Additional hide-away

Question
Dear Heather,

I have a Teddy Bear Hamster in a 10 gallon tank with a high rise cage on top of it. Since she's so active now at nights it looks to me that she's enjoying it. As a reference, I had her before in a plastic "critter trail". Even though I know she's much better now in her new "home" there are a couple of spots of her prior one that she used as a "bed-hideaways" other than her usual "sleep" corner, the glowing ball and the disc. She used to spend lots of hours there during the day, she even brought up there some bedding and food...
Right now her only "bed area" are couple of corners down in the "1st floor" (the tank). On the second floor (the wire cage) she has her water bottle, her chewing wood stick and her food bowl. That floor is made out of mesh. I think that I might buy her a "bed-hideaway" for the 2nd floor as well. I've been checking options but I'm not sure what to buy. The only thing that I'm pretty sure is that she wouldn't sleep on a mesh floor (I wouldn't either!!!)... I've explored some options but I still have my doubts. For instance, 1) hanging hammock, tents, and similar they look good/cozy but I'm afraid they will be bitten and destroyed easily, hard to clean and most importantly I don't want her to eat any fabrics- 2) Plastic "castles" or "fruits", most of them have a base floor but I've read that Teddy Bears Hamsters can sweat when they sleep and a condensation of plastic can occur and the hamster could get sick (I was totally unaware of it when she was in her "critter trails"!) 3) Others made out of natural material that can be eaten by hamsters. I don't want to see a "hide-away" spot being desintegrated little by little and also som contain "pine" roof, etc...
Please let me know which one would you recommend to buy for the 2nd floor if you think it's needed or if I should leave the 2nd floor as it is?
So you have the full picture, in the 1st floor she has her full bedding (2 inches of "carefresh"), her 8" wheel and the ladder to climb up to the 2nd floor.

I thank you in advance for your advice,

Lou


Answer
I think I understand what kind of set up you have. The condensation issue depends where the hamster is. My hamsters are kept in the basement, where the temperature is constant, and never too hot. I've never had a problem with the enclosed sweating thing. Hamsters come from the deserts of Syria where they live underground in enclosed burrows anyway. What's probably happening is the hamsters are using the bed enclosure as a potty as well. In which case, you just move it to a different spot.

Anyway, hamsters tend to have a bed preference, if you give them 2 spots, chances are they will still choose one over the other. She'll either sleep up or down, but likely not both. That doesn't mean you shouldn't give her the option though. She might use the new enclosure as a hoard for her food. Slings are more for ferrets, hamsters don't use them. I've always recommended plastic igloos since they're one of the few homes out there actually big enough for a Syrian hamster. Most of the cute little plastic houses are actually too small for Syrians. If the hamster can't sit up inside it, or fit it's entire length in it, it's too small. Depending on how much space you have, I still recommend an igloo, the ones I get have holes drilled in the top for ventilation, you could always add more if you like. If there's not enough space you'll just have to browse your pet store for an appropriate sized house that can fit the hamster and the area, AND has ventilation holes. You can put some plain cardboard or some of the shavings down under the hut as a floor.