The Best Cage Ever!
15-Mar-2017 | Milku
Who would have thought that I'd like my new abode.
I’m just a young Syrian hamster, but I think I’m already bigger than some of my humans thought I’d be. Even so they planned ahead and bought me a huge cage so I’d definitely have enough room to exercise and have space for lots of toys. I thought I had a good area to share in the pet shop with my brothers, but the Alexander Small Animal Cage gives 1000mm x 540mm of exercise space. I’ll confess that it was a bit overwhelming at first, but I’ve got used to it and can definitely give my seal of approval. There are so many places to hide to keep my humans guessing as to my whereabouts!
My humans said it was difficult to carry because it is quite heavy and, did I mention that, it’s very big. Most of the platforms and toys get attached to the wire cage so that adds to the weight too when they’re moving it for cleaning. That’s their problem. From my point of view, it’s perfect.
The cage has 3 openings in it. There are two on the side (120mm x 100mm) that don’t get much use. I’ve heard mutterings that they can open a bit too easily if pushed…I’ll have to try that sometime although I’ll have to be creative about getting near them. There are no platforms close by and my humans have added a tunnel that blocks my access to the side doors. They’re thinking about locking the doors just in case too. The big opening (247mm x 390mm) on the top of the cage is used most of the time and that fits quite securely. I know they try to do things quietly, but the cage does shake a lot sometimes when the top door is being closed…it’s all in the positioning of the flap so it aligns properly with the bars on the cage.
The bars of the cage are a nice dark grey/black. There’s no chance of escape there as the gap between the bars is only 7mm. I haven’t tried chewing them as there are too many other things to occupy me, but they seem very sturdy. They provide good support for things to be fixed in the cage…I’ve got some nice wooden chews fastened in place and, of course, my tunnel is secured to the side bars too.
The plastic base is a nice blue colour. Not that I can see too much of this through the layer of bedding material…only when I dig deep enough. And I have to dig quite a bit as it is deep (163mm). It’s a real challenge to spray wood chips outside the cage. I’ve heard that some hamsters have managed to chew through the base. That looks to be beyond my abilities at the moment. I’ll have to work up to that. I did hear one of the big humans mention that the bottom of the base isn’t completely flat, but bows up a bit. She needed to be careful where she put my exercise wheel because of that. When the wheel was positioned in the centre of the cage it was almost touching the roof. It fits perfectly at the side of the cage even though it’s a big 280mm wheel (with the stand it's actually 315mm high). Good job the cage is nice and tall (468mm).
So the cage came with a wooden house that extends across the base and which provides a shelf level with the top of the base. I’ve got lots of bedding in there and love to snuggle inside for a nap. There’s plenty of room to store my cache of food too.
I did have the option of 2 movable wooden houses when I first moved in. One fitted in a corner and the other had a sloping roof that I could’ve climbed. I wasn’t too interested though so they’ve been moved out of the cage for the time being. It gives me much more room to run along the platforms. The cage comes with two of those that can be positioned anywhere since they are just held in place by the cage bars. There’s a 148mm wide wooden ramp as well. I managed to get around reasonably well, but the top platform looked a bit too high until the cage was fitted with other ramps and mini platforms. It might be better for the cage to come with 2 narrower ramps rather than one big one which tends to take up a bit too much room.
Now, you might be wondering whether having wooden fixtures in a hamster house is a good idea. Well, I haven’t chewed anything yet. My humans very sensibly waterproofed everything before I moved in so the wood is more durable now. It seems a good thickness and isn’t rough under foot.
To make this cage into a home, my humans have bought me a furry den which sits on one of the platforms. I needed a water bottle and food bowls. They’ve added a tunnel or two, a couple of mini platforms, a wheel, plus assorted wooden chews. It’s a shame I don’t want company as there’s still plenty of room in there and it would be great to show off my fantastic domain.
And as a bonus, the big cardboard box that the cage came in is lovely to use when I want to get up close and personal with those humans of mine and when they’re cleaning out the cage.
Now I'm going to end my review here and let my humans add some photos. My feet are too tired from running on my new wheel to do any more typing at the moment!
