Rodent scaping and hamster scaping. Anyone who has rodents has undoubtedly heard these terms. But what exactly is this and how do you get started?
The term Rodentscaping is derived from aquascaping, imitating an entire landscape under water. Rodent scaping is therefore imitating your (natural) living environment rodent and Hamsterscaping is the most famous example of this. Hamsterscaping is therefore specific: creating a habitat that is as natural as possible for it hamster.
How do you start with Hamsterscaping
First of all, you will of course need a suitable enclosure for your hamster species. Scaping can be done in a plastic or lattice cage, but it looks best in a glass terrarium. Secondly, it is important to know what the hamster's natural environment looks like and what behavior it exhibits in nature. Then you can arrange the enclosure in such a way that the hamster can optimally display its natural behaviour.
What is the natural behavior of the hamster
Hamsters are generally evening and night active (although the Russian dwarf hamster is also regularly foraging in its enclosure during the day). During their active period, hamsters travel great distances, among other things in search of food. They therefore have a lot of energy, which they also need to be able to use during an enclosure. It is also good to know that hamsters (with the exception of the Chinese dwarf hamster) are not good climbers at all! They don't see depth. As a result, it makes no sense to use or hang up a lot of climbing and scrambling material. They can hurt themselves quite badly if they fall off something. If you look at the feet of hamsters you will see that they have 4 toes and use their feet as little shovels for digging. They like to dig and they are also very good at it!
And now we are going to put all this information into practice
To ensure that they can dig well, it is important to use a thick layer of soil cover. Ideally at least 20 cm. Preferably a bedding in which the corridors made by the hamster remain intact. A good example of such bedding is Back Zoo Nature Humus. When you keep it slightly moist and possibly mix it with a somewhat coarser bed, such as the Back Zoo Nature Discovery bed, the hamster can make beautiful holes.
During the day your hamster naturally wants to sleep a lot and you need one or more houses and tunnels in which he can retreat. You can (partly) bury tunnels in the ground cover and try not to put all the houses along the edges. Hamsters are natural prey animals and therefore do not like large open spaces in their enclosure. If you place them a bit more in the middle or just a bit from the edge, you immediately create an extra hiding place behind them. Useful!
In the evening your hamster wakes up and it's time to look for water, food and drain all that energy. You prefer to give water in a container because this gives a more natural drinking position than a water bottle. You can give food in a bowl or sprinkle it around in the bedding. You can also incorporate different types of millet into your enclosure, from which your hamster can harvest the seeds itself. Your hamster can lose the rest of its energy in a running wheel, so it should not be missing in your scape.
Like a living painting
So! Now your base is ready and you can start with the best part: decorating your Hamsterscape. Cover houses and edges or plateaus with Moss of Bark, put some in different places millet or harvest in the soil and/or plant some real ones plants in your stay. Also pine cones, leaves, herbs or flowers provide enrichment.
Finally, replace the food and water bowl, fill the sandbox with new bathing sand and put some nesting material in the houses. Then you hide some more mealworms of sunflower seeds here and there in your scape. Now it's time to put your little friend back in his enclosure.
A scape that has been spent a lot of time is not just a fantastic adventure for your hamster. You too will notice how much fun it is to see your hamster discover his new world and make it your own. The TV is ready to go!
Social media and hamster scaping
You can also regularly see on our socials how we furnish our accommodations and which products are coming in in the field of scaping. follow us on @rodent world of @avonturia.
