Hamster, Gerbil and Mouse Cage...

This is the cage that I use for my hamsters, gerbils or mice.  Right now this is set up for gerbils or a Syrian hamster.  It's made by Martins Cages because they work with the 1/2" x 1/2" wire.  To order:  CC-3018 – Modified – 30" w x 16"t x 18"d, 1/2” x 1/2”, flip-top lid with 2 spring hooks, front door with 2 latches, collapsible carrier, no ramp, no balcony.

For this set up, I use the fiddlesticks to keep the bedding separate from the wheel, water bottles and food dish.

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Door open to see their swag.  :)  The gerbils are hiding in the Dr. Pepper box.










And you can see their Wobust Wodent Wheel.

Woolsey saying hello!

Olive and Pepper

This is Olive (top) and Pepper (bottom).  They are about 6 months old now and they came here about 5 weeks ago.  They are super sweet and becoming round. :)  They are the youngest of the 3 ratties here now.

Welcome little Olive and Pepper!












Here's Olive coming out to REALLY say hello. :)

Rosie Passes

Sadly little Rosie has passed.  I went into the room this morning and she didn't come out of her burrow.I pulled up all of the burrowing material and found that she had passed in her nest.  She was a very sweet hamster and will be greatly missed.  Rest in peace little Rosie. :*(

Hamster Yola Unexpectedly Passes

Sadly I came home today and found that Yola, the youngest Syrian hamster here, had passed.  She hasn't been here very long and this was completely unexpected.  Rest in peace little Yola.

Rodent Treats

I don't consider scraps, fruits, vegetables and nuts, essentially any whole foods treats for the rodents.  (I don't consider a peanut or sunflower seed a treat, I just consider it a limited food item.)  I consider treats something that is not part of their regular diet.  I typically buy Curly Whiskers Rattery Hanging Chew Treats, Mazuri's Monkey Crunch and any Cloud Star's Itty Bitty Buddy Biscuits.  They really like these treats and I feel pretty good about giving them these treats.

Rodent Diet

I've been made some changes to the dry diet to offer more variety.  Their dry diet consists of a combination of commercial blocks, a commercial mix and a homemade mix.

species	commercial food	source
rat/ mouse	Rodent Breeder 6F # 5M30	You can contact your local feed store or order it online through mazuri.com
hamster/ gerbil	Mazuri Hamster/Gerbil Diet #5E10	I get mine from my local feed store but you can also order directly from mazuri.com
hamster/ gerbil	Supreme Hazel Hamster	I order mine from Pet Mountain.
hamster/ gerbil	Drs Foster and Smith Signature Series Premium Hamster Food	Drs Foster and Smith

The items with a * indicate a non-human grade ingredient.

As of 7/2013 the homemade mixes are:

Homemade Dry Mix Base for Rats and Mice

60%
Thick cut Rolled Oats
Barley Flakes
Rye Flakes

20%
Total Cereal
Cheerios

15%

Air Dried Carrots
Dried Parsley
Dried Cranberries
Dried Bananas
Split Peas
Herb Salad (Calendula (Marigold) Flowers, Whole; Chamomile Flowers; Dandelion Leaf, Cut; Hibiscus Flowers, Cut; Raspberry Leaf; Rose Hips (Seedless), Cut)
Dried Sweet (Bell) Peppers
Other Dried fruits and veggies as available

5%
Dog Food (I use Kirkland Lowfat)*

Syrian Hamster/Mongolian Gerbil Homemade Dry Mix:

27%
Thick cut Rolled Oats/Groats
Barley Flakes/Berries
Rye Flakes/Berries

18%
Seed Mix (millet, canary, flax seed, safflower, hemp seeds)*

27%

Air Dried Carrots
Dried Parsley
Herb Salad (Calendula (Marigold) Flowers, Whole; Chamomile Flowers; Dandelion Leaf, Cut; Hibiscus Flowers, Cut; Raspberry Leaf; Rose Hips (Seedless), Cut)
Dried Sweet (Bell) Peppers

