superpet crittertrail 3

[de4life]

The floor space on my cage is significantly bigger so I'm not sure whether the website has it wrong or I have a different model!

Either way I'm not advocating this cage for long-term use in any way. I probably should have made it clearer in my original review that a syrian will outgrow this cage on its own very quickly. My point is, really, that it is OK as a 'base' cage but needs to be expanded ASAP. I attached the bin cage to mine last night, so Hjalmar has a lot of space now, and in the couple of weeks he's been in the cage/bus he's spent most of his evening time in his ball, on the landing, on my bed or on the stairs... he's certainly been okay for exercise space!

Hmm, for some reason I can't edit my original post! Well, I just wanted to add further to my original post in the topic:

I should really emphasise that I'm not endorsing this cage be used for anything long-term. The version I have is wider and of a different design, but even so I wouldn't leave it as a hamster's cage on its own for longer than a few weeks at most.

I do think there are a number of positives for this cage. It's very sturdy (my version, at least). Hjalmar hasn't escaped from it and I don't see how he could escape (watch him prove me wrong!!) which is good for peace of mind. The petting zone is an excellent idea, it's his sleeping area and allows you to move him away from his cage without physically picking him up. This can be good for vet visits, if you want to let him out whilst taming him and is also good when cleaning the cage. If he's sleeping he can stay asleep whilst you're doing it! It's got some good expansion possibilites and the version of the cage I've got is deep, so there is a ton of bedding for him to burrow in. The water bottle on my version of the cage (different to the pictures) is very good and doesn't leak. The wheel is big enough for a young Syrian too, though I'd advise getting a silent spinner as it gets noisy quickly. Also, I want to re-emphasise that cleaning this cage is NOT difficult, as I've read elsewhere people saying it's a nightmare - that's IMO not true. I found it pretty simple.

Despite this there are some negative points. As the posters above pointed out, floor space is limited. This means there is only so much room for toys (I had to wait before I attached the bin cage to the side before I could put in all the toys I bought him!) and it is imperative if you start off with this cage that you have the hamster out of the cage in the evenings to run about in his ball or in a safe area. If you don't have time to have your hammy out in the evenings every night then don't even consider getting this cage unless you're going to be able to extend it literally right away with a bin cage or other crittertrail cage.

I don't know whether to rate the tubes as positive or negative really. Hjalmar loves hiding in them, which is sometimes a bad thing because once he's in them he can take a while to come out... on the other hand he obviously feels safe in them and it simulates his natural environment (tunnels) so in that way it is positive. If he gets bigger he may struggle in the tubes eventually, but in that scenario I would move the petting zone to the bin cage and bring the levels on the side lower so he could climb up to them via the cage (he does this anyway, he uses the tunnels to the platforms to store food in!).

I have to say that I would probably discourage someone from getting the version of this cage that I pictured in my original review, however I wouldn't discourage someone from getting the larger version that I have. I would, however, warn somebody if they were thinking about buying this that it would have to be extended within a month or so of buying it at the latest. The hammy will outgrow the cage quickly and need another area to run about in, even if you do get him out every evening. I'd also recommend buying the little bus extension straight away (available on ebay and amazon for £5) - Hjalmar adores it, and it's a good place for him to sleep & dig. It also comes with another small water bottle and a small food bowl, which can be handy in the event for whatever reason the original food bowl/water bottle stop working. If I had known I'd need to extend this cage so quickly I may have looked at different alternatives, unfortunately I didn't even know about bin cages until coming here after I'd bought Hjalmar! Still, I took him for a checkup at the vet yesterday and he said he was healthy and happy so being in the cage for a couple of weeks hasn't affected him - long term though I don't think a hamster could be happy in this cage, and I really do have to repeat that if a hamster is in this cage, even for a couple of weeks, he must have a lot of playtime in the evenings.

Anyway, hope that's made my thoughts a little clearer