Ware Manufacturing 25-Inch Chew Proof Critter Cage

For the price, this thing is actually pretty amazing. Works for baby rats! But just barely. I couldn't find a decent, cheap habitat for small animals. I have two baby rats and have bought 3 wire habitats that were all terrible, between them being dangerous and the bar spacing being way too big for anything smaller than a guinea pig. I finally had to put them in an aquarium because they're so tiny and apparently pet stores don't sell anything for rats. I'm lost as to why chinchilla products are more common.... I've known so many people to have rats as pets, but none with chinchillas.Anyways, as soon as I put my baby Ratfink & Fizzgig in their new home, they were running circles along the bars and licking my fingers when I couldn't resist poking their little noses. They're so much happier being a part of the environment instead of being stuck behind glass!Now, with that being said.... I am a little worried about a couple spots. I'm watching them to make sure neither get their little heads stuck, but so far so good.Also,my niece put it together for me while I was at work and she mentioned the bottom's paint chipping when she hooked the walls in. I'm hoping this paint is nontoxic.There is no slide out bin, but for the price that's kind of a no brainer.Not a fan of the door... Especially the way it latches. It could be easily pushed open by an adult rat. My babies probably couldn't get it open... At least not my hairless. But my fatty Dumbo Rex is pretty determined so she might manage it.However, I hooked it under the bar above where it's meant to latch. It does make it a lot more difficult to get open, especially with two impatient babies licking my fingers, but their safety is worth it.Hooking it like that does pull the bar down a little more though.It's actually a pretty solid habitat! The bars aren't overly flimsy. It'd take a good bit of strength to push them apart even for a human. By the time my ratties get old enough to even attempt it, they'll be way too big for me to worry.All in all, I'm satisfied with my purchase for now. This has saved me and my babies so I'm happy! I'm glad they can be involved in things now. They looked so sad in that pathetic aquarium. Now I can socialize them more and don't have to stick my hand in from the top, invading their personal space. They can climb and be more active. Totally worth the measly $28 I paid for it.(not the best pictures, but it gives you an idea. My ratties are only 3 or so weeks old and you can compare Fink's little tiny feet against the spacing - her feet are about half an inch in length).

All cages that you assemble yourself will need some kind of modification (even if it's the fancier Critter Nation cages that run $250 and up...those often need rubber mallets to help straighten metal pieces when assembling). I've had a myriad cages over the years, bird cages included, and the only one that has not needed any modifications was a very very expensive full on deal sealed fully welded together enameled sprayed cage skirt welded on type of bird cage for a parrot (I think we're talking close to 1K back in the day...what was I thinking right???) If you're looking for a cage with no mods, you're looking at a huge price tag. Rodents can be very small, rats can be very bendy, and so can wire. I was able to hook this together without even lifting up the pliers I had prepared next to me; I can see that if the wire is a bit out of shape or the side latches are too tight, you would need pliers. SMALL HAMSTER AND MOUSE AND TINY RODENT OWNERS: Sheesh! Rodents can chew through wood plastic and tape! Don't seal up holes with those things! THat includes using bits of wood and hot glue and rubber and what have you! Almost all cages that come shipped have their wires folded in some way to get into the box...which results in some seams being slightly larger. Test them out when you get them...and if there are any spaces at all, even little nooks, buy a cheap roll of 1/2 inch square wire mesh (or even 1/4 inch) and zip tie pieces to those areas (yes, zip ties are plastic but with a lot of them they still hang well and you can easily see if any are being chewed off). In this cage, regular baby rats, for example, could squeeze through the areas where the metal bars connect. Most pet rodents can squeeze their little bodies (even if fat and furry) through anything they can squeeze their heads through (REMEMBER most rodent faces are furry which makes their heads look a lot bigger than they actually are). This is really on the part of the owner to check. I've had escapee rodents over the years, and as the owner I gotta be vigilant for any little escape attempts. And yes, it may involve having to pick up your protesting pet and putting their head next to the bars (I'm not saying try to shove it in, but see if you can test by getting their faces close and if there's a possibility they can squeeze through). I have TWO of these cages and they house dwarf rats (which are basically the size of a slightly large mouse but with all the rat personality. At the top joints, where they unfold, there are one or two areas that left me a bit suspicious about potential escapes (a pair of strong wire pliers and mesh plus a dozen zip ties did the trick). Same with the top areas at the front and sides; that's just where the cage fold is and no way to excape that (haha, except for the pets). The holes where the sides hook in could have provided a possible escape attempt (sealed those with cut cage wire, from a spare cage I'd disassembled, and zip ties). I can still fully lift the top off to clean the bottom tray. I've literally gone through over 9 cages looking for a habitat for these guys, and this is the one that works best. FYI: This isn't really big enough for two full size rats unless it's a temporary measure, I would say...one rat, if you've a full size lone rat, can be fine in it; no ferrets for sure except as carrier (and no chinchillas I'd say, it would be driven nuts by this much confinement).I got the cages on a Cyber Monday sale at an amazing deal, but even if it's not a super deal, if you can grab these at under thirty I'd say it's worth it. And tiny rodent owners remember...our little guys are extra small, and can devote their time to squeezing through bars and under lids and levering open doors etc etc. I really don't feel it's fair to blame the cage if you've had a chance to thoroughly examine it once it's built and test it out. Nowhere does the cage packaging state "we guarantee your animal won't die or get injured from squeezing through these bars". Of course, if the animal dies because it gets stuck between a poorly planned manufacturer layout (like between a preinstalled plastic shelf and wire, that's the manufacturer's flaw...but not the wire spacing). The cage IS metal, and at least on my end I would feel comfortable guaranteeing that your rodent won't be able to chew through the metal easily, or lever open the door (it's got a tight closure that can do an extra hook thingy). But I don't know if ANY animal habitat can guarantee that the animal won't escape by squeezing through bars (for example, the nice large expensive Critter Nation critter cages have tight 1/2 inch spacing, and your average rat baby can't squeeze through the bars once they're able to move about on their own, but if you're talking about a dwarf rat, then a dwarf rat baby can certainly squeeze even through those tiny bars (so they need either solid plastic tubs or custom made 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch square spacing). ALSO NOTE: IT's not too hard to build a cage yourself and some small rodent breeders may offer services to build a custom cage. -FROM SOMEONE WITH WAAAY A LOT OF EXPERIENCE with LITTLE LITTLE LITTLE rodents

