Rotastak Pink Palace Small Animal Housing

The item was delivered on time, everything was in the box and all intact, so I cannot complain about the seller. It's the Rotastak's poor design that I'm not very happy with. I went with Rotastak as I had one for my hamster as a child and I remembered how good they were with the tubes and different compartments, so when getting a hamster for my daughter, Rotastak was the first choice. I saw this one and thought 'wow' that looks cool with the bendy tubes, but I should have listened to some of the other reviews. The bendy tube section is TERRIBLE! I am a pretty practical person and find putting things together easy, these are FAR from easy to put together!! The pink tubes feel so flimsy you have to fanny about for ages trying to twist/turn/push whichever way they went it, but always fearing you're going to crack the tubes. arranging them like it shows in the picture is pretty difficult too, the large pink tubes never seem to quite reach where they are supposed to go and we ended up arranging it slightly different. How they can make something so difficult to put together yet so easy to fall apart is beyond me. I put sellotape around them to try and secure them a bit more but I lay awake that night fearing my daughters new hamster was going to escape. Then the next morning the hamster had nested in the large pink tube, bedding, food, wee and poo falling out of the breathing holes and do you think we could get the furry little critter out! As she was a new hamster and still needed some taming, she was back and forwards like a rat up a drain pipe trying to avoid us, couldn't take it apart for fear of the other sections breaking off and the hamster falling. After about an hour we got her out. God knows why they didn't make the tubes screw together instead of clipping together? I am pleased with the rest of the cage, but the pink tubes were a big let down. I've kept them for when the hamster is playing on the floor under our supervision. A couple of other things that let the cage down is that some of the stoppers are loose in the holes, and we could have done with a few more stoppers as there weren't enough for all the holes. Also the option to take the wheel out would be good, this is the third hamster that does not use the wheel in that type of cage. I ended up taking the wheel off and hack sawing the metal bar off to make more room and bought one of those newer spinning wheels which the hamster loves. I was proud that it was made in England until I started putting the thing together!

I bought this for our baby Syrian hamster over a week ago and am very pleased. It is fiddly to put together initially, and the curvy tubes are very difficult / stiff to put together, but have since realised if you warm the parts up in water they go together more easily. The cage is easy to clean and the hamster easily manages all the tubes; we have had it in a variety of combinations which keeps it interesting. The wheel was very noisy ( the cage has to be in my daughters bedroom) but it was easily removed and we bought a flying saucer which fits into the base unit fine. So far we haven't had any problems with tubes coming apart, buns coming out etc. If you make sure they are properly and securely fitted then I can't see how there would be any problems. Have given it 4 stars as one of the metal safety clips snapped on the first day and the curvy tubes are difficult until you get the hang of them. Other than that very pleased and so is the hamster.

Do NOT buy this !! My children have had many hamsters and various cages over the years. I bought this for our syrian hamster which we had previously in a different cage. I bought this because i thought she might enjoy the tubes and various compartments. I write this with the assumption you have never had a rotastak cage before, as i had not.1. Fidddly to put together, you need to be firm or it wont go together, but too rough and its flimsy enough it will break.2. Tubes need to be checked regularly, and if hammy decides to store all their food in them, as mine did you have to then unattach to clean, risking breakage.3. A child even gently knocking the tubes will mean they come apart.4. My hamster pushed the ' cap ' that holds the water bottle OUT FROM THE INSIDE in the night, she ESCAPED out the cage and we worked out that the dog had chased her into a hole in the wall that housed a pipe. She was lucky not to be eaten by the dog or the cat. 14 hours later we heard her behind the fake wall in the front room. We had to smash open the wall to get her.5. In my opinion this cage is also not big enough, i was planning to buy extra to make it bigger until the fault became apparent.6 Looks fab , but in my oipnion it is flimsy rubbish, and the tubes are a nightmare, and im sure my hamster is no more or less clever or determined than the average hamster so if she can escape, so can yours.

my daughters got this for their gerbils as a xmas present.my hubby says it was tricky putting together but now that its done it looks fantastic.it took the gerbils a while to get used to it but can jump up and down the tubes no problem.theyre also finally using the sleeping tower [before they slept in the basement]the bottom is ideal for gerbils as they have plenty of space to burrow.plastic things need to be supplied as they do love nibbling.the food bowl lasted 2 days before it was chewed to pieces and i still catch them chewing the rungs in the tunnel but they havent done any damage to it.however 2 months on, the wheel has been eaten and they also managed to eat the connection for the water bottle [how i dont know]so that needs to be replaced.from what ive heard hamsters dont quite have such an appetite for destruction!also it can be quite difficult getting said gerbils out as they have too much space to run around so training needs to be done with them to get them to comne to your hand.cleaning it is super easy.it is a bit awkard to store because of the tubes sticking out but overall everyone including occupants is happy with it.

The cage is spacious for a syrian hamster and can be connected with any other rotastak cages that you have. The pink tubes are fiddly, but I have plenty of plastic tubes spare (not included with this cage) so I used those instead.However, I didn't like the inbuilt wheel. In other Rotastak cages, the wheel has been seperate and connected via a tube, but it is now part of the middle floor and as far as I know, you cannot remove it.The food dish is also different to the one shown in the picture - it is nowhere near as deep. but for most, this won't be an issue.