Jenna and N.P.'s Homes

[megs]

So, here's where Jenna and Napoleon Pear spend alot of their time:


Jenna's Habitrail Playground:



She has the Outpost up top on the left, and the "loft" on the right. The bin below, attached via a tube on the left offers her more space, like a basement! Jenna sleeps in both the Outpost and in the basement. She rests and grooms in the loft. The wheel, attached to the main cage is a Silent Spinner but she hardley ever uses it! She'd much rather be out, rolling around in her yellow ball. And she lets me know it by chewing on the bars loudly! The basement has a plastic "Snap-Ins" house, and a small tea box which she is ripping up nicely, as well as the standard paper towel roll.


Here is Napoleon Pear's cage:





Not nearly as extravagent as Jenna's but he is very happy with it! He uses his Silent Spinner alot more than Jenna does. At this point, I don't think it's too small for him. As he continues to grow, I may have to upgrade him to something bigger. The ramp and mesh 2nd storey on the right are actually meant for a much larger guinea pig, rabbit, or Chinchila cage, but I wiggled it in there and it seems to be working well. I hide treats up there and they're usually gone by morning That's a salt lick up top but he doesn't seem to use it much. He also has a Lixit Hamster Igloo on the lower level right, where he sleeps, and a small "tea box" with an opening where he can hide, as well as a TP roll.

At the moment, both cages have a bedding called "Super Shavings" which are low aromatic oil, wood shavings. I have been told it's as safe as Aspen. A friend graciously donated a huge bag to us after her last rat passed away recently. I just used the last of it, so I'll likely use Carefresh for the next litter change, since it's so reasonably priced and the hams like it.

I'm planning on going shopping for the new Dwarf habitat tomorrow morning So it's ready for when I bring them home in a couple of weeks. So excited!

[rasputin]

Nice homes! And very well-appointed - lots of things for them to do, and see, and play with.

Quite nice!

[megs]

Thanks Rasputin! N.P.'s is still being constructed. Thinking about more toy ideas for him still. There's definately enough space for some more things, I just havn't had time to be constructive lately!

[rasputin]

You can be forgiven, I suppose...

I'm guessing that they're both very happy hams!

[Die Fledermaus]

Impressive. Does Jenna use it all, or just one small part of it all?

How long does it take to clean that?? I feel fatigued just thinking about it! ;D

[megs]

Lol. Yes, they both seem to be very happy little critters. I love spoiling them! Yes, Jenna uses the whole thing. Sometimes she's up, sometimes she's down, sometimes she's in the middle. She hides food up in the outpost as well as down in the basement.

As for the cleaning, N.P.'s cage is so easy. Which is one of the reasons I didn't go with a habitrail this time. He's got more floor space than a Habitrail though, plus the upper level, but cleaning his cage only takes about 15 minutes tops.

Jenna's obviously takes a little longer, because I usually take everything apart, wash it all down with hot soapy water in the bathtub and then dry everything and put it all back together. From start to finish, (If I don't get distracted, which happens ALOT), it takes a little over a half hour. The time consuming part is the TUBES. Washing, drying, putting everything back together. But it's worth it for her

[Die Fledermaus]

I know. I know about the tubes. With dwarfs in a Habitrail they poo so much in there afer two to three weeks fruit flies start hatching if I don't routinely clean them.

The loft. I have similar things on their side as the way you have it any bedding in it will soon get kicked out and down. I did the same with a Crittertrail Classic outpost for Malu, the rescue who came in the tiny cage with Cocoa.

I don't know how your ourpost stays up.

Ever get fogging inside the outpost? Take a red hot pin and melt a couple dozen tiny holes from the inside out to keep the gunk outside. It will improve ventilation!

[pinky]

Am I right--are you are a Tazo tea drinker??

Nice cages! Fuzz has a basic aquarium. I had a hide box in there but he never used it. The ceramic thing that is still there is just a front for all his tunnels in the bedding--he never hides there. The toilet paper tube never seems to get used. Seems it's all about the wheel. He doesn't do much with the stuff in his playpen either. Wonder what he would do with a Habitrail-type setup like yours?

[megs]

Haha. YES! Those are Tazo tea boxes. They work great for hammies! The opening is a perfect size. I found N.P. sleeping in his this morning. So cute.

Yes, DF, the outpost used to get so gross. Smelly and foggy from lack of ventilation. I read somewhere on one of your another forum threads about the hot pin thing. So I heated up some tweezer things that I found in my tool box and melted some holes in the top and it's working great! It's hard to see in that picture, but it actually partially rests on the yellow tubes coming up from the bottom, giving it some more support. One funny thing about the outpost... for months I was actually using it Upside-down! lol.

[Die Fledermaus]

I am giving advice I already gave out!

I have that CC outpost sideways; Malu always is up there feeling nice and safe, as Cayden is always in the PZ of the CT2. If the outpost was not sideways ALL the bedding would have dropped out to the bottom; now the ham has a load of soft bedding - especially neeed as he poos up there sometimes.

[Hamsters82]

Wow, I bet they have fun in that!

[megs]

hamsters82 said:

Wow, I bet they have fun in that!

I hope so. But it is a pit of a pain in the rear to keep clean. Thankfully she always pees in one corner of the basement so I can scoop it, without having to clean the whole thing so often. She also does a nice job or bringing her poop out of the outpost and leaving in that top tube. So I can just disconnect the tube, tap out all the poop and voila! Spot cleaning made easy