Habitrail OVO cages - Page 3

RedSky · 08-28-2014, 07:43 AM

I LOVE the habitrail cages. Ventilation sucks though so be careful that they wont be in them for too long.
I like to use mine as mini gardens

Here you can see one leading up out of a 3ft tank, the tubes leading up ran the full lenght of the tank and come in at the left side of the OVO. I had just planted the seeds a few days prior, but this particular garden lasted over a month (with regular seed top ups) before being destroyed by the dwarf living in there. You have to be careful with how much/little you water it. I did mine in a morning after she had gone to bed, as it was very very rare for her to be up much, if at all during the day. Also pick out any poos or bits of food as this is a perfect place for mold to grow which isn't good for hammies.
I also use them in my playpens as a sand bath or just for them to run inbetween and explore. If I have a few attached together I leave the lids open (inside a playpen) for better air flow.
But again this is for dwarf hamsters. My syrian will go through the tunnels but not easily, so for her garden it has to be in her cage with no tunnels.

Teddy001 · 08-28-2014, 08:00 AM

I've meshed 2 Very large Guinea Pig/rabbit cages. It's a lot if work, my 2 meshed cages were amazing, although the 1 cage opened from two top panel tops, was a very difficult cage to mesh, and the mesh is sharp, when cut, would need sharp pieces filed down. The other cage was similar to the cage in your photo. My issue was the mesh towards to bottom, made the actual cage. thicker" thus wouldn't fit in the bottom tray properly.. Maybe I used mesh that was too thick, IDK? But. The cages were amazing while they lasted.

Other members have been very successful with meshing their cages, though..

Teddy001 · 08-28-2014, 08:15 AM

I also had the OVO cage you have. This was before the meshed huge cages. I connected the OVO to 3 critter trail cages, with tubes. This was a set up for my Chinese hamster and WW dwarf hamster. The only real issue I had was the tubes, hams used the toilet in them, and when they pee's, the pee actually leaks out of the tubes, plus time consuming to keep a good amount of tubes clean. My Chinese hamster had a " super highway" lol- she loved traveling in the tubes. I'm not sure I'd do a set up like that again, it's high maintenance- and I was constantly checking the tubes- word if caution- the OVO Habittrail has a wheel that basically is on the outside if the cage. The one I had would come detached at random times, and the white plastic urine fender thing, that sits under the wheel, unless I had the wheel hang off the edge if the table, the plastic guard, would cause the wheel not to spin, due to the wheel would sit onto of it, pushing it down on the table. Just be very careful if you use the OVO's checking on the wheels- I hate to say this, Ian. My Chinese hamster's OVO wheel must have disconnected, while we were sleeping, and she fell with the wheel onto the floor, and one of the dogs we were fostering, got her, we think due to how we found her. This may have been a freak accident, and yours may never have that issue.

**ianpallen** · 08-28-2014, 08:34 AM

I have the ovo but have never used it. I did put the robo in while I cleaned his cage but he was in there for about 15 mins max. I dont like the ovo wheel. I put Screech in it when I first set it up to see what it was like. She went in the wheel and her right back leg kept going down the long slot in the floor of the wheel. She was not happy. I still have the ovo in a box somewhere and was thinking of attaching it to a cage somehow. Not all the pieces, One of the small pods with sand in it for a sand bath and the main compartment for something, maybe a dig pod. I dont like the water bottles on them. The food tray on top of the housing compartment seems too steep for a ham. The wheel is held onto the spindle with a thin plastic pin. Not safe at all.

Sorry to hear your ham was got by the dog because the wheel had come off.
I like the idea of turning the main pod into a garden.
I will think of doing this but look for someone who is going to lay turf in their garden and ask for a piece that would fit. It should only be about a foot square (cut into a circle).

RedSky · 08-28-2014, 08:50 AM

Be careful with soil and plants that might not be safe, I used some substrate from the pet shop for reptiles and creepy crawlies, that looks like a block of very dry soil. You add water to it and it rehydrates and expands. This way there are no bugs or peticides ect that can harm you hammy (hopefully). I had it anyway as I have snails.
I ordered and planted some seeds specially chosen for hamsters to eat the plant and added in some other safe seeds that I got from a health food shop for sprouting for people to eat.

Most of the stuff that comes with the OVO is rubbish. The climbing frame/food bowl thing, external and internal wheels, the internal wheel stand, the water bottles, are all horrible.

Teddy001 · 08-28-2014, 05:01 PM

Both my dwarves love tubes!! Although my WW is in a Detolf, I set up a pathway in the Detolf, I set up a pathway for her to get from one end if the to the other using tubes. I'll post a photo. She much happier with some tubes in her cage

.

Teddy001 · 08-28-2014, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ianpallen

I have the ovo but have never used it. I did put the robo in while I cleaned his cage but he was in there for about 15 mins max. I dont like the ovo wheel. I put Screech in it when I first set it up to see what it was like. She went in the wheel and her right back leg kept going down the long slot in the floor of the wheel. She was not happy. I still have the ovo in a box somewhere and was thinking of attaching it to a cage somehow. Not all the pieces, One of the small pods with sand in it for a sand bath and the main compartment for something, maybe a dig pod. I dont like the water bottles on them. The food tray on top of the housing compartment seems too steep for a ham. The wheel is held onto the spindle with a thin plastic pin. Not safe at all.

Sorry to hear your ham was got by the dog because the wheel had come off.
I like the idea of turning the main pod into a garden.
I will think of doing this but look for someone who is going to lay turf in their garden and ask for a piece that would fit. It should only be about a foot square (cut into a circle).

There should be a black rubber band that goes around the OVO wheel, to plug the center gap.

Teddy001 · 08-28-2014, 11:35 PM

Ian, here is Candy's set up. I included tubes inside her cage, which she enjoys traveling from 1 end to the other. This really has helped get her out more, and feel secure, as I was having issues with her being scared to come out of hiding for awhile.

Please excuse the "glare" in the photo's, snapped pic's with my cell phone, and keep the ham room, dim at night.

Teddy001 · 08-29-2014, 12:43 AM

Ian, these are the 2 large Guinea Pig cages, that I meshed. They were SO spacious... just wished I had the patience to fix the issues, I had with them.. If you mesh the cage, try not to zip tie, where the cage fits into the slots on the plastic tub. If I had to do it again, I know what I'd not do the first time around.. LOL..
My dwarf REALLY did enjoy this cage, though..

This one I meshed for my Syrian.

(see the double doors on the top of the cage, never could get them to close/lock properly. The mesh, had to fold over, around the end of the lids, or try to file each and every sharp piece.. LOL

**ianpallen** · 08-29-2014, 01:27 AM

I like the cages Teddy. They look great. The tubes are a good idea. My Screech loves tubes but in the bin cage she is in now, there are none. I was thinking of adding the OVO tubes but they are difficult to fit to the cage. I might buy a ferplast cage where they have the tubes on a plastic part on the wires and fit them to the bin cage.