Other dried veggies as available

9%

Unsalted Roasted Peanuts

Sunflower seeds*

Pumpkin seeds*

4%

Split Peas

Lentils

Total Cereal
Cheerios

15%

Freeze Dried Meal Worms* and/or Freeze Dried River Shrimp*

Current fresh food offerings:
As I've been doing more cooking at home, I've moved away from the basic frozen mix.  In season fruits and vegetables, scraps from the table make their way to the critter cages.  Just be mindful of the forbidden food lists for each species.

When I don't cook as much, I prepare a basic frozen mix is (with amounts listed) and then I add something different every day:

Frozen broccoli 5#

Peas 5#

Kale 5#

Sweet Potatoes 5 pounds (cooked, purchased raw from Winco) 

Beans 10 cups (cooked mixed beans purchased from bulk bins at Winco) No kidney beans.

Basmatti Brown Rice 12 cups (cooked, purchased from bulk bins at Winco)

Quinoa 12 cups (cooked, purchased from bulk bins at Winco)

I steam the rice and quinoa the day before combining my mix. I also cook the beans.  I boil them for 10 minutes then let simmer for 3 hours.  I cook the sweet potatoes.  I put the rice and quinoa in the freezer overnight and the beans and sweet potatoes in the refrigerator overnight.   The next day I cut up the sweet potatoes into cubes and mix everything together.  I then divide into freezer baggies for me to pull out and heat up daily for the critters.

Again, these diets are their BASIC diet.  They do eat other foods.  I mix in additional items in their frozen mix, for example bok choy, apples, canned mandarin oranges, blueberries, et cetera.  Just watch the items on the forbidden food list.

Inspiration:
I got inspiration for the diet here from the sites below.

The Dapper Rat http://www.dapper.com.au/articles.htm#diet
Dream Mountain Rattery http://www.dreammtnfarm.com/rattery/about.htm
RatFanClub http://www.ratfanclub.org/nutreq.html
Rattie Rascals Rattery http://www.boardmanweb.com/rattery/nutrition.htm
Shunamite Diet: http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/information/guides.php?subject=shunamite
Hamster Hideout forum

Combat Mouse Odor

Rescue mice have a really hard time finding a home.  The biggest complaint, they smell.  And they do have an odor.  Here are some hints on how I keep mice here to help combat that.  Most people only keep one or two mice as pets so this is really speaking to them.  The more mice you have, the more smell you do have to deal with.  The most mice that have lived here at one time is 8 and this is what I did and continue to do even though I don't have that many mice here, to combat the mouse smell.

The cage 

For adult mice, I go to Martins Cages as they will make me cages with 1/2" x 1/2" wire.  I have 3 sizes based on the group of mice.  Otherwise, the only other habitat I recommend is a glass aquarium.  I do not ever recommend the Critter Trail or similar products for ANY animal.  From personal experience they are awful to clean, and I've had mice escape from them.  I don't recommend bin cages for mice as the plastic tends to hold the odor in, even after cleaning it with items normally great at removing odor.

These cages are not on Martin's website, but you can order these cages.  You'll have to contact them via their form to get a price quote.  Be sure to include your shipping address so they can give you your shipping quote as well, include the entire underlined area for each cage when sending in your request.  Keep in mind, the 1/2" x 1/2" wire is harder to work with and it is more expensive.

CC-1811 (18"w x 11" d x 11"t) with 1/2" x 1/2" GAW wire.  A full flip top with 2 latches, an 8" x 6" door with 2 latch springs instead of the normal door latches.  Fully collapsible.  Ask them to make sure the door covers the opening with an overlap of at least an inch on the 3 sides of the door. I use this cage for a single mouse, typically an older mouse as they've slowed down quite a bit.

