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Cheeky · 05-20-2010, 06:05 AM

REVIEW: ZOOPLUS WOODEN YUMA CAGE

I ordered the Yuma and it arrived broken so I am sending it back. However, I did attempt to put it together first (to see if I wanted a replacement or just a refund).

The cage looks very solid and nice in the online picture, but in real life.... The wood panels are low quality and prone to cracks. I could see cracks forming in many places in addition to the cracks that already existed. It is really sad, because it is a beautiful cage otherwise, just the wood panels are more flimsy than they should be. I guess when you think about it there's a reason a solid wood cage is only £130 and not closer to £300. I do think it's worth the money in spite of the flimsiness, especially when you consider Hamster Heavens are £100 now. The 'plexiglass' panels are the very thin and very cheap plastic, not the thicker plastic panels you will find on things like cabinets. I can imagine they would get very scratched up within a few months.

Seeing this cage in person has made me want to take up carpentry so that I can make a really nice one out of good solid wood, with thick plexiglas panels! Like I said, I do think that they are charging a fair price for the cages, but they had to use lower quality materials to keep the price down in the first place. If you are expecting to get a furniture-quality cage, this is not it, unless you are talking about IKEA furniture.

The reason that I decided to go for a refund instead of a replacement is that we are moving house in December and I was not sure this cage would survive the move, considering how prone the wood is to cracking and breaking. If we were not moving, I would have gone for a replacement because I think it would be fine just sitting in one place and not being stressed.

I also have a Rio Rico cage of this line that I won on Ebay and I have to say that I would go for the Rio Rico over the Yuma. The reason is that even though the wood panels are still the same cheaper quality, the Rio Rico is made up of square, flat panels inside and outside - fewer 'shapes' and fewer cuts into the wood means the wood is more stable overall, in addition to the fact that the panels are smaller/shorter since the cage is a smaller size. I do not see near as many cracks in the Rio Rico and the panels feel much more solid. You still have the issue of the plexiglass cheap-y panel in the front though. If your ham is not a bar chewer, I would replace this with wire mesh. It makes it look like a bunny hutch but I think it would still look nice.

05-20-2010, 06:05 AM
Cheeky Hamster Pup Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 208	Zooplus Yuma and Rio Rico Wood Cages REVIEW: ZOOPLUS WOODEN YUMA CAGE I ordered the Yuma and it arrived broken so I am sending it back. However, I did attempt to put it together first (to see if I wanted a replacement or just a refund). The cage looks very solid and nice in the online picture, but in real life.... The wood panels are low quality and prone to cracks. I could see cracks forming in many places in addition to the cracks that already existed. It is really sad, because it is a beautiful cage otherwise, just the wood panels are more flimsy than they should be. I guess when you think about it there's a reason a solid wood cage is only £130 and not closer to £300. I do think it's worth the money in spite of the flimsiness, especially when you consider Hamster Heavens are £100 now. The 'plexiglass' panels are the very thin and very cheap plastic, not the thicker plastic panels you will find on things like cabinets. I can imagine they would get very scratched up within a few months. Seeing this cage in person has made me want to take up carpentry so that I can make a really nice one out of good solid wood, with thick plexiglas panels! Like I said, I do think that they are charging a fair price for the cages, but they had to use lower quality materials to keep the price down in the first place. If you are expecting to get a furniture-quality cage, this is not it, unless you are talking about IKEA furniture. The reason that I decided to go for a refund instead of a replacement is that we are moving house in December and I was not sure this cage would survive the move, considering how prone the wood is to cracking and breaking. If we were not moving, I would have gone for a replacement because I think it would be fine just sitting in one place and not being stressed. I also have a Rio Rico cage of this line that I won on Ebay and I have to say that I would go for the Rio Rico over the Yuma. The reason is that even though the wood panels are still the same cheaper quality, the Rio Rico is made up of square, flat panels inside and outside - fewer 'shapes' and fewer cuts into the wood means the wood is more stable overall, in addition to the fact that the panels are smaller/shorter since the cage is a smaller size. I do not see near as many cracks in the Rio Rico and the panels feel much more solid. You still have the issue of the plexiglass cheap-y panel in the front though. If your ham is not a bar chewer, I would replace this with wire mesh. It makes it look like a bunny hutch but I think it would still look nice.