the bed to see what was going on.

You know those Petting Zones that are on the top of the Crittertrail cages? Well, it seems that all night, Dewey was busy bring up ALL his food and ALL his bedding up to the Petting Zone. Its the first time in the 4 months that we've had him that he ever did that. I just held him for a few minutes, told him he was weird and went back to bed.

A couple hours later, I woke up and he was still sleeping up in his cozy petting zone area. My 9 year old daughter woke up and I showed her what he did. She was like "I think its because his cage stinks" (I'm bad, I havent cleaned it in a week). So then I felt real bad and cleaned his cage before work, put in fresh bedding and everything.

I get home from work.. yup, he had brought all his bedding and food back up to the petting zone area. What a NUT!

Oh well, as long as he's cozy. lol, my husband says "he's got an apartment up there and a house down there". I think its cute.

Has any of your hamsters done that before? I'm just curious (this is our first hamster).

[piggy101]

yup my golden hammy does dat all the time he spends most of his time in the petting zone. He sleeps in there all day and everything. I think they do this because its the place where the feel is nice and cozy

[jennawing]

Here's an article I found reguarding crittertrails specifically the petting zones. When I read this, I was relieved that none of my hamsteres lived in CTs anymore. Not trying to scare you, but wouldn't be nice to know somehting detrimental and not share it.

I do not know who wrote it, but that is where I found it.

After selling the Pets International Critter Trail cages for a while, we began hearing disturbing reports of near suffocation and even death when full size hamsters became trapped in the 'Petting Zone' compartment at the top of the cages.

The little guys spend the night moving their bedding from the main cage compartment, up the tube and into the petting zone. Toward dawn, when they have over-stuffed the small compartment, some of the bedding falls down the tube and piles up at the right angle at the bottom of the tube. When the hamster tries to descend, they compact the litter and become entrapped in the tube and panic. Some families have awakened to find their hamster stuck and suffocated at the bottom of the tube. One family found the little guy in the comfort zone compartment, but near death due to the reduced airflow caused by the blockage of litter at the bottom of the tube.

We have reported this problem to Pets International and they are trying to duplicate the problem in their facilities without the use of animals.

There are other problems as well.

-The Comfort Zone lid closes with a plastic latch. Any small critter kept in these cages will gnaw on the latch and eventually escape. We have yet to see a Critter Trail cage that has been in use more than a few months that does not have this lid secured with tape.

Pets International has already addressed this problem and has added a metal tab to the latch that cannot be chewed through. If you are planning on purchasing a Critter Trail cage for your mouse or dwarf hamster, look for a cage with this modification.

-Additionally, when these cages are lifted by placing one hand on either size of the cage (on the wire sides) instead of lifting it by the bottom, the cages dissassemble, crashing to the ground in a borken heap, traumatizing, injuring or potentially killing the little critter inside.

Again, Pets International has addressed this problem in their revised model Critter Trail Cages. If planning to purchase one, look for the revised model. It will have visible latches securing the bottom to the rest of the cage.

To date, if you care for a full size hamster, we cannot advise use of the Critter Trail Cages at all for your pet until Pets International has resolved the entrapment issue in the Petting Zone Tube. (This will not be an inexpensive fix for them.)We have had no reports of entrapment of mice or dwarf hamsters and believe the Critter Trail cages are safe and fun for these animals as well as for their humans.

One last word about the folks at Pets International: For Other Living Things has spoken with them directly about all the issues mentioned here. They have been genuinly concerned and responsive. We are greatly impressed at their commitment to the well being of our furry friends and their actions to gaurantee their safety.

-http://www.forotherlivingthings.com/info_pages/Small_Animal_Cages.html

[lilydarling]

wow. thank you. we have another cage we dont use very often for him.. its a S.A.M. cage, and i think for a little while we're gonna move him into there.. I'm kinda nervous about the petting zone/tube thing.. thanks for advising me.

[Zouave]

Curious. Never had that problem. My ham could always back up into the PZ if getting out of the downward tube was jammed and he could not loosen it.

Before he got used to the CT2 he'd stay in the main cage and pack the tubes with stuff, for protection I assume.

The only time a hamster got stuck was when another jammed her pouches with a Milk Bone and could not go forward; I tickled her butt and she backed up and disgorged the biscuit.

I would think putting more stuff in the PZ means the temperature is getting cooler. When warm, they stay out of it.

[oreo123]

thanks for the info on the CT cages, that could come in handy some time. im really not worried about it though, cuz if anything goes wrong in the night, stiltz just screams at me and wakes me up. as for the bedding thing, my ham does that as well, once, I didnt put enough bedding in the petting zone, and he carried more up. he always stores his food in his wheel, thenruns in it at midnight.

[jennawing]

stiltz just screams at me and wakes me up.

LOL! That is one pushy hammy! LOL! Too cute!

I used a CT3 with my first hamster (Cream Soda- my icon above) and she got pneumonia from the asperillis- she INSISTED on sleeping, peeing, unstuffing, EVERYTHING up there in the PZ. I cleaned it more often that recomended, but was afraid to use detergents since she spent so much time up there, and didn't realize I was not killing the fungus. It was the beginning of her demise. It was one vet trip after another after that and she died at 22 months- too soon. So, I don't use the CT3 anymore, though it still sits there- I can't gring myself to get rid of it. Sappy me.

[jennawing]

*aspergillis* sorry