Playpens and Playareas

[Maz]

This is a thread about playpen options

 

[Member ID2]

There are various types of playpens available, some are very good and others are a waste of money.

I provide our hamsters with a playarea on the upstairs landing. Prior to using this area i have literally checked it inch by inch to make sure that there were no gaps, cracks, wires or escape routes.

Before setting up the playground i vacuum the whole area to make sure its free of anything pouchable.
I then block the stairs off with a diy wooden panel that slots in, make sure all doors are firmly closed and put a large blanket down which i push under the gap of one door leading off the hall. The other doors are fine.

I like to use toys that are too big for their cages like the 12in flying saucer, long bendy tubes and wheels that are different from the Silent Runners in their cages. I picked up a Savic Orbital wheel for free and hooked it to the shoe rack which has become a favourite.

Sometimes i chuck cardboard boxes and recycling down quite randomly which the hamsters find rather exciting. They love a bit of interesting chaos, especially when there are unexpected treats to be found.

 

[Member ID2]

Tonight's playground set up.

 

[Member ID2]

The shoe rack wheel.

 

[Zara]

Te, he, who's sitting in the food bowl, super cute! Really like the look of the wicker tube in the first photo that's a great size for our Syrian. Your roaming area looks fab. Hamsters out having fun

 

[Member ID2]

Wire panel playpens: i have tried them but found them very fiddly and time consuming to assemble. A female Syrian climbed over the panel in no time so i wouldn't call them secure.
In my opinion, one to give a miss.

 

[Member ID2]

Ball pit playpens: i bought this kiddies ball pit for £6 at a Sainsbury's. Amazon has larger ones.
They fold away in the box so easy to store and the rim on the top makes an escape difficult for a dwarf hamster but i've never tried a Syrian in one. Someone else may be able to comment on that.
I think they are a good and inexpensive option.
I use them to observe and assess a new rescue hamster, for dwarf hamsters out of cage time, see set up and for health checks. For the latter i put down a cushion in case the hamster jumps or wriggles out of my hands.
I can sit in it cross legged when i want to hold a hamster close to me for a nail trim.

 

[Maz]

Those all look great! Ball pits can work as well. I have this one and had it for a few years. Unfortunately it's gone up in price a lot! I just bought a second one recently and it definitely needed a bit of sandpaper over places. It actually says £49 on the site!

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[Zara]

We use the pop up one from Amazon, it’s colourful polka dots and is £12 if you shop around on there, ours is the medium in size. It folds up flat after use. The sides are pretty high. We have a Syrian, who has attempted to jump out but never made it from floor level, however, one night he did get on top of the shoe box hide that I use in there and made a jump for it and he did reach the top, looked over but didn’t make a proper escape, he just decided to let go and dropped back down. I wouldn’t leave a hamster unsupervised in a playpen as they can be very mischievous. Our hamster has also chewed / scratched the corners now, so I’ve just ordered a replacement.

 

[Zara]

Ball pit playpens: i bought this kiddies ball pit for £6 at a Sainsbury's. Amazon has larger ones.
They fold away in the box so easy to store and the rim on the top makes an escape difficult for a dwarf hamster but i've never tried a Syrian in one. Someone else may be able to comment on that.
I think they are a good and inexpensive option.
I use them to observe and assess a new rescue hamster, for dwarf hamsters out of cage time, see set up and for health checks. For the latter i put down a cushion in case the hamster jumps or wriggles out of my hands.
I can sit in it cross legged when i want to hold a hamster close to me for a nail trim.

Hi Beryl, these ones from sainsburys with the rim look great, fab price too

 

[Maz]

This is a home made one. It doesn't really work out any cheaper than buying one. The correx panels cost about £25 on ebay - you bend them into any shape and hold them together with bulldog clips. It had it's pros and cons.

The pros were - you could make it any size and shape you want and the pieces stored flat under the sofa! You could set it up round the cage or in a longer thinner run.

The cons were - it's a fiddle to put up, needs bulldog clips top and bottom of each panel or the hamster can push them apart and squeeze through the panels. They can't do that if there's a bulldog clip at the bottom though.

 

[Maz]

I'm going to sticky this thread!

 

[Member ID2]

Haha, had to laugh at Zara's hamster looking over the edge and then deciding to drop back into the playpen.

 

[RainbowBrite]

This looks like a nice playpen for hamsters.

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[Maz]

There seem to be quite a few like that around now - that one has a roof though! It could even be a large cage. If it's hamsterproof! Wondering how big the gaps are. Probably ok for a syrian but a robo might squeeze through the gaps.

 

[Member ID2]

There seem to be quite a few like that around now - that one has a roof though! It could even be a large cage. If it's hamsterproof! Wondering how big the gaps are. Probably ok for a syrian but a robo might squeeze through the gaps.

What gaps? Aren't they solid panels? I may have to zoom it in though. I like the removable meshed lid and the very reasonable price.

 

[Maz]

Yes it looks great! I meant the small gaps between the side panels - but they do look very small.

 

[Member ID2]

Yes it looks great! I meant the small gaps between the side panels - but they do look very small.

I don't think there are any gaps. It's a transparent connector holding the panels together.

 

[Maz]

Ah ok! Thank you.

 

[Maz]

This is the playpen Princess Crazylocks has which looks good too! I think a few people have used these. Similar to the Wayfair one RainbowBrite linked above. The photo is of two playpens stacked. From Amazon (affiliate link).