Pet palace Hamster house review

[humfry]

That is not a home for an animal - it's a dolls house designed to look aesthetically pleasing in the home & cutsie. I wouldn't let my humfry within a mile of such a hovel! It has been built to please the human eye & so that it has marketing appeal & not with first foremost the needs of a small living creature. yuk!! I don't blame someone for buying it - but those who make & sell such items should be made to live in a human size equivalent! For a Syrian it looks like prison cell.

[Teddy001]

It doesn't look like there is enough ventilation- I'm thinking of converting a unused doll house into a play zone for my hamsters, however one side is completely open, which I will be covering with mesh. Never thought about housing a hamster in one, my 9 yo daughter would think it's a fun idea.
One suggestion, you should add a free standing water bottle in the bottom part- you mentioned your ham is older, and that would be easier for him to access water- always good to have at least 2 water drinking options.
What's the measurements just for the bottom section? The top section I would not really count that in with living space- appears to be an area an hamster would walk through and not really live. Interesting cage, I must say.

[Teddy001]

Originally Posted by CharlieWong

He has more of a 'roundabout' he doesn't use a wheel, never liked them, it's like a flat wooden thing, fits in there fine. think it looks smaller than it is - I think it's fine for my hamster cause I know what he likes to do, he likes to run on his wheel, have a sand bath and sleep/ eat, this is perfect for that, he also loves to climb, it's probs not suitable for all hamsters,

I've always found people on this forum to be pretty negative, like I uploaded a massive cage, and most people were like 'woah it's huge, but a few said 'there's not enough toys' when it wasn't finished - i think most people on here are probs too old to be obsessed by hamsters and probs quite lonely with there 20 million hamsters so have to moan to make themselves feel better - great you're a hamster expert well done guys, good job.

I'm confused? You said he likes to run on his wheel, then said he never liked wheels? I'd think a suitable size hamster wheel would be important, even if he used it occasionally- .

Loving pets, no matter how old- or how many, doesn't mean people are lonely and obsessed.. I'm an adult and I enjoy my hamsters, along side with my young daughter- if I had the space, I'd love to adopt a few more hamsters, for the fact that I enjoy them. My life is full, and happy, I just happen to enjoy hamsters, and learning as much as I can about them.

[CharlieWong]

yeah he likes to run on a roundabout wheel not an upright wheel, sorry if i wasn't clear, I think if people saw it they would see that it is a large area to run in, if you mark out the sizes you would see, as I had a large living world cage that is all one level but if you add theses levels together it is larger.

I understand peoples opinions but I saw that on this forum people like to read reviews, I posted a review so people could see what I thought was a nice cage, I wasn't asking for opinions lol - was just reviewing to be helpful

like if you reviewd an item on a shop site

[spyro87]

The thing you have to remember Charlie, is when you post up a review on an open public forum, you are going to get replies and responses to your review.
On many shopper sites there is the option to feedback on whether the review was helpful or not. This is like that only more personalised and individual. People are able to express why they didn't find your review helpful or did.

The fact is that while this hamster cage looks cute, I feel pretty darn sorry for any hamster that has to be restricted to such limited space in the upper floors, just so his owner can have a pretty cage.

Neither would I call this cage "huge".

As others have said, you've stated he is an older hamster... And I have to question this... Have you ever really looked after an older hamster? Do you know the required care for an elderly ham? If you did, I think you'd think twice about this "cage" for him.

You can't reasonably sound out members on here for *trying* to help you with advice and their opinions. I'm sorry you don't like them, but there is no need to be rude and confrontational.

