Is it normal for a hamster not to like going through tubes. I thought all hamsters liked them. Anyway, my hamster has tubes that lead to the 2nd level of her cage which is where her food is. But instead of going through the tubes, she climbs the bars of her cage, shimmys (sp?) over to the level and limbs on. To get back down, she just jumps over the side to the bottom level. I haven't seen her use the tubes for a long time. Is there any point of them being in her cage? Should I take them out to make more room for things that she might be more interested in? Should I try to get her to use the tubes and stop being lazy by taking the short cut?
Answers:
3 out of 10 hamsters do not like going in tubes for simple reasons. one of them is that the tubes may be to small for them and they will get stuck so make sure that the tubes are big enough for them to go in and get out.try teaching her to go into the tubes by putting your fingers in the tube and demonstrating how its done. soon enough she will go in them
sounds like she is scared of it, have you washed it out? she may have peed inside and doesnt like the smell, or maybe she just like to climb and jump down..
throw it out the window.
yeah
I had a hampster who did this, but he got back down to the first level by riding the top of his wheel down to a hampy house on the first level. It was very funny to watch. But he did like longer tubes, like the one going to the hampy sky house and the one going to the hampy hide-out in his cage. Just leave them there unless you have something you want to put in the cage. I always found that my hampy stored food under the tubes.
I had a rabbit who did more or less the same thing - ignored the things I put there. The experience taught me to respect other people's choices. The rabbit is long since dead, but I believe I am a better person for having experienced her independence of character.
i have found that most of the small pets i have kept do not like translucent tubes. that means, if you can see them, even if it is colored, they don't like it. if you are constructive, maybe you can build something out of paper towel tubes.
one way to get her inside might be to add some peanut butter inside, in the middle, so she has to use it.
Not all hamsters like tubes - mine didn't. You have to remember that those cage companies try to make cages that are colorful and look fun for kids who have hamsters so they will convince their parents to buy them and all of the accessories, etc. Yeah, it can be fun for the hamster, but it's not necessarily in the hamsters best interest since most don't like them.
I wouldn't be worried - she can get to her food and exerts more energy doing that than going through the tunnels, so she won't get fat! Personally, I would take them out to find something she might find more interesting - there are so many cool things for small animals out today. Just make sure she'll be able to squeeze in/through/etc. I wish they either had some of the stuff they have now when I was a kid - I would have loved it for my hamster or gerbil. Now we have a degu who is too big to fit in hose
It's not abnormal. Mine doesn't like the tubes either. Try cleaning them out. If she still doesn't like them just take them out to make more room for other things or just to give her more room.
Don't take the tubes out she might want them later. Maybe she is closterphobic. lol. I don't think there is a way to make her go in it if she doesn't like them. :)
maybe the way they are set up is too difficult to climb. try setting them up less steeply and put treat in them to get her to try again.
She may be too big for them. Some Syrians grow to 6" long and it becomes difficult for them to navigate the tubes. We have one 6" with very long hair that nearly got stuck in a tube. I wouldn't worry about the way she does things, it's building up her muscle and making her a stronger hamster. We quit using cages with tubes partly for the same reason, plus it cut down on the cleaning time. We have 40+/- cages to clean each time. Our small animals in wire cages love climbing the wire. I wouldn't call her lazy for being smart enough to climb the wire to eat.
It is very normal it's just a very lazy hamster. :)
My hamster does the same exact thing! One day when I let him out he crawled up the long tube of the vacuum(don't worry i got him out within seconds) so i guess he likes tubes but it just slows him down or gets in his way. Maybe it's the same with your hamster.
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