After returning my Alaska cage to zooplus, i decided i didnt want a barred cage so i started looking for a good alternative. I wanted something front opening (which ruled tanks and bin cages out) and that would look nice on display, and reasonably priced. The vivexotic reptistax 34" seemed to fit the bill nicely. I couldnt however find much info on this being used for hamsters so i thought if i do a detailed review, covering the things i wanted to know about before purchasing, it will help others who are looking for info on it. Ill put all pics at the end as i cant figure out any other way to do it!
It was £39.99 for it in mussell (cream coloured) from swell reptiles. Its very neutral and would fit in with any decor, it especially lends itself to the 'natural look' that im going for. The size is 86cm x 37.5cm x 42cm (34" x 15" x 16.5") making the footprint 510 sq inches. Length is good but the depth could be a little better, and although it works quite well for me as my unit that it sits on is narrow i do still wish it was that bit bigger. You can get the 45" one for £49.99 which i definately would have got if it had fit on my unit just to make up for the lack of depth. Saying that, its still a nice sized cage for any ham and much better than most cages pet stores sell! The 1st pic is of it in front of an 8ft tank
It comes flatpacked and was pretty easy to build although some of the fittings were a little stiff to push into place. The only tool required is a screwdriver. Also if the glass doesnt fit (like mine first time round) it means youve put the runners the wrong way so swap them over and the glass will fit perfect
Something i didnt realise until it was too late is that its very hard to get a universal viv lock to fit it which is something to consider if you have little kids like i do. This is because the gap between the 2 pieces of glass is very small. The cheapo locks on ebay are no good and the 3 that are most likely to work are the swell reptiles own brand 9cm lock, prorep 100mm lock, and the komodo lock. I have the swell reptiles lock and after a few tweaks i just about managed to get it to fit, although sliding the doors is a little stiff with it fitted so ive removed it for now as it makes it a bit of a pain everytime i want to open the doors. I contacted vivspares.co.uk who manufacture the viv and their response was for me to buy a replacement piece of glass from them that has a predrilled hole for you to use a circular lock and to replace one of the doors with this. These are £6 but postage cost is a whopping £12! I still may do this though just so the doors will glide nicely and i have peace of mind that they're locked. Also still works out cheaper than buying one of the dearer vivs. I have read though on some reptile forums that some people have managed to use the above mentioned universal locks with this viv, so there may be slight variations in the runners meaning the gap on each viv is slightly different. Another alternative would just be to replace the plastic door runners with wider ones so the gap is bigger and then you'll easily fit a lock.
Ive bought a piece of perspex which i plan on cutting a strip the lengh of the viv and about 150mm high, then siliconing with aquarium silicone as close as i can to the door runners. This is so i can put a deeper layer of bedding in without it falling out when i open the door, and also to stop ham being able to chew the runners. (you could currently put 2" of bedding in without it falling out) A good point i read somewhere online is make sure the perspex is as close as possible to the runners so there isnt a gap that ham could fall down and get stuck in.
Ventilation in the viv is in the form of 3 oblong holes (2 in each top corner on the back, and one at the bottom in the middle of the back board) covered with plastic vents. These vents just push out so im going to glue them in, but also as they're plastic some hams may chew them so im going to mesh the back side of the hole just in case. Ill keep an eye on my ham when i put him in and if he starts chewing them ill take the plastic out and also mesh the front of the hole. The bottom vent is the main concern as depending on your setup the top vents cant be reached. To add more ventilation (i stuck my head in the viv and it is a little warm inside it so i would definately recommend more ventilation!) im going to cut a large rectangle from the roof and mesh it. After this if i still feel it needs more circulation i will cut a window in one of the sides and mesh.
Ive also managed to add some led lights to it, this was much easier to do than i thought it would be. It cost a total of £6.89 from ebay for 1m length of striplight, the power adapter, a remote, and a connector with sensor for remote. You can buy it as a full kit and all you need to do is plug the separate parts into each other then hey presto! For those interested i got the 3528 rgb leds (the 5050 rgb are even brighter). Although i only wanted red lights, i ended up with multicoloured as it worked out a bit cheaper. These can be set to just red though. They have adhesive on the back of them (like double sided sticky tape) and can be cut down to length along the dotted lines. I stuck them to the roof of the viv at the back and put the wire through the predrilled hole in the top back corner (designed for reptiles heat lamps etc). Very easy peasy and they look fab, just make sure theyre out of reach of your ham!
Another thing i thought id mention is that when i received the viv there were a few small chips on some of the boards. These arent noticeable once built up but i sent photos to swell reptiles and they're sending out replacement parts, which means i have a spare roof, base and backboard.
The viv is made of what seems like melamine furniture board (the stuff wardrobes are made of) and is designed for reptiles humid environment so im pretty confident it will hold up to a ham peeing, especially if they have a potty! Ive heard of people lining wooden cages with lino if you wanted to be extra cautious, or you could even plastikote it.
Apologies for such a long review but i searched for ages for info on this viv and barely found anything. Overall i think it's going to make a great home for my ham.
I think thats all but if you want any more info or pics just ask and ill be happy to help. Ive ordered some siccofloor hemp and a 29cm karlie wonderland wheel so will post more pics once ive received them and fully set up the viv with mesh and perspex done