Superpet Crittertrail X

[arikata]

You can really tell that this cage is marketed towards children and aparently: "CritterTrail X is the eXtreme activity home for small pets and features the eXciting Xtreme Wheel, a glow-in-the-dark exercise wheel that spins in two directions. " (crittertrail's selling slogan). Sounds cool, doesn't it?

If you want a really small cage (21.25x12.75 inches.) which is a ruddy pain up the bum to clean then this is the cage for you!!

[attachment=2:6wzv4yz9]crittertrail.jpg[/attachment:6wzv4yz9]

I only use this as an emergancy cage. However little Biscuit the robveroski loves it as he gets very nervous if he has too much space. Strange, I know!

The cage bars are closely spaced so no excapees. As the bars are resting on top of a plastic 'tray' the residents get no draughts but get a good air circulation.

The water bottle is suspended from the top on the left of the cage (the big blue thing) and I have found that the hamsters have always found it easy to drink from.

The wheel (below) is fantastic to watch. As the hamster runs the wheel moves around on a pivot which looks fun! There is a spiral walkway which leads up to the wheel. This is useful as dwarf hamsters can struggle to run up a vertical tube.

[attachment=1:6wzv4yz9]crittertrail1.jpg[/attachment:6wzv4yz9]

The 'tree house' - pictured below - is accessed through a slim tube which runs down the side of the cage. Even young dwarfs can use the tube easily but it is just one of the points as to why this cage isn't suitable for a syrian. I use the treehouse as a sandbath as there is a slight 'bump' around the entrance of the tube to prevent the escape of sand.

The treehouse (or petting zone as they like to call it) can be removed to hold the hammy whilst you clean the cage.

[attachment=0:6wzv4yz9]crittertrail2.jpg[/attachment:6wzv4yz9]

You are supose to be able to attatch the cage to other models by Habbitrail and S.A.M, however I've found that I have to use sellotape and brute force to make this happen.

All in all, this is an OK cage, bordering on poor. It collapses quite small and is easy to disasemble and sometimes feels a bit whimsy. It's putting it back together which is the trick!

Any questions?x

[sammys/mum]

However little Biscuit the robveroski loves it as he gets very nervous if he has too much space. Strange, I know!

I completely agree. My Frisbee is exactly the same when he was in his larger, open cage. Now I've moved him I see a dramatic difference. He plays more and is generally more happy
Great review!

[arikata]

Originally Posted by sammys/mum

I completely agree. My Frisbee is exactly the same when he was in his larger, open cage. Now I've moved him I see a dramatic difference. He plays more and is generally more happy
Great review!

It's like a hamster version of Agoraphobia (Not to be confused with Arachnophobia !) it's odd.

Thanks for the review complement, me and biscuit worked out little bottoms off, me taking pictures and him posing!

[Nicolapompicola]

I just wanted to say that I hate this cage with a passion! Sam my p@h rescue syrian was kept in one of these for the first year of his life, and it's caused him no end of problems. They're also very easy to break, and no where big enough really for long term housing..

[arikata]

Originally Posted by Nicolapompicola

I just wanted to say that I hate this cage with a passion! Sam my p@h rescue syrian was kept in one of these for the first year of his life, and it's caused him no end of problems. They're also very easy to break, and no where big enough really for long term housing..

I started off with this cage for my syrian but had 2 remove her as it was far 2 small! She could hardly move. At the minute it's housing my robo as I said and he seems to like it

[souffle]

So I guess you would only recommend this cage for a single small dwarf hamster, preferably a robo. It is obviously too small for a syrian but I am glad your tinies feel at home there. Excellent review Katzilla with great pics. Thanks to you and Biscuit

[Bunsey]

My Pebble has agrophobia. She was petrified in a gabber rex and never came from under the shelf. I found out that i can get round it by giving her tons of toys back to back.

[Bourne Valley Hams]

One thing I would add is that the clips break really, really easily and replacements are nigh on impossible to get hold of in the UK.

[arikata]

If anyone wants anymore pictures just let me know!

[arikata]

Something else worth mentioning is that if you have an old one of these, they are useful to take apart to use the bits to make a bin cage!