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Woodlands Small Grass House
by sandemp
Imagine being stuck in a cage all day, with nothing to do other than pace the walls, how boring must that be? Because we love our little hamster, Spot, so much there's no way we would want to leave his home looking like a prison or have him bored, so we make sure he has lots of toys to play with and explore. Being a hamster, Spot likes ... to chew, which also helps grind his teeth down, so all of his toys have to be safe and preferably edible, so we find the Woodlands range of small pet toys ideal as they are made of natural materials such as wood or grass. One of Spot's favourite toys is his Woodlands Small Grass House, a hollow ball formed of dried grass that is woven around a willow frame with two holes that allow access for the hamster.
While small and definitely aimed towards smaller pets such as hamsters and mice, the grass house is a good size with an exterior diameter of approximately 15cm. Strangely the label that was attached to our house stated that this is also suitable for guinea pigs and rabbits and while I would imagine that they would have fun playing with and eating it, certainly would not make a good house for them. The house is very light and has a good amount of give, meaning it can easily be squished to fit through almost any cage door and then it puffs back out afterwards. The two access holes are quite small at about 5cm diameter, being a baby, Spot can just about manage to push his way in, but older Syrian hamsters will struggle.
I bought this ball (I cannot call it a house any longer, we call it the grass ball), about a week ago from our local garden centre for a very reasonable £2.49, but it is also available from Pets At Home for £2.89. When I first put it in Spot's cage he was a little wary and spent quite a while sniffing at it and deciding whether it was safe or not. When I feed Spot, rather than simply filling his food bowl, I hide about half the food in various spots and toys around his cage so that he forage a little like he would in the wild and at his next feed I hid some inside the ball. This gave Spot the incentive to fully explore the ball and he had a whale of a time, crawling in and out of the holes, climbing on top, pushing it round his cage and having a chew for good measure.
In the last week Spot has certainly had more than our money's worth out of this simple grass ball, and can be seen climbing on it, hiding in it or having a munch. The ball has stood up pretty well to this play, only really starting to unravel and collapse after a week. Due to the fact some of it has been eaten, the ball has lost it's shape and the holes are now twice the size they originally were, but Spot still loves it and there's still just enough integrity for me to hide food in it. I would hope that it will be at least another week before we need to replace the ball, and I will definitely be replacing it.
If you have a small pet such as a mouse, hamster or gerbil then I can't recommend the Woodlands Small Grass House enough. Although I would call it a ball rather than house because it will not provide a permanent nest for your small pet, it is a toy that Spot has enjoyed both eating and playing with. It's great for hiding food or treats, provides a great climbing frame and helps prevent over-growing teeth whilst distracting your pet from chewing on the bars of their cage. While significantly more expensive than many plastic toys, the small grass is far safer being edible and still doesn't break the bank. So I'm giving the Woodlands Small Grass House five stars out of five, simply because it is a delight to watch Spot enjoying it.
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Woodlands Pet Play Sticks
by xxfoxyredxx
With 5 hamsters (till today and now I only have 4 hamsters sadly) I always seem to be on the lookout for toys, treats and generally just things to keep them amused with, a hobby that costs me a fortune believe me! One of my favourite places to shop for a variety of items is Pets At Home where I usually end up emptying my purse once a ... week!
I do like versatile items in their cages. I do buy big cages but they soon get cluttered up so if I can purchase things that double up as such I will and not only is this something you can bend into shape but also its great for rodents/animals teeth.
This is available in 3 different sizes. I bought the small one which is ideal for small rodents such as hamsters and gerbils and I paid £2.79 for it, then they come in medium for chinchillas and the likes and they cost £4.79 and then you can buy the largest size for £6.79 meant for rabbits and guinea pigs and larger pets. However I don't think it matters what size you want to get its all about the room available for a pet and where they live. I mean its no good getting small for say a rabbit and expecting them to use a small set but you can go large for smaller pets of course!
The Sticks:
Well they are brown, coated in like a bark and cylinder shaped sticks and in the smll set you get 16 sticks. They are all slightly different in appearance as they are a natural product and no matter the size you get they all attached to one another by a steel wire making them bendable and you can make these into a bridge, staircase whatever really. It stands freely in our cage and my hamster, Trevor loves them! Not only can he play on the bridge, hide under it, he has also made a bed down there sometimes he has a nibble too which is completely fine and means he's looking after and trimming his own teeth so I don't have to (cringe!).
All in all he's had this a quite a few months now, its barely seen any damage and will last his lifetime with no issues at all. Its a good quality and functional bit of kit this and both Trevor and I are very happy with it!
Available at Pets At Home.
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