Little Friends Mamble Rat Cage

[Pebbles82]

I am in awe of anyone who builds a diy cage! Personally I'd like a detolf - but I do like the barred cages as well - the ventilation is good. I just wish they made more barred cages with large front opening doors.

[AmityvilleHams]

It just takes time,patience,and creativity.At first I was settled on a bin cage but then my mind wandered to DIY cages and I've been driving my parents and myself insane ever since.

[hollynelson]

Wow - lots of food for thought! I will let you know what I decide So I will let you know a few things - I do have a bin cage, I use them as play pens with different substrates in and different things for exploration, eg grass, soil, sand etc. I am trying to build my collection of those up.

When I was breeding and showing I kept all of my hamsters in bin cages and I did like that you could customize them. I ended up with a variety of different cages, depending on the hamster - tanks for the escape artists, even a rabbit hutch for one very active individual. I liked that because you could tailor the cage to the hamster.

My current hamster doesn't require additional taming - this is a photo of her that I took from our bath tub sessions. She was hand reared and we believe that perhaps she has a neurological disorder, nothing big or anything, it just makes her a little quirky.

She doesn't mind hands and contact or anything like that, she just doesn't like to be picked up. If you hold your hands still she will crawl up them and all over you, she just doesn't like it if your hands move.

Which is fine, because usually I put a small storage tub in the cage and she climbs right in and then I transport her like that.

I just find it more difficult in the cage she is in. She doesn't like overhead movement and I feel that if I were to enter her cage from the side she would be much more amenable to coming out. Plus I like the idea of her having more ventilation and I would find it easier to clean.

At the moment she has to be in the tank because we have cats but we are moving house and I am going to have a craft/hamster room and I want her to sit next to my desk so that we can interact whilst I am working too. If she were in a barred cage that would be much easier.

I should have made that a little clearer. She gets a loooottt of time out of her cage, which is great, but if she had a more accessible cage it would make it easier for me.

When I was breeding and showing, the hamster heaven was the be all and end all. It is interesting to come back into it and see how much perceptions have changed, I feel like Britain has had a very European influence in the last few years that has been really great.

So I love the Alexander small pet cage. Gotta do some more research between that and the little friends cage - the others are just too expensive on Amazon.

[Pebbles82]

The Savic Mickey 2XL or the Goran sound perfect then - they both have really good front access. The Savic Mickey 2XL is the cheaper of the two, but still not cheap. Although a lot cheaper than an Exo Terra!

I'd say it's a lot better than the Hamster Heaven. It's basically the same cage but has narrow bar spacing and comes as a base cage without all the plastic add-ons and tubes that most people end up taking out anyway.

The Alexander cage (did you mean the Alexander?) Doesn't have good front access - it has two smaller doors on the front and one big one on the top, so main access is from the top again.

The Mamble also has two front opening doors but I know owners who say access isn't as good as the Hamster heaven as the two front doors aren't that big.

Our hamster loved the access on the Savic Mickey 2XL - he could just walk out of the door, although I would put a mat on the open door so he didn't have to walk on the grid, but he didn't mind walking on the grid. I had his playpen around the cage and would leave the door of the cage open and he'd just pop in and out of the cage. Although did have a floor cushion under the open door so he could get to it easily.

[AmityvilleHams]

I'd definitely agree about wire cages with large doors being ideal then for your hamster.Here in the US we're extremely limited and have I believe one hamster specific cage that is actually even near the US minimum but nowhere near the UK minimum.The actual hamster care in the UK seems to be so much better than the US though,so it's no surprise that the minimum is considerably better.

[hollynelson]

I totally agree with you, it was surprising when I first moved here, that there wasn't nearly the amount of cage options on the market - when you think of this continent you definitely think of things being bigger and there being more choice but with hamsters this isn't necessarily the case. But that's ok because there are ways of making it work and Chrysie is happy in her tank cage at the moment, until I am able to get her a different living quarters. I am really only doing it for convenience to me anyway! I think the Savic Mickey definitely sounds good - I want something that is super sturdy, so it won't break too easily in my suitcase too. I have been reading that some of these cheaper cages have thin plastic on the bases.

Seriously - thank you all for your help.

[Pebbles82]

You're welcome! I certainly found the Savic Mickey 2XL well built and sturdy. The bars are good and strong and it has easy clips pre-attached on the sides so the top comes off easily.

[AmityvilleHams]

This is definitely a random thing to be adding in but it is really important to know that the US minimum has actually changed now to 450 square inches.I'm pretty sure the cages that are being considered are well above that though,but just something that US members need to be aware of.I still prefer the UK minimum though.

[hollynelson]

That is interesting, here in Canada the cages must be 360 square inches (I think). In the meantime I am trying to make my hamster's cage a bit nicer - I even find toys harder to come by, I think I need to start looking at reptile toys too when I go to the petstore. I try to keep a box of toys to swap into her cage but at the moment I just feel a bit uninspired. She has a stack of cardboard boxes at one end, with bulldog clips to hold them together and her wheel at the other end but I think I need more toys. She had cardboard tubes and stuff. I think I might make her a hammock later on. I also have a dollhouse that I put into her cage but I found that she wasn't really interacting with that so I have given up with it really.

[AmityvilleHams]

I would definitely recommend grape wood and cork but I remember hearing that manzanita can be slippery for birds to perch on although it is safe.Not too sure if that would affect anything for hamsters but I'd definitely also recommend having different platforms that allow your hamster to get treats or even edible things that she just enjoys,even part of her daily diet.In terms of cage themes my personal favorite is natural as you can just kind of throw things together for it and it requires the least creativity of all but can still get extremely creative and elaborate.