CC-2414 (24"w x 14" d x 14"t) with 1/2" x 1/2" GAW wire.  A full flip top with 2 latches, a front door with 2 latch springs instead of the normal door latches.  Fully collapsible.  Ask them to make sure the door covers the opening with an overlap of at least an inch on the 3 sides of the door. These are a great size for single or up to 3 mice.  You can really decorate it for them.  Below is the cage with just the wheels in it so you can see the size.

CC-3018 (30"w x 18" d x 18"t)* without a balcony with 1/2" x 1/2" GAW wire.  A full flip top with 2 latches, a front door with 2 latch springs instead of the normal door latchs.  Fully collapsible.  Ask them to make sure the door covers the opening with an overlap of at least an inch on the 3 sides of the door.  I use for usually no more than 6 mice.  You can really decorate it for them.  I recommend leaving off the balcony because it takes away from being fully collapsible and it seems to knock some money off of the price.   You can ask for this to be modified to only 16" tall, but I don't recommend going any lower because at 16" this cage can later be used for a pair of gerbils, a pair of rats, or a Syrian hamster during the cage's lifetime.

[Picture to follow]

The Substrates

The second part to keeping odors down is to select a substrate that absorbs odors.  Hands down I have found that paper pelleted litter does this the best.  As I live in Oregon, the home of Good Mews, that is the paper pelleted litter I use.  It's usually found in the cat litter isle at the grocery store, such as Winco.  There are other types of paper pelleted litter so if you live in another part of the country, you might want to see what is the most cost effective version in your area.

As Good Mews is not very soft, I include nesting material such as toilet paper, plain tissue paper (no lotion), and shredded newspaper.

If you find they start to smell too much between cage cleaning times, get a small dust pan or scoop and swap out some litter every other day and add fresh litter.  Don't do the entire cage, just a cup (or a few depending on the size of the cage) at a time.  Adding a few fresh cups of litter helps refresh the cage and absorbs more odors.

Furnishing the cages

With a few exceptions, I tend to use items I can just toss.  I provide a Superpet igloo appropriate for the population of mice that live in the cage, but small cardboard boxes work well, and you can toss those when you clean the cage.  I provide a 4.5" flying saucer and a 6.5" Silent Spinner.  While the wire wheels are cheaper and actually help with the odor control, they are too loud and you are constantly coating the contact areas with vegetable oil.  The reason it is a 6.5" wheel is because they tend to outgrow the 4.5" Silent Spinner and you don't want them arching their backs when they are running.

Of course they love toilet paper and paper towel rolls.  I also save bits of cardboard, like cereal boxes, the backs of pads of paper, coffee cup bands and make cardboard fortresses for their cages.

I actually don't provide a food dish for their dry food since they tend to go to the bathroom in it and they seem to prefer to forage.  I provide paper boats for fresh food.  The paper boats are often "re-purposed" by the mouse into their own forts.  I like to use the smallest one.

I usually make braids of fleece for them to climb on when they are younger.  Depending on the mouse, you could see about providing them hammocks.  I typically purchase cheap fleece blankets from Ikea and cut them up.  (They have blankets for $2.)  I toss the fleece at cage cleaning time.  If you put it in the washer, they can still smell other animals on it and often re-scent it, thus making it smell more in their cage.

Water Bottles

I only use glass water bottles on all of the critter cages.  I provide each cage with at least 2 water bottles in case one fails.  (Image from Lixit.com site).  http://www.lixit.com/node/711  These fit on a variety of popular tea and juice bottles sold.  I typically just go to my work's recycle bins (with permission) and remove the glass bottles I need.  What is great that is that if I drop a bottle, they are really easy to replace.  The best price I've seen for these kits is through kwcages.com.  They are sold as bird water bottle kits.  I leave all of the hardware on the cage when cleaning the cage.

