Hamster tubes

Question
Hi Sheila,
I want to expand my Syrian's cage by connecting it to a 10 gallon tank. I went to the petstore and bought Crittertrail tubes since it was compatible with the cage I have, but it seems to be a tight fit for my guy. Could you please suggest some tube brands (url links would be splendid!) that are large enough for a Syrian?
Thank you,
Angelika

Answer
Hi Angelika

Thanks for your question - I'm not sure I can help you though.  I don't have cages with tubes, mainly because of the number of hamsters I've got it would take forever to get them cleaned out if they had tubes.

In the past I have tried one or two cages that were sold for Syrians with tubes and my hamsters all managed to get through them.  I'm surprised that the crittertrail tubes are a tight fit.  Some Syrians, especially the Teddy Bears can be quite large compared with the smaller built Syrians.  

Syrians can somehow change their body shape and squeeze through small spaces (compared with gerbils who can't change shape).  The problem I have experienced with tubes are that hamsters do tend to pack bedding/food in them which makes it a very tight squeeze to get through, or they try and get through them with packed cheeks.

I am afraid it is probably a case of just looking around, as I can't recommend any as such.

Sorry I can't help you with this.  Hope you find some tubes that are OK.

Regards
Sheila