Hamster Tower

This is an old project from 2004. Back then, I lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Ohio and my roommate was a hamster.

I was one of those pet-crazy ladies, so I made some of his toys myself. The best materials were cardboard boxes, toilet paper roles (when he was little), paper towel roles (when he got bigger), and then, I discovered popsicle sticks!!!!

So this is a watchtower I built for him. It has an entrance that goes down to the ground and a larger window on the side. My hamster had already grown too big to go through the toilet paper rolls that I had set aside, so I cut them lengthwise and added a popsicle stick floor. The side window is there because I thought I could condition him to associate the tower with good food.

Well, he was more observant than I thought. I would wave a grape in front of the tower window and he would climb up my leg (I was sitting on the floor), up my chest, down my arm, to get to the grape. So it did not get to be used much. I had a lot of fun making it though.