Cage Cleaning Schedule

I clean mouse cages every week.  (Unlike gerbil and Syrian hamster cages which are on a rotating schedule.).  For male mice, I typically reserve about 1/2" cup of the used Good Mews to sprinkle around their cage to "pre-scent" it for them.  This way they seem less inclined to re-scent extensively and the smell is held down.  I do NOT do this for any other animal that is in my care, just the male mice.

Cleaning Your Hands After Handling Your Mouse

Vinegar or lemon juice help remove odors from your hands.  You can usually purchase new, empty pumps from beauty supply stores.  Barring that, you could recycle a liquid soap dispenser you already have or visit Specialty Bottles online (image taken from Specialty Bottles http://www.specialtybottle.com/clearpetcosmoplastic8ozbottlewblackpump.aspx).  Just wash with soap as normal and then finish with vinegar or lemon juice.

It may seem like a lot of work to keep pet mice, but they are worth the effort.  They can be endearing and engaging little creatures.

Mackles Passes

Sadly, little Mackles passed.  He outlived his brother, Quinton.  He was sweet and gentle giant.

Rest in peace Mackles.

Kurumi Passes

When I was feeding the little ones this morning, little Kurumi had passed during the night.  She was 19 months old.  :(

There were no signs of illness.  She was found curled up in her grass nest in her burrow.

Rest in peace little Kurumi.

Silver and Onyx, Refugees from California's Gerbil Ban

A pair of female gerbils made their way to Oregon from California on Saturday.  They arrived at the Village about 8:30 pm.  They settled in by taking a sand bath.  They're pretty active little girls.  Hopefully they will enjoy it here.  Pictures to follow.

Ping Leaves Us

Going into the rat room tonight, I'd discovered that Ping had passed.  Ping leaves Rollo behind on his own. :(    This death was not unexpected, the brothers are 2 years, 9 months old and were really showing their age but  it was still sad to find him so.  Even sadder is that his brother is now alone.

He has been prepared for private cremation.

Rest in peace little Ping.

Another Guardian Laid to Rest - Majah

The cats are our pets and not part of the sanctuary. 

Majah was 18+ years old.  He was always a svelte cat, my husband things he was part Oriental.

Majah came into my life in 1996.  I had just graduated from college and went to Medford, Oregon to visit family.  My grandmother gave me a graduation gift of cash and I went to the local shelter and adopted a cat, a friend for Mocca.  He was the last cat left for adoption at the store I went to so I adopted him.

It was a 6 hour trip to get home and I purchased a carrier and a leash and harness for him so I could take him for walks to go to the bathroom at rest stops.  I wasn't sure if it would work but all be damned if it didn't.  He went to the bathroom while on the leash.

When I got home, I introduced him to Mocca.  As I lived in a room in a house, he would not get run of the house.  He and Mocca did NOT hit it off.  For a month it was stand-off city.  Mocca was relaxed, Majah was not.

One day I had the window open and my room mates dog was outside and jumped up on the window and started barking at them.  Mocca and Majah were sitting on opposite sides of my desk and they both reared back and then flew across the room to the bed and huddled together.  Best friends were born.

[image to come of them snuggling I have to scan it]

They were inseparable and slept together, often in a ball.  Mocca was the alpha cat, but he was a gentle leader and very welcoming to new cats.  Majah was second in command but when he got too bad, Mocca would give him a big swat.  As Mocca aged and was no longer exerting his quiet control, Majah actually became a real pain to the other cats.  He tormented Deemka and Gadget continuously.  Padjar, well, he can take care of himself.

When Mocca passed, Majah became unbearable for a year or so.  He'd chase the cats away from us.  His final year with us, he started to really slow down.  He still tormented the other cats, but he spent a lot of time sleeping (yes more so than usual).

When he started to drop weight, we brought him to the vet for blood tests.  We had periodic blood tests done to monitor him.  He started to suffer from dementia and would cry and seem lost. :(   He was almost 18 years old.