The cage works as expected. It is very easy to clean. It is all metal so no risk of chewing through.You need pliers to close the clasps when putting the cage together, but it isn't really a big deal. The door clasp is also difficult to open, but it isn't too much of a hassle for me. If you only have use of one hand or you have pain/weakness in your hands, the door might add extra difficulty for you.

The cage has a blue painted metal base. The coated wire top fits inside of it. These two features are nice because it prevents little critters from chewing through the bottom and escaping. Two coated metal clips attach the cage to holes in the metal base at either end to secure the top and bottom together. The cage is a good size as a permanent home for hamsters or mice but it's too small to be a permanent cage for rats or guinea pigs. However, it makes an excellent temporary or travel cage. It also makes a very comfortable hospital cage.Con: The metal base is rather flimsy so it buckles easily. As a result, the blue paint along the walls of the base chips away fairly quickly and you're left with ugly rust stains. The good part is, since the cage walls fit inside the base, it won't really affect your pets. You'll need to take care and wash it thoroughly though or else urine smells will build up where the paint is missing. In order to prolong the life of the base, use both hands when lifting it and take care when washing it.On a side note: I just received the cage this evening and I had call customer service to exchange this for a new one (same model) because it arrived damaged. It's a fairly small cage but whoever filled the order was a complete moron with no sense of logic whatsoever! They put it in a gigantic box... like... I'm talking it was so large, the UPS guy had to deliver it on a cart trolley! As a result, both items I ordered (this and a set of dishes) arrived damaged. It was straight out of your typical "Deliveryman" humour... the dishes were completely demolished! And while the cage had lesser damage, the metal base was still dented in several places and some of the blue paint had been ground off due to harsh handling. So now, I have to package up the cage and go to the post office to return it to Amazon. I'm really not happy about that. So, 4 stars for the cage but only 2 stars for the buying experience.

The cage itself is very nice - it's well built and a great size. It was also a pretty good price, and was shipped quickly.The problem is that our hamster was easily able to squeeze out of it and escape - twice. We actually can't use it at all until she grows a bit bigger. We hope that she will eventually no longer be able to fit through the spaces in the corners of the cage, but that will take some time.I think this cage is well suited for larger animals (like a guinea pig maybe), but not for small hamsters.

We had purchased a cage "with all the tubes" from the petstore. It was much too small for our Syrian hamster. This cage shipped fast (2 days) and was easy to set up and fits a large size (8.5") comfort wheel. There's lots of space for our hamster and he can't escape. The bottom of the cage is metal which makes cleaning easy. It's also much easier for my son to see into the cage to see what "Splinter Stormtrooper" is up to.If you want a great cage for your hamster this is it. Highly recommend.

I give it 4 stars and not 5 because the paint cheaply made and comes off when I assembled the cage. To clean the cage I need to lift up the entire cage up and then it falls apart again. It's better than the cage I had before. The size is good. I have Syrian hamster