Alaska cage: My Views

[FreddyAndMe]

I understand that this cage is pretty popular and will already have numerous reviews on it. However, I recently made a video version of a review on this cage and would like to give some of my personal takes on it that others may not have mentioned.

Cage clips
Not many people talk about these! On this cage, you get six: which is more than enough to keep the wire section in place! They detach from the wires very easily, so you could quite easily misplace one and lose it; in most cages you can't fully remove the clips easily. Each clip does not really 'clip' to the base, i.e. they don't feel solid, but despite this they keep the entire cage held together very nicely. They are a silver colour.

Bars
The bars on this cage, in my experience, are awful! This is because they:
-Bow slightly in the centre of the top
-Are very flimsy
-Have been bent a lot when it got delivered to me
One disadvantage of this cage that most people mention is the corner clips which are very stiff and require pliers to operate. In my circumstance, one of the corner clips is welded (or whatever you'd call it) shut so I literally can't set the cage up properly. The door on the top has also received so much of a battering in transit that is doesn't close flat.
The bar spacing is about 1cm and unsuitable for most dwarf hamsters. They are a mottled black/silver colour, although predominantly black.

Base tray
Unlike the bars, the base tray is excellent! It's sturdy, lightweight enough to lift with one hand and smooth: unlike some cages with textured bases, this cage has a flat surface with rounded corners, which makes cleaning a breeze! I really like the base tray!
It is a deep red colour (you don't have options of what colour base, which is a bit of a shame).

Accessories
There are three accessories that come with this cage:
-A slide/ladder
-A level
-A hide
Each piece pits together to make a single unit. You are very limited as to where you can put it in the cage, as it will slide around unless you put it in the allotted area marked by oddly shaped bars that keep it in place. In this position is only just clears the top of the base tray enough for a hamster to fit under if you fill the tray all the way up with substrate.
The hole for the slide and entrances to the hide are very small. Most Syrian hamster owners will have to remove the accessories because of this, as there's a very real danger of a ham getting stuck. As discussed earlier, this cage isn't really suitable for dwarfs, so the accessories are useless for most people! I am lucky in that my Syrian, Freddy, is particularly small and uses the slide easily (he can fit into the hide no problem, he just doesn't use it).
The level is a very odd shape as it is moulded to fit the slide and hide and has a wavy edge. There are little paw prints on it, too. You might like this, however I prefer things like that to be more basic and I'd rather it just be a flat, rectangular shape - although that may just be me.
The cage does not include a water bowl or water bottle - you'll have to buy these things separately. The hide and slide are white, whereas the level is black.

Conclusion
So, I hope you learned something new about this cage! I haven't talked about dimensions, doors or anything like that because I am certain others will have already done so. If you have anything else you think I missed that someone else has not already covered, then by all means drop a comment! Thanks for reading :P