He became more frail.  Sometimes when you look at a pet, you just know. I made an appointment on August 2nd to have him euthanized.  On July 28th, when we came home from the county fair and found he could no longer stand and walk, I brought him to a vet hospital on the 29th to have him put to sleep.

We do miss him.  Sadly, the other cats do not.  I'm actually writing this on when I realized I didn't post his obit on the blog in July of 2012.  Deemka has completely come out of her shell.  She runs around the house with the zoomies and comes to sit on our laps.  Padjar's skin condition, he had a nervous spot that he would worry raw, is gone.  Gadget has started coming back downstairs too.

Despite his annoying tendencies, Majah is missed and was well loved.  He underwent private cremation at the Oregon Humane Society.

Rest in peace Majah.

Introducing Baklava...a real sweet treat

Baklava came to us on 2/21/2013.  He is a sweet boy, about 6 months old.  This picture was taken on 3/5/2013.  He's settled in quite nicely.

He loves his food and he absolutely loves his sand bath.  He's the only hamster I have that I see in it quite a bit.  Here he is in his sand bath.  (It is a square glass canister on its side.)

Here is a butt shot!  He's got some fuzzy wisps of fur!

I've had to rearrange his cage since he came here because he didn't care for the burrow.

You can see his igloo that he refuses to sleep in.  Instead, he made his nest under his wheel.  :/
Welcome Baklava!  We hope you love it here!

Brownie has come and gone

Sadly little Brownie, 2 years old, wasn't with us long.  After getting her home, I assessed her and decided to bring her to the vet that Saturday.  I believe the tumor was a bit more than a tumor.

The decision to euthanize is never taken lightly.  I actually paused because I wanted to make sure she had an advantage, but I also didn't want her last week of life, being a struggle of me forcing medication into her mouth and her getting sick from the medicine.  After watching her walk around the table while waiting for our doctor (we were early), her leg was also pushed out of position so she had to hobble.

Hamsters, like most small animals, are pretty stoic little critters.  She was a big girl to begin with and she was extremely sweet.  She had to be to never bite given the amount of pain she probably was in.

She was very well loved in her original home and she was well loved the brief time she was here.  The picture above was taken by her pet parent who gave me permission to post it here.  She kind of reminds me of a gourd in this picture.  Or maybe a pear. :*)

Her remains have been prepared for private cremation.

Be free little...er big one.  :*)

Rosie Trying to Sleep in her Burrow

I see a little foot!

Awww, here is a little sleeping fuzzy bear!

Seriously?  You woke me up!  I'll come out and check out the area to patrol what that flash was from.

Ok I'm out!

This was me waiting for her to come down into the main part of her cage from her burrow.  Instead I missed the bum shot as she showed her butt as she crawled back into her house and went back to bed.  :)

Silly Rosie!

Rosco and the Village

A co-worker, Marilyn H., contacted me, asking if I knew of a rescue that would helps rats.  :)

After getting a bit of background, I arranged to pick up little Rosco. 

The Good Samaritan that rescued him from being tossed away kept him safe until I was able to get him.  She told me that he'd previously lived "loose" in a bathroom that was never cleaned and then in a bucket until the young lady took him in when the original owner was going to throw him away. I'm not sure how my co-worker got involved, but Rosco has come here to live!

I've been working on his socialization and he has come a long way in the week I've had him. He runs to greet me at the door and is so anxious to be worked with. I'm thinking he will be ready by March, so if he continues with his smashing progress, he's been entered in the rat show in Seattle, Ratapalooza 2013. I've entered him in Best Rescue Story and Best Costume (We will work on wearing the tuxedo in another week or two). 

Welcome Roscoe!

Martins Mouse Cage Upgrade

The mice are getting bigger cages, eventually.  I ordered the first two cages today.  They are 30" wide x 18" deep x 16" tall.  These will be for the 5 remaining girls.  It was discovered that the cage the girls are in is too small for the number of mice.  It also has been decided that the cages needed to be available to work as hamster or rat cages and the cages they are currently in are too small for that.

