As far as the bedroom slide, the dealer's service tech advised us to never sleep with the bedroom slide in. He said they were not designed to support the extra weight when in the travel position. I can kind of see that, as when it's out, it drops a bit onto the floor, and the upper part of the slide "locks" into place. We had to sleep in it once, when it was "in" and it did feel "spongy" that way.
As far as the hoses, etc, into the convenience center, I use a large (30 gallon) plastic garbage bag (empty of course) and stuff it into the hole around everything. I figure if they eat their way through that, they will die from plastic poisoning.
It also keeps the drafts/cold air out.
