crittertrail cage

Question
Hi Kelly,
On browsing some old Q & A's I came across one that made me wonder if we made the wrong choice of home for Nibbles. We have a Crittertrail X plus we added some extra tubing with a small "room", a "loop the loop" and an extra wheel as Nibbles doesn't seem to like the wheel that came with the cage and uses it to store food.
We put Nibbles in its ball whenever the opportunity arises (at least once a day), what is the best length of time to use the ball for? Opinion seems divided between 10 mins and half an hour, we usually allow 15 mins at a time.
Kind regards
emma

Answer
Hi Emma,

A Crittertrail X should be fine for your hamster.  However, Crittertrail tubes tend to run pretty small, especially since they have climbing ridges.  Syrian hamsters, specifically females, can become too large to fit in these tubes.  In fact, I had a scary incident with my female Syrian hamster with a Crittertrail tube.  It was a curved tube used to allow the hamster to move from the first level to the second level, and my hamster would gather her food to take down to the first level.  When she had some food in her pouch, she descended into the tube.  At the bottom, she became stuck, as her pouches (which actually weren't that full) were stuck on the edges of the tube, cutting off her breathing.  I had to pry open the tube without hurting her, which took a few minutes.  She was none worse for the wear, but you can imagine how scary that must have been.  Ever since then, I've recommended Habitrail or S.A.M. tubes to Syrian hamster owners who would normally use Crittertrail tubes.  Habitrail and S.A.M. tubes are roomer for the hamster, and they can be connected to the Crittertrail cages.

As for the running ball - Ten minutes would be ideal.  After ten minutes, the hamster is probably thirsty, and he may have to use the bathroom.  If you want to wait about 30 minutes - 1 hour to put him back in the ball for another 10 minutes, that would be fine.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Kelly