These cages are made with 1/2" x 1/2" wire.

Eventually the last 2 sets of cages will be replaced as funds permit.

The 2 cages that are currently in use will eventually be donated to North Star Animal Rescue based in the San Francisco Bay Area.  http://www.northstarrescue.org/  I will be keeping a set here for hospital cages.

To order this cage,  CC-3018 – Modified – 30" w x 16"t x 18"d, 1/2” x 1/2”, flip-top lid with 2 spring hooks, front door with 2 latches, collapsible carrier.

Hamster Cage Set-up Redesign

I set up the inside of the hamsters' cages differently this week.

 Rose's wheel and hanging toy.  Food has been moved near the water bottles.

 Top view of the cage, this is her burrow and balcony.  She is actually inside the igloo in the digging box right now.

 Pulled back view.

 The tube that goes from the cage to inside the burrow.

Another view of the burrow.












Kurumi's Cage:

 Bath, wheel, hanging toy.

View of the burrow and balcony.  You can see Kurumi exploring the back.

 Her wheel, hanging chew and sand bath.

 Kurumi on her balcony over her burrow.

 You can just make out the tube to her burrow!

A pulled back view of the cage.

 Kurumi happy with her new digs!

These cages are made by Quality Cage.  They are not on their site but they are 32" x 16" x 16" and are collapsible.

Yang Helped to the Bridge

Rattie Yang has been helped to the bridge.  He developed hind end paralysis, however he was still doing pretty good and getting around ok and eating.  He'd been on a diet of baby food and cereal to help keep the weight on him but he stopped eating a few days ago and just laid in the corner of his cage so it was time to help him because that isn't any type of life. :(

He's been prepared for private cremation at the Oregon Humane Society.

Rest in peace little Yang.

Twitter Passed

One of my little female mice, Twitter, has passed.  She was found, buried, under the igloo in the cage.  The girls had moved all of their bedding to the opposite side of the cage.

Twitter was one of the lab mice in Fat Kid Rules the World.

She's been prepared for cremation.

Rest in peace little Twitter!

Rodent Dry Mix

I've refined my mix again, and this is current as of 1/11/2013.  The seeds in the mix are sold as bird seeds.  The items with a * indicate a non-human grade ingredient.

As of 1/2013:

Dry Mix Base for Rats and Mice

60%
Thick cut Rolled Oats
Barley Flakes
Rye Flakes
Titricale Flakes

20%
Total Cereal
Cheerios

15%

Air Dried Carrots
Dried Parsley
Raisins
Dried Cranberries
Dried Bananas
Split Peas
Herb Salad (Calendula (Marigold) Flowers, Whole; Chamomile Flowers; Dandelion Leaf, Cut; Hibiscus Flowers, Cut; Raspberry Leaf; Rose Hips (Seedless), Cut)
Dried Sweet (Bell) Peppers
Other Dried fruits and veggies as available

5%
Dog Food (I use Kirkland Lowfat)*

(For treats and enrichment, I put hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, and freeze dried meal worms in a digging box (ground walnut shells).

Syrian Hamster/Mongolian Gerbil Dry Mix:
27%
Thick cut Rolled Oats/Groats
Barley Flakes/Berries
Rye Flakes/Berries
Titricale Flakes/Berries

18%
Seed Mix (millet, canary, flax seed, safflower, hemp seeds)*

27%

Air Dried Carrots
Dried Parsley
Herb Salad (Calendula (Marigold) Flowers, Whole; Chamomile Flowers; Dandelion Leaf, Cut; Hibiscus Flowers, Cut; Raspberry Leaf; Rose Hips (Seedless), Cut)
Dried Sweet (Bell) Peppers

Other dried veggies as available

9%

Unsalted Roasted Peanuts

Sunflower seeds*

Pumpkin seeds*

4%

Dried Bananas
Other dried fruits as available
Split Peas

Lentils

Total Cereal
Cheerios

15%

Freeze Dried Meal Worms* and/or Freeze Dried River Shrimp*

Oxbow hamster/gerbil food*

Frozen mix is (with amounts listed):

Frozen broccoli 5#

Peas 5#

Kale 5#

Sweet Potatoes 5 pounds (cooked, purchased raw from Winco) 

Beans 10 cups (cooked mixed beans purchased from bulk bins at Winco) No kidney beans.

