Zoozone 2 or Mamble 100

Renlikescake · 07-20-2016, 03:40 AM

Cant choose which I want for a Syrian.
Im worried about bar chewing with the Mamble and the plastic being chewed in the zoozone.
-Diy and aquarium cages are not an option for me please don't suggest them-

cypher · 07-20-2016, 04:28 AM

I think you pretty much covered the zoozone in your other thread so I'll just say the main concern with the Mamble isn't so much bar chewing as falls, it's a great cage but you do need to consider your set up really carefully to make sure it's safe being so high.

Pebbles82 · 07-20-2016, 05:11 AM

I would agree - it can work out really quite expensive setting up a Mamble to be safe from fall risks. Really it needs a full level. That would be the cheapest option if you're good at diy. Otherwise it takes quite a lot of shelves to ensure there are no fall risks, and it's fiddly to work out access to those shelves and still avoid gaps that can be fallen through.

I also spent ages looking at all sorts before deciding on which 100cm cage.

Ok so your 100cm cage options, apart from the Zoozone and Mamble are:

Barney or Alexander from Zooplus (both have narrow bar spacing - bar chewing much less likely).

Barney Pet Cage | Great deals at zooplus!

Great deals on small pet cages at zooplus: Alexander Small Pet Cage

Living World Eco Habitat (which is amazing but the medium 100cm one is 179.99 euros). It could also do with the lid meshing as the vent slots are big (2cm).

Living World Green Eco Habitat | Great deals at zooplus!

This wood and glass terrarium is also good in the 100cm size and no diy (it has a hinged lid with fine mesh) - but also expensive. It is basically the length and height of a Zoozone but with square edges! And not quite as deep.

Skyline Small Pet Terrarium Marrakesh | Great deals at zooplus!

Assuming you don't want to spend as much money as the Eco Habitat and Marrakesch, the other 100cm cages I know of that are good value are - this one from Amazon in Germany (it is basically a slightly lower Barney cage and the dimensions are about the same as the zoozone 2 lengthwise and heightwise but it's slightly deeper). Postage is usually very reasonable.

https://www.amazon.de/PETGARD-M%C3%A...words=Elmo+XXL

There is also this one - the Borneo L - from Amazon.de (Cypher has it). It has similar height issues to the Mamble but is slightly lower and has the bonus of a large front opening door (which makes life a heck of a lot easier) and narrow 8mm bar spacing so chewing not so likely again. This one would be easier to make safe with shelves than with a full level, but still need 3 or 4 shelves probably.

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00...f_rd_i=desktop

Too much height isn't good in hamster cages, unless you are into cage interior design - which I'm not lol! So I went for the Barney cage.

Apart from that - there are some good 80cm cages that are good for a Syrian as well. The Alaska from Zooplus is really good value and is 84cm. I reckon that would be worth a punt, until you find out whether you have a bar chewer or cage chewer. Either that or the Barney which doesn't cost much more and has loads of space (even less likely to have bar chewing). And to be honest if you end up with a hamster that chews bars or cage bases you would then be looking at a glass tank really.

But - think positive! Just because you have had chewers before doesn't mean you are going to have the same issues - especially if you start out right, with enough cage space, enough enrichment and a big enough wheel, loads of substrate and a house that is big enough (which the Barney has).

I think the Barney is worth the extra £15 or so over the Alaska, not just because it's bigger but because it comes with everything you need - a good sized house, a good shelf and ladder, and even an 8" wheel which can do for starters. Plus with narrow bar spacing you are less likely to get bar chewing. (The Alaska comes with not great accessories and needs a house and a wheel buying and has 1cm bar spacing).

So I would go with the Alaska or Barney - it's what a lot of people do. They are good value and hamsters seem happy in them. Happy hamster, less stress behaviours. Personally I would go with the Barney - start out with a cage you aren't likely to want to upgrade in the future - and if you are extremely unlucky and have a hamster who decides to chew a hole in the base (not that common at all) - that is quite easily repairable and solutions can be found to avoid it happening again.

Hope this helps!

Believe me I went round the houses for ages and came back to the Barney lol. Then all you need is an 11" or 12" wheel ideally (the 8" one would be very short term, and noisy probably - and good to start out right so you don't have to have a wheel change (that can really upset them!) And Syrians love their big wheels. A popular choice is the 28cm Trixie wheel which Zooplus also sell and usually cheaper than anywhere else, plus if you buy it at the same time as a cage there is no shipping charge for it. Cage prices also include free shipping from Zooplus and their customer service is very good if anything got damaged in the post.

So I'd go for a Barney - not too tall, narrow bar spacing, comes with everything you need except substrate, a few toys and ideally an 11" or 12" wheel. No extra shelves to buy (unless you want to). I still think there is a slight fall risk in the Barney, but piling the substrate deep helps avoid that (substrate doesn't fall out of the bars with the 7mm bar spacing).

PS for some reason the price on Irish Zooplus seems higher? Not sure if that's the exchange rate. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy from one of the other zooplus sites - eg .co.uk or .de.