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Question
This may seem a pointless thing to ask, but i have two Chinese dwarf hamsters... and i'm not sure where i read this but is it true that they can't climb up vertical tubing? I am very confused because in my cage there is an upstaris bit and there is no sign of them going up there..

Thank you Hannah

Answer
Hi Hannah.

Thanks for the question!

Of the hamsters, Syrian hamsters are the best climbers, and up until very recently, the most popular of all the hamster species to be kept as pets.  Therefore, most of the cages you see on the market today with the fancy tubes and wheels are marketed towards Syrian hamsters, although the dwarves can live in them quite comfortably and happily, they can't always take full advantage of all the "bells and whistles".

The three Russain dwarf species don't make very good climbers because they generally have very hairy feet, and so when they try to climb, they tend to just slide back down again.

If you'd like to have your hamsters use the tubing in your cage, try removing it from the sides and just placing it in the cage, or try to angle it such a way so that they do not have to try and climb straight up to get to the upper parts of the cage.  They do love to use and explore tubes, but going straight up, or up at a very sharp angle, can be a challenge for them.  Use the curvy tubes so that one bends one direction and the next the opposite direction to increase the altitude gradually, or just use the tubes horizontally instead of vertically.

Thanks for the questions!  Feel free to ask me any others you may have!