TEAM NAME: Mecha hamsters SCHOOL NAME: Joseph L. Carwise Middle
Featured Photo:
The objective of this STEM project is to design and build a comfortable living space for some sort of critter.
Critter chosen: Roborovskiy hamster
Roborovski Hamster
Roborovskiy hamsters info
size: about 2 inches long color: sand colored with white markings above their eyes habitat: desert regions originated from: central Asia preferred humidity: 40%60% preferred temperature: 75°-85°F diet: grains, vegetables, fruit, plants, and insects (in small quantities) breathing rate: 34-114 bpm pulse: 250-500 bpm weight: 0.71 – 0.88 oz.
Features:
Clover room: hamsters can enjoy fresh food straight from their garden
Sand room: As a hamster’s natural habitat is the desert, they will enjoy a room where they can burrow and clean themselves in the sand
Additional space: hamsters are very active they will enjoy an extra room where they can climb and run around
Feeding room: sometimes feeding hamsters can be messy, so we provided a room where there is a tube where the food can drop directly into the bowl.
Materials Used
Sand
blue hamster tube
yellow hamster tube (3)
Greek Gods Yourt container
Snapple tea container
Acai drink container
hot glue
pipe cleaners (10)
hamster bottle
orange folder
small brown hamster wheel
pineapple chalk
assorted hamster food
soil
clover seeds
tape
hamster plate
brown plastic container bottom
metal wire top of cage
assorted bottle caps (5)
non-toxic foam spray
cardboard
sparkling ice water bottle
black costruction paper
2 bottles (about 20 oz)
newspapers
duct tape
Recycled Parts
blue hamster tube
yellow hamster tube (3)
Greek Gods Yougrt container
Snapple tea container
Acai drink container
hamster bottle
orange folder
small brown hamster wheel
pineapple chalk
soil
brown plastic container bottom
assorted bottle caps (5)
cardboard
sparkling ice water bottle
2 bottles (about 20 oz)
newspapers
Bought Parts
clover seeds
non-toxic foam spray
Building Process
1st step taken: connect brown plastic container bottom to metal wire top of cage
2nd step taken: put blue tube into opening in metal wire top of cage
3rd step taken: secure blue tube with pipe cleaners
4th step taken: cover up the remaining opening in cage with pipe cleaners and piece of orange folder
5th step taken: cut up folder and put the strips of folder around the cage for darkness in the cage
6th step taken: connect yellow tubes to the blue tube
7th step taken: cut top of acai bottle
8th step taken: cut a rectangular hole in acai and Snapple bottle
9th step taken: cut of top of acai bottle
10th step taken: filter the sand with the siff and use it as bedding
11th step taken: hot glue acai bottle and snapple bottle together
12th step taken: make sure the bottle structure is stable by hot gluing bottle caps and top of acai bottle on the bottom of the snapple bottle
13th step taken: cut bottom part of greek gods yogurt container
14th step taken: put pineapple chalk into bottle cage
15th step taken: put hamster wheel, bottle and food holder into brown bottom cage
16th step taken: grow clover plant
17th step taken: put clover plant into bottle cage
18th step taken: make crawl space for hamster
19th step taken : make feeding room
20th step taken: connect all parts together
21 step taken: put construction paper on the inside of the enclosure
22th step taken: fix major issues
Gallery
feeding room close upFeeding room
full cottage viewinside of crawl roomfeeding room close up
sand room close up
Critter Test
During a 9-hour night period, the cottage preformed very well in sustaining the critter. The hamster seemed to enjoy the sand pit, as well as the extra room. Despite being product-fed their whole life, they devoured the clovers set for them. They showed some interest towards the apple and carrot put in the drop pit, but ultimately showed a greater liking to the clover.
hamster nibbling on chalkHamster Enjoying sandroom Hamster climbing through tube hamster enjoying the feeding room
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Challenges encountered during building:
While building we discovered that there were a lot of sharp shells in the sand from clearwater, so we filtered through the sand to make it purer
another challenge we encountered was in growing the plant because it died couple of times, so we had to start over with growing the plant.
A final challenge we encountered was that the hamster was able to escape through a hole in the cage which we had to patch up.
This is very detailed! The use of the ring camera is a great idea! Very well done!