Thinking of getting an Alexander...

[Scarlett Empress]

I haven't been here joining in for ages, lack of time and hassles with the laptop - but now I want to talk about cages and this is the best place to do it!

I have got my Syrian, Marty, in a DIY cage and she seems a happy hammy, but to be honest I am finding it a bit tricky to clean - I made it deep so she could have 8" substrate, but she doesn't dig much! I made a big door in the front, and the whole lid lifts off, but it's a bit deep for my old back when I am bending over it. I don't feel like I can give it a good enough clean without being in pain!

Plus, I have got fixed shelves in there, which are turning out to be a nuisance, as she likes to make her nest in rather inaccessible places.

I sort of feel like I could make the cage work better, if I could spend a couple of weekends revamping it! But without turfing Marty out, I don't think it's an option.

I'm thinking of getting the Alexander cage - I like the slopey roof, I think it would look less bulky in my room, and I like the look of all the shelves etc it comes with.

I wonder if she would like the big house at the base of the cage? I bought her a Rodipet labyrinth house and put her a little corner sand tray in to pee in. It worked for a while, then she decided it would be better to keep her food in there, and burrow under the house to have a pee. Then she got fed up of me taking out the Fitch she had peed on, blocked up the entire house with Fitch, and made a nest up the side of her wheel!

Also I am wondering about the size - her current cage is about 120 x 42cm, so the Alexander is shorter at 100cm, but I think the added bit of width would be good.

I did think about trying to build another cage that would work better, but I don't feel I have the time or energy.

This is just me waffling out loud really but it helps to get it all out!

[CMB]

Could you put the existing cage on something to raise it up higher so you don't have to bend or add legs onto the cage?

Over time you could remove the shelves and adjust them by adding legs, making them moveable.

By adjusting where/what your hamster has for a nest etc you may find the current cage is easier to clean.

Sweeping out most with a dustpan and brush and then using a hoover to finish off with. If the litter tray is being used you just clean that and don't need to take out much of the other substrate.

[AmityvilleHams]

The Alexander wouldn't be a massive downgrade,nor would it hold too much less substrate either.If you really want a cage but have time for a minor modification as in meshing a larger rabbit cage,there is one 100 cm x 100 cm rabbit cage you can purchase online which would potentially be easier than making a whole new DIY cage or trying to somehow fix up the old one.It would be an upgrade,and it would also give you better access as you'd want!It might not look quite as nice as the Alexander,but it would get the job done and that's really what it needs to do at the end of the day Plus,it means you can have more options for enrichment without the limited roof space at the edges due to the design!

By the way if you can't do the 100 cm in each direction rabbit cage but like the idea,there are rabbit cages with a similar amount of floor space but are longer and a lot less wide!

[Scarlett Empress]

Thanks for your suggestions CMB!

The cage is already raised up quite high as I made it all part of one unit, with storage under - here's a pic of it part built -


I think the problem is, partly, the bar across the front at the top - I either have to lean over that to get in and tidy, or get in through the front and I just find it a bit of a tight squeeze to manoeuvre in there - !

I really do like the idea of shelves on legs though - that would have made life easier. I have been thinking and thinking about doing something to the shelves but I think I would have to empty do much out of the cage to make it easy enough to do...

Not sure she would give me much of a say in where she builds her nest! She's out to give me a few more grey hairs...and I do wish she would use a litter tray! She has had litter trays, a flower pot and mug with sand, a plastic box of sand...she uses them to pee in for a while but then seems to get offended that I see the need to clean them

AmityvilleHams unfortunately I simply don't have room for a 100 x 100 cage, as much as I would like one that size.

[CMB]

Could the plastic panels be put in a frame and have hinges so they open upwards or sideways. Or made similar to the middle section at the top This would allow substrate to be swept straight out into a container easily.

[Scarlett Empress]

I honestly wish I had thought if that when I built it CMB! It would have made life a lot easier! I think it's a great idea but would probably be a bit tricky for me to do quickly, without having to put Marty in a carrier or something for too long a spell.

