Alexander or Barney?

[Hammielover]

I'm going to order a new cage for Derek (my new hybrid rescue ham!) this weekend. He's currently in a zoozone one but I feel he'd benefit from a bigger cage.

I've narrowed it down to an Alexander or Barney but I can't decide which one is best. I'm leaning towards an Alexander but is it really worth the extra £20 price difference? Any help towards my decision would be really appreciated

[cypher]

I don't think there's a lot in it but the Barney isn't quite as tall as the Alexander so that might be a plus, tall cages can be problematic with Russians as they do like to bar climb but aren't good at it & tend to fall off a lot so whichever you choose bear that in mind when you set the cage up.

[Pebbles82]

I would go with the Barney for a russian hamster More floorspace, less height. It is still fairly tall though - mine is about 43cm tall inner measurement (it;s quoted as 46cm tall but the top of mine is a bit bent so that might be why it's a bit less). So it would need setting up carefully. You can get quite a lot of substrate in it though as it doesn't fall out through the 7mm bars really. You could even stick cardboard round the sides at one end and have a deep substrate area, which would reduce any fall risks at that end, and the shelf would reduce fall risks at the other end.

The main thing is plenty of substrate to cushion any falls and make sure no hard items to land on (they could go on or under a shelf). I like the large cork tunnels as floor toys for hammies - it gives them overhead cover so they don't feel too exposed, it's something to climb over, helps make the fall height less, and makes a good ramp up to a shelf.

This is the one I have in my Barney cage for our Syrian. I have two - one next to the front doors to climb up so he can get out, and one partly under the shelf which is a ramp up to the shelf. They don't show up very well on the photos but it's this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cork-Tunnel...et+cork+tunnel

So also, if you get the barney, you'd have more to spend on cage contents It comes with a good house so you just need cage contents/toys and a wheel. It does come with an 8" wheel which might do but it's a bit flimsy.

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