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Old 01-15-2012, 09:28 PM  
Hamtastic
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Join Date: Mar 2011
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Default Re: Cage sizes comparison

Just wanted to add a disclaimer concerning plastic tank cages:

Since the bottom trays are trapezoidal instead of having vertical walls, the actual floor space is less than the maximum dimensions. Thanks to an HC member who has a ZZ2, I have the following measurements for the floor space with 4" of bedding:
ZooZone2 : 43.5cm x 93.5cm which is ~4067 square centimeters of usable floor space.

That's nearly 1000 square centimeters difference!

In contrast, for an aquarium:

30/40 gallon breeders have inner size (taking into account glass thickness) of 44.5cm x 89.5cm which is 3983 square centimeters of usable floor space.

The difference in effective floor area between a 91cm x 46cm outer size aquarium and a 100cm x 50cm ZooZone2 with 4" of bedding is 84 square centimeters, or an 8.4cm x 10cm rectangle. The difference will be in the aquarium's favor if there is even less bedding in a ZZ2 and in ZZ2's favor if there is a very tall layer of bedding.

Likewise for other plastic tank style cages with non-vertical bottom tray walls, the effective floor space is significantly less than the maximum advertised dimensions.
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