Mini Duna - Your experiences

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

Thistle isnt doing great in her hamster heaven at the moment as its just too big for such a lazy hamster. :L She only seems to use one side of it and ignores the rest and I certainly dont see her as much these days. I have never planned to keep her in it perminently, it was just for a few weeks but my plan to build her a new wooden cage has had to be put on hold because of a sudden lack of money since the pups arrived lol. So now I have decided to get her a mini duna since they are only £25 in P@H and it means I can spend a lot more money on toys for the others.
At first I always saw this cage as very small but after seeing photos on here and seeing my cousins two which she keeps two singular russians in I think that it would be quiet well suited to Thistle.

So now to the main point, Id like all of you who own a mini duna to post as many pros/cons, pictures, setups etc that you have so I can settle my mind on a definite answer. Thanks!

[dan_parsons]

I think it would be perfect for Thistle
This is my proposed setup for when i get my dwarf

[Gizmodo ^_^]

I like the cage but it felt quite cramped for Hattie when she was in it, and she much prefered the zoozone
Hattie is lazy, but she still didn't have a lot of leg room
id only use it for a chinese tbh, or a nervous hamster
Pip my single Robo, even made it look small xD

[debs]

I Have A Mini Duna for all my dwarfs =].

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

Originally Posted by Gizmodo ^_^

I like the cage but it felt quite cramped for Hattie when she was in it, and she much prefered the zoozone
Hattie is lazy, but she still didn't have a lot of leg room
id only use it for a chinese tbh, or a nervous hamster
Pip my single Robo, even made it look small xD

Thistle spend about 60% of her day outside the cage so its more for her just to be in when I'm not around. She gets plenty of time to stretch her legs and once I have put a new wheel in there it should be enough for her to get deccent exercise - I forgot to mention that bit. lol

[SnickersTheFirst]

I think it's a lovely cage and tbh works out around the same size, (maybe bigger) than a ZZ1 or similar, as the shelf adds a fair bit of space.

I only upgraded Oscar as the Bingo was going spare.

[Hope]

Yes I agree, the Mini Duna is a fab cage for a little dwarfie, and very easy to clean, provides good access with the large wire lid. They often choose a corner under the shelf for their nesting spot, as its nice and enclosed too.

ps - heres a little pic of how I had it set up when I first had Boris

[Roxie]

Shiloh (Chinese) is in one and I'm not as big of a fan of it as I was at first. It looks a pretty decent size when empty but seems a bit cramped with all her stuff in it. As soon as she's tame I'll be upgrading to something bigger. I've never been a fan of top doors either, give me a side door!!! Nor do I like shelves really, I prefer one long space. I was given this Duna and probably wouldn't have brought one tbh. Does seem quite flimsy too, easily breakable, and I am looking forward to upgrading Shiloh to a Kios as my personal preference is for barred cages.

I would certainly never shoot down anyone who chooses to use a Duna, it is a pefectly adequate size for a single dwarf/chinese and a really nice home can be made in it as members on here have shown. It's down to personal opinion whether it's too big/small. Just wanted to clear that up so no one gets offended by my less than glowing opinions on the cage .

Shilohs too active for the Duna I feel, hence why I'd prefer something bigger for her. I look at her Duna, then I look at Cookies Mickey 2XL and I do feel a little sorry for Shiloh .

[fluffymunchkins]

Have posted pictures on the other thread, but will give my thoughts on it

I love this cage for dwarfs (especially in pink!) as its a handy spare and nice for nervous or new hamsters. Its also easy to clean and has easy access. I personally prefer bigger cages for full time as I struggle to fit everything I want in there. But many people have happy hams living in it full time with no problems

Bad points - I found the plastic very fragile, already got a few cracks just putting it together! And I had major problems getting the ramp and clips attached, but its not a problem now they are.

[kyrilliondaemon]

We got one for Whizz our roborovski (Skip came with a Mickey Max) and less than 48 hours later the Mickey Max was replaced so that Skip could get the duna too.
They both seem to like them, although we did change the water bottles because the spouts were slightly too large for the boys to manage easily. (And obviously enough we changed the wheels as soon as we got the cages home.)

I found the shelf can seem slightly unstable without the wheel attatched, so I keep a toy under the edge to ensure the front can't droop and become a potential problem, but other than that I do like them. They've got a big entrance, are easily taken apart and cleaned, and give good access to the hamster when its either on the shelf or when you're near the cage. The shelf even lets you see through it relatively well when theres nothing on it (although I do keep things on it).
Plus when we got them they'd both been owned previously and we're pretty sure Whizz was neglected/mistreated so it was really good for him that he could dash to a toy at the edge of the shelf and hide in it to watch us. It really helped him get used to us, because he could watch safely and know he had lots of shelter behind him if we scared him (and he did routinely use that shelter if we moved too close/fast e.t.c).
We think Skip was mistreated as well but he's never been as scared of us, yet he likes the shelf too. Both of them love to sleep under it in a huge nest of bedding, and that works by us
They also sometimes sleep under the houses we've given them lol

We've got a larger cage for introducing them to (hopefully) live together in it, but until then they seem quite happy in the dunas. And if the introduction fails I'll probably see about upgrading their cages anyway, but that'd just be because I'd prefer they had more space long-term.