Kaytee CritterTrail SUPER Habitat for Pet Gerbils, Hamsters or Mice

first i bought one for $86 that was “used-like new”. I’ve bought items in that condition before and haven’t had any problems- but this was different. Not only were there obvious scratches.. but the wires were bent in a dozen places making it extremely difficult to assemble properly. The port hole lid was cracked. I returned it and exchanged it for another “used-like new” (that’s all the replacement would allow because that’s what I bought in the first place ) and that one was even worse. That was the moment I learned that the return center doesn’t check anything. whoever returned it, cracked every single piece of plastic and even left dirty bedding and feces in the box! Lol even my 10-year-old said “don’t they check these things at the warehouse ??” Long story short I contacted Amazon and they fully refunded me so I was able to purchase a brand new one. Hopefully the new one is fine. Kaytee products are usually made well.So all in all this is a great cage. The bare minimum for one hamster is 450 in.², and this is 540 in.², so it’s perfect for my two female Robo littermates. I had them in a smaller Crittertrail cage but they started fighting a bit, so it was obvious they needed a bigger cage. This is kind of pricey, but your pet deserves to be happy and enriched. This has so much room for toys, huts, wooden houses, tubes, etc. I actually took the ramp out because they can climb up so many other ways. It just took up space and they never used it . They sleep in the wooden houses all day and come out and run around all night. I was able to fit two silent spinners on the top level, and I actually attached an Ovo Den to the port hole and filled it with sand. They love sand baths :). So assuming my new one coming tomorrow is fine, I would absolutely recommend this cage!Update: The brand new replacement that came today was perfect. I learned my lesson on buying certain used items.. even if they are “like new”.. because apparently nobody checks. This new one was so easy to actually assemble because none of the pieces were warped or broken or bent.. it really made a difference. I actually bought another one of these for my other hamster because I think it’s an amazing enclosure. I don’t like bin cages and I don’t like tanks because they get stinky. So either cough up the hundred dollars or buy something different, but gambling on a used item will probably be a waste of your time when you need to return it!and please please please don’t buy those tiny like 200 in.² colorful cages from the pet stores. Certain hamsters are prone to cage rage and your hamster will be miserable. I had one really chill hamster that didn’t mind a small cage, but the rest of them get frustrated at night in small cages because they have nowhere to run and exercise! If you can’t afford to give your pet the best life possible, you probably shouldn’t get a hamster. but this cage is awesome I just wish it wasn’t so expensive lolI took three pictures so you could see just how much you can fit inside this cage.

The perfect cage for our Syrian hamster! I was concerned about the space offered by other, smaller cages and wanted to make sure our hamster had enough room to burrow, run, and play. This cage is great. I have about 6" of bedding under the silver shelf and our hamster has a whole system of tunnels under there. I added a 9.5" Silent Runner wheel inside and it fits nicely. There are a few items that I'd change if I was redesigning it. 1) The wires are too close together for a standard (or even the smallest) water bottle nozzle to fit through. I had to bend the wires to fit the nozzle through the cage and then use zip ties to attach it to the exterior as the water bottle holders did not adequately support the bottle. 2) The habitrail port is really weak. I had purchased a habitrail set with a wheel to attach to the cage. Once the wheel was in place, the plastic port buckles and the clasps bent. I had to zip tie the port to the cage to be sure the weight of our hamster in the habitrail wheel or tunnels wouldn't cause the port to rip off of the cage and set our hamster free. Since then, I removed the wheel and the tunnels completely as they make the cage sag too much for my comfort.

As a new hamster owner I read today's "hamster space needs wisdom" thinking if a full sized hamster needs all that space surely a dwarf can do with half since they are half the size (or less). Boy was I wrong! I started with the Kaytee two level and just felt guilt at how small it was. My winter white was climbing and chewing bars and I was so worried he was going to get hurt. I still wanted to use my original house as he was used to it and I wanted to make this move with as little stress as possible, so we stuck with Kaytee and added this. With both combined we meet the absolute minimum space requirement. So far my little one is sleeping in the old side but comes over to the new side to play and forage. I have a feeling he will come over to the new side more as it starts to smell more like him.The Pros:The size - This is the only habitrail I have found that comes close to meeting the requirements. Remember habitrails advertise living space while the hamster community recommends a minimum of 450 square inches of floor space. And it seems this number keeps going up. (I read 620 in a forum yesterday.) But this does have the base space necessary to put enough bedding for them to burrow I have a couple of houses, a sand bath, a potty, a burrowing corner, wheel and of course food & water. I will probably replace the ramp with a wooden one.It keeps him in - My dwarf immediately ran around the shelf and tried to push his head through the bars in each section he did not find a place that he could get through. This does tell us we have to watch though, if you bend the wire during installation it is important you fix it!Easy to assemble - I found this very easy to put together, this is the second Kaytee cage I've build (in the last two weeks) I had trouble with the first one, this one I had together in 20 minutes, just follow the instruction and don't force anything and this thing goes right together.I've also noticed others have put the large top door as a negative, I'm putting it in the positives column. My guy hasn't allowed us to hold him yet, this allows enough space to offer a mug or hamster ball to use to transport him to play area or bath tub or back home after play time. I put my hand in on the ramp to offer a seed and it was the closest I've come to having him sit on my hand so the large door is helping us bond.The Cons:Not chew proof - I do see what everyone is saying about the plastic being thin, if you have a big climber/chewer they could climb to the top and chew out but they would have to be determined to do it! The little plastic square that allows you to connect to other habitrails is supposed to be on the outside of the cage but because of how the wire sides come together it was impossible to install as intended so again there is plastic that can be chewed inside. Also this square has popped out a few times on me and the tube has popped off of the square. I check my connections every night.Door doesn't always close right - when I close the top I have to really shimmy the door into it's place or there is a gap either at the door or at the top where the roof connects to the wire.Overall I'm giving a 4 because of the size, this house gets the job done.Because I believe someone from Kaytee reads all of their reviews, I do hope you will continue to come out with larger homes. There is a gap in the market and you are already positioned to fill it!