If ever I built a cage again, I would certainly take your ideas on board.

Well, I think I most likely will go for the Alexander though - I have been having a good think about how I could arrange it all, and as I have a spare wheel I could play around with that and get everything all sorted before moving Marty in, to make sure I got it all right!

I also found a cheap coffee table on Argos that I could put it on - cheap enough that I could cut the legs to the length I want without feeling bad ha ha!

[CMB]

The Alexander does sound a good cage and does have space for house, wheel and toys. So should be ok.

It may be better for when Marty gets less mobile with age.

[Scarlett Empress]

That's another thing I had in mind, it would be easier to adapt for her! It would still be a nice big space even with things laid out at one level.

[AmityvilleHams]

100 cm x 100 cm wasn't the only rabbit cage size.The 140 cm indoor rabbit cage from Little Pet Warehouse would do well too,not much wider than the Alexander but it is longer.It's 140 cm x 69 cm,and not very tall either as the total height is 47 cm but the base is a good chunk of that based on what I'm seeing.Much like the Alexander it could be adapted well for an elderly hamster and it wouldn't be quite as much space as a square meter cage,but it is still a very good amount of space.

Rabbit 140cm LARGE Indoor Rabbit & Guinea Pig Cage - Little Pet Warehouse It isn't extremely expensive either,especially if you can set it up in a cost effective way to keep it budget friendly!The only necessary modification would be meshing,just like the 100 cm x 100 cm version,but the size does make it better for some

[Pebbles82]

Have you seen the new Savic Hamster Plaza?!!! About the size of an Alexander but has a big front opening door. It's a bit more expensive though at about £95 I think. It's 50cm tall - about the same height as the Alexander. Doesn't have the three shelves but you could create that (I did in my Barney cage). Just thinking the big front opening door might be nice

HAMSTER PLAZA KNOCK DOWN | Savic

It was for sale at Cages World recently but doesn't seem to be now. I think Brunos parrots/pet shops is the official Uk stockist.

Also there's the Borneo cage from Amazon.de - similar price to the Alexander. It also has a big front opening door and comes in 100cm and 120cm as well. It's tall though at 56cm so would definitely need 3 shelves like the Alexander and possibly another one to prevent falls. It would be similar to setting up a Mamble in that respect.

This is the 100cm Borneo

https://www.amazon.de/M%C3%A4use-und...words=Borneo+L

This is the 120cm one

https://www.amazon.de/M%C3%A4use-und...words=Borneo+L

And there is also a version of it by Skyline with shelves, called the Speedy Gonzales 100cm or 120cm

https://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_no...gonzales&ajr=2

But - the Alexander is a nice cage. And I do think the long house is good. It does limit the depth of substrate a bit in the house area, but Charlie had a similar house in a smaller Skyline cage (his holiday cage) and he really liked the long house - nested at one end, toileted at the other end and plenty of space for hoards too.

Only issue I found was not being able to take the roof off the house. I like being able to do that to sort things out inside the house. But I did find I could sort of lean it forwards and lift the top up a bit and do it that way, so that might work in the Alexander cage too.

Shame the rodipet house didn't work out. I had something similar recently after we moved house. Charlie blocked up the two right hand side rooms with Fitch and started hoarding in his potty. We ended up cutting out the right hand inner panel and moving the toilet to the right back corner so he had space for his hoards and his potty and that seemed to do the trick. But he also burrowed down in it at first and was half in half out under the substrate He doesn't do that now because he's arthritic so nests on the level. Just thought as you're quite diy minded, sawing a panel out of the rodipet house might do the trick.

I used mine as another shelf in the Barney, then added a shelf along the back, so it's almost like the Alexander racetrack shelves, with a gap along the back for the wheel.

But there's a lot to be said for just going with an Alexander with the built in house and the shelves ready to go. So if you like it, I'd go for it!