Ferplast Laura

[p_anda]

This is a review on the Ferplast Laura hamster cage, surprised no one else has got it/used it.

This is it:Ferplast Laura Hamster Cage - Love Pets

I paid £35 for it at my local pet shop, on that site it retails at £44. It says that it was £87.99, which I find hard to believe.

Dimensions: L:460mm x W: 295mm x H:375mm Bar spacing: 9mm

It's a medium sized cage, I have kept two Campbells in it first, then a small Syrian, then a Chinese. [I know it's far too small for a Syrian, however, this hamster spent about 6-7 hours a day free-ranging in my bedroom or in his playpen] It comes with everything you see on that picture,

1 small grey house
1 drinking bottle
tubes with 2 stoppers
1 large feeding bowl
1 small wheel
1 level [you can buy them separately too]

Aesthetics: 7/10 Reasonable looking, hate the only available colours though...Not a fan of commercial hamster cages anyway, but this one at the time was the only one I found practical and could afford at the same time [I was 16] that wasn't all horrible tacky plastic.

Quality: 9/10 VERY sturdy, durable cage, the tubes are very high quality plastic, not one breakage occurred in the 3 and a half years I've used it. Only thing was that the plastic bit that holds the tubes that attaches to the wires snapped after about 3 months because I was forcing it. Which is my fault really. Only thing I could say that I wish that the same quality plastic was used as with the tubes.

Pros: - good size for dwarf hamsters, 2 max.
- good ventilation
- high quality
- not too bad looking compared to other tubed cages, the tubes split apart so you can clean them more easily and have lots of holes in them for ventilation.
- spacious
- cheap
- small bar spacing
- you could add more shelves if you wanted to.

Cons: - that plastic connector thingy snaps easily
- better if there were more holes for the tubes to enter the cage, thus making it more variable.
- awful, noisy wheel. which was eventually replaced, too small for a Syrian, however this is marketed as a cage for dwarf hamsters
- the shelf is a really tight fit, you literally have to force it in so it locks evenly, it's difficult to make it level.
- the tray is far to shallow to have a thick layer of bedding, so you have to put cardboard around the sides to prevent it from going everywhere.

Overall, I would rate this cage as an 8/10, I just wish it was bigger, because once I put a large flying saucer in, it took up almost half of the bottom floor. All my hamsters seemed pretty happy in it, though I believe that is down to how you make use of the space, also there's plenty of room for hanging toys. I wouldn't recommend this cage for a Syrian, even though I kept one in there, the only reason I did that is because my hamster at the time only really slept in there, he was out and about in my room most of the time. I think it's a very good cage for someone with either a single or a couple of dwarf hamsters.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Er... I'm afraid the reason its not been reviewed is because its generally believed too small for a single dwarf. Its definetly too small for a pair.
I'd also call it a small cage rather than a medium sized one. The zoozone 1 is what I'd regard as medium and thats much bigger.

[p_anda]

The reason I'd say it was a medium sized cage is because the shelves you can get cover half of the floor space, and you can fit two of them in there, which technically gives you double the original floor space. But it's a matter of opinion I guess.

[kyrilliondaemon]

The problem is that shelves are not advised with pairs/groups of hamsters, and generally when calculating cage space only full levels are counted.
Plus even double the original floor space is still a bit under the reccomended minimum size for a hamster.

[Angelhamster]

We had our Syrian in a Laura bought as a package from the pet store with Angel. It was kinda ok when she was very young but in less than a month she could bearly fit into the wheel. I think she got used to it as it was her house. When we offered her the choice to use that or the ZZ2 she should would go back to the Laura. But we evicted her after a few days- I hope she appreciates it

I would say the Laura is too small for a full grown Syrian.

[happysaz133]

I'd say without a doubt that I wouldn't put any hamster in a Laura, it is just far too small. It would be OK if you used the tubes to attach it to a much larger bin cage, but really, I would never buy it.

[BaileyandBeth]

I have to agree with the above I'm afraid, but I suppose it's a positive as now people will look and see this cage isn't suitable...

[StarlightSerenity]

I agree with what the others have said, it's just too small.

[p_anda]

Wait...46+46=92cm....That's the length of the floor space you get if you have two shelves. And that's too small for even one dwarf? It's also almost 30cm wide and it's 37cm tall. That makes it bigger than a Mini Duna [including the shelves]. Even with one shelf it's hardly smaller than a Mini Duna, which is 27 x 39 x 55cm. It seems a lot of people keep their dwarf hamsters in these, and that isn't deemed unsuitable. I'm not saying this is an amazing cage size-wise, because it isn't, but I think it's unfair to say that it's completely unsuitable for even one dwarf hamster. I know they can get territorial over shelves, but mine didn't fight over them, so I think it depends on the individual animal[s].

[StarlightSerenity]

You will rarely find someone who counts shelves in the measurements of cages. The height doesn't really matter - the only difference height makes to a cage (in respect to it being suitable) is what size wheel you can fit in to it and whether or not it needs additional shelves or hammocks to prevent falls (in the case of very tall cages).

Who is it unfair to? I think it's unfair to put a hamster in a cage thats not big enough... You can get bigger cages for a similar price.