[ianpallen]

Spyro is right.
On here, people love their hams and care about other peoples hams as well. They give guidance to people who do not know much and want to learn.
If you think of human people, as they get old they cant climb stairs very well and prefer to live in bungalows. Everything is on one floor. This is how pets are as well. Putting an old hamster in a three storey house is too much for him to climb the stairs all the time. The water bottle in a chimney with the spout through the roof is a good design, but with it being at the top of the house, it is a long way for a pet to climb when it is old, especially if it decides to sleep at the bottom. If you got a 62ltr storage container from Wilkos, like I have, there is ample room for him to roam around and if you wanted to put a shelf in there so he has more ground space, it would not be too much of a high climb for him if you placed a longish ramp. The house would be good enough for a robo to have as a playground, but not a permanant home.

When a hamster is in captivity, they can live longer than the ones in the wild. A comfortable and healthy ham is a loving pet and will show you his love too.
My storage container from Wilko's only cost £10 with £3.50 postage (cheaper than bus fare to fetch it) and it arrived in 2 days. I bet it was cheaper than the house you have and it has more room.

[souffle]

Is the roundabout thing a flying saucer Charlie? These are good enough excercise units for hamsters however they do take up quite a bit of space. I'd still like to see the cage fitted out and in use as a cage. Can you post some pics?
It is useful to have the reviews and make comments on them. That way people considering buying can make a better judgement on the pros and cons.
Every review is useful so don't take comments to heart.
Perhaps once he has lived there for a few months you could update on how he is settling and how you find the cleaning and if he chews etc?

[StarlightSerenity]

Ah, another gimmicky cage designed to attract impulse buyers with screaming children. I wouldn't even subject my vicious fatty dwarf Harry to this cage, even after a few more bites, for various reasons.

1 - the size. It's tiny. It's footprint is 16" by 16"/40cm x 40cm. Additional levels and shelves shouldn't be counted when considering the size of a cage as hamsters are runners not climbers. They are happier in one large open space rather than split level cages or 'pod' like cages. If I counted the shelves in my Syrians cage towards the overall size it'd be 78" x 20" (L x W).

Most experienced hamster owners will recommend a cage with a footprint of AT LEAST double the length of what that cage is.

2 - Ventilation - there's hardly any at all. It will become like a greenhouse in the summer and high temperatures can kill hamsters. It will be stuffy, the smell of urine will quickly build up which can also be dangerous. The loft 'room' has, what, 6 small holes in it?

3 - Wood. Wood, wood, wood. Hamsters won't chew wood unless it's something they shouldn't be chewing on, like the cage! Hamsters can chew out of plastic cages like the ZooZone, it wouldn't take long for an escape happy ham to chew his or her way out of this! That poses two problems - damaged cage and the ingestion of potentially toxic materials. Not good.

And, well, pee soaked wood is gross and can easily cause mold which can be dangerous.

4 - Suitability for an elderly hamster. It's simply not suitable. An elderly hamster will be constrained to one level which may end up being the one without the water bottle or food.

I noticed that there is only one place for a water bottle (is that right?) - a cage with multiple levels or pods should have one bottle per level and/or pod. This ensures that if the hamster, for whatever reason, cannot get to another level it still has access to water. Plus, having two or more water bottles means that if one breaks then there's always a spare. I have two water bottles and a water bowl per cage because of water bottle breaking paranoia.

All in all, I can't see one good thing about this cage.

OK. Maybe one. I like the colour.

Others have stated why making nasty comments about people posting their own opinions on a public forum is just plain ridiculous so I won't bother going into that one...

[Willow Wisp]

Can I please just ask, if the roundabout you mention is a flying saucer, (and as far as I'm aware there are only flying saucers or wheels available), and your photo's show your hamster is a Syrian, then she must have the 12inch flying saucer? How does this work with a bottom floor space of 16x16inches? I assume it means that she only has the flying saucer and nothing else in the bottom level? otherwise she wouldn't have room to move around it?

[NiceCrocs]

Would be a cute play zone for a ham, but completely unsuitable for long-term living. Sorry, but far too small, no reliable ventilation, plus if any urine soaks into the wood it's ruined.

A hamster really needs 360 square inches of space on one level.