Rotastak=Rustastak?

[Ness]

I've owned a lot of rotastak stuff over the years and from time to time I have found rust on any of the metal bits (bars, ladders, etc).
When I find any I often end up replacing it, which becomes very expensive.
I also have no idea why my rotastak rusts; I don't keep it in a damp environment or anything like that.

Would this be classed as a design fault? Is it dangerous for the hamster at all? Has anyone else found this with rotastak before?

also even though rotastak is a fun home for your hammy, I get the feeling it is not really suitable for small hamsters (dwarfs etc), especially with the cosmom pods where if you have a cleaver hammy it can climb up to the top where the bars bend and push themselves through as there aren't any horizontal bars blocking/ making it tougher for the hamster to get through.

Also I have noticed that the running wheels are very noisy and the rainbow runny can come undone while a hamster is running in it.

To be fair the tubes are fun for the hamsters who can climb through them, but they can be chewed through (which makes me think 'how are they gerbil safe?').

I still like rotastak but like I said there seems to be a few problems with it. What do you think?

[Nicolapompicola]

honestly?

I hate it with a passion. IMO it's totally unsuitable for any thing, there's no where to put an 8" wheel for syrians, and pairs of dwarfs can become territorial in it. Not only that, but it looks incredibly difficult to clean, and like expensive tat.

[Ness]

I guess I liked it becuase it was colourful at first. Which is stupid.

[arlev]

Originally Posted by Ness

What do you think?

In spite of a great amount of negative feedback, Rotastak is very adaptable with a bit of ingenuity. I used it for about ten years and there has never been a problem with it that I couldn't solve.

Squeaking wheels - add a piece of electrical insulation tape onto the spindle and replace the wheel to rest on it. No wheel big enough for a Syrian? Absolutely true - but I bought a wire rat wheel, put material between the holes, turned a round unit on its side and then pierced the unit to push a spindle through. Worked perfectly (below).



Dwarves can't use the vertical tubes - we hung a ladder down them. We connected more than one unit with inclined tubes rather than vertical ones. I built a bridge between the first and third sections of the pods for Dwarves to run over (below).



The layout below was for one pair of Russians (you can just about see the bridges). We never had a territorial problem (although a member above notes that they did) but we did watch them manage their own area, changing nests (both bedding and food) and having to think when they exited a unit as to how to get to where they wanted from where they were (two ways to every place from an exit point).



I could go on.

Rotastak is quite expensive for what it is and some of the designs are poor but, for Dwarves, it was the best set up I ever had.

And, no, I never once had a problem with rusting - that's a weird problem.

[Bunsey]

never had one for dwarfs or one of the modern varieties, but about 15-20 years ago i had one of the round stack versions and it was the biggest pile of trash ever. The ham escaped every single night by prising the roof off. we had to put bricks on top of the cage and he still escape some nights! The bars did rust and offered very little ventilation. he refused to sleep in the attic and would pee all over the place. i now think he was confused by the lack of corners. Also, the wheel was terrible. good points... um... it didn't take up much space.

[arlev]

Originally Posted by Bunsey

i now think he was confused by the lack of corners.

I've heard this said before about Rotastak but, as the Natural History paper noted (there's a thread elsewhere), Syrian hamsters don't experience corners in their burrows in the wild...

...they have a single shaft to descend down, at the end of which are two or three compartments - one for sleeping, one for food.

We also had one Syrian who peed just about everywhere, too - however, he also did other unmentionable things in the tubes and we never really understood why. After all, in the wild, they seem to be much more disciplined.

[arlev]

Originally Posted by Bunsey

we had to put bricks on top of the cage and he still escape some nights!

Are you sure that was a hamster?!!!!!

[Bunsey]

lol yep, Patrick the LH cinnamon banded hamster. he lived to over 3 years!

[arlev]

Originally Posted by Bunsey

lol yep, Patrick the LH cinnamon banded hamster. he lived to over 3 years!

btw, I agree with you that Rotastak is often a bad design - but if you (or 'one') apply yourself to the units available, you can make a very decent layout for a dwarf/dwarves.

[BVMARK]

I have about 5 black bin bags full, any offers????????