Basmatti Brown Rice 12 cups (cooked, purchased from bulk bins at Winco)

Quinoa 12 cups (cooked, purchased from bulk bins at Winco)

I steam the rice and quinoa the day before combining my mix. I also cook the beans.  I boil them for 10 minutes then let simmer for 3 hours.  I cook the sweet potatoes.  I put the rice and quinoa in the freezer overnight and the beans and sweet potatoes in the refrigerator overnight.   The next day I cut up the sweet potatoes into cubes and mix everything together.  I then divide into freezer baggies for me to pull out and heat up daily for the critters.

Again, these diets are their BASIC diet.  They do eat other foods.  I mix in additional items in their frozen mix, for example bok choy, apples, canned mandarin oranges, blueberries, et cetera.  Just watch the items on the forbidden food list.

Inspiration:
I got inspiration for the diet here from the sites below.

The Dapper Rat http://www.dapper.com.au/articles.htm#diet
Dream Mountain Rattery http://www.dreammtnfarm.com/rattery/about.htm
RatFanClub http://www.ratfanclub.org/nutreq.html
Rattie Rascals Rattery http://www.boardmanweb.com/rattery/nutrition.htm
Shunamite Diet: http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/information/guides.php?subject=shunamite

Rosie Being Her Adorable Self

These pictures were taken on 1/6/2013.  She is being her usual sweet self!

Kurumi Looking Cute

Kurumi had some shots taken when I was shooting pictures of the critters.

Here she is looking cute.

Here she is on her log.

And she is putting up with me holding her to take a picture.  She is really very sweet and doesn't mind being held at all.

Reeses and Nutella and Their Digs!

This is the first version of their digs.  I will be making some changes for the next time, but this is pretty good for now.  They are really enjoying their "burrow."  I "built" a chamber with a tunnel to it just like an article I read about preventing them from digging in corners.

I was only able to get Nutella in this series.  Reeses took one look at the camera and ran back into the burrow and wouldn't come out.  I think he made Nutella come out and see.

As you can see I took cardboard and surrounded the part of the cage I was putting the burrow in.  I don't use tanks because I can't interact with the critters as well and they are too heavy for me to lift to clean.  Anyway, I made a square of soda boxes that connect together and put holes in them to the inner part that is open (kind of like a courtyard).  Then I buried it all under the crinkled paper.  I placed a wire balcony over that and they jump up there sometimes. The original intent was the pink bucket was to be their sand but it doesn't work as I'd like it to so I put another one in their cage.

Here's the opening to the burrow.  When I put the kids in here they scrambled all around the open part and then shot into the burrow and up through the middle.  They were so excited!

So the food can't be buried as easily, balconies were laid down.  It also helps to keep the water bottle and wheel areas clear of paper.  All cages get two water bottles.  I use the Lixit Recycled Water Bottle Kit.

They get a giant silent spinner.

View of the burrow from the top.  (I was hoping Reeses would pop up.)

I'll try to get Reeses pics in the morning.  These little guys are really busy about 4 am.

I'm going to be setting up the hamster cages in a similar fashion with sand bath and a burrow.  I'm sure it will keep them really busy!

Woolsey Pictures!

Here is the baked potato! He is a very avid wheel runner and he sometimes sleeps in his wheel.

 

Here is his digs.  You can see he made his nest in his igloo.  On the next cage cleaning there will be some changes to include a sand bath area and a "burrow."  I can't wait!