The clean up will drive you crazy! (Habitrail Cages)

Member Name: RattieFink

Product:	Habitrail Cages
Date:	07/02/09 (1012 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Look good, tight connectors, Loft is OK

Disadvantages: Expensive, chewable, mostly too small for hammies

The Habitral Ovo is the latest design from the Hagen brand Habitrail, which is a style of plastic hamster housing connected by tubes, and all the older styles of Habitrail are becoming discontinued. However, there is one major flaw with the Ovo cages that weren't quite as big an issue with the others...they are FAR too small.

The Ovo cages look very modern, they are orange and white and have a "shell" style top that can be pulled over the cage. Available is the Suite, a small round cage with tubing to provide a small nest area above the main cage, the Pad, which is the small round cage on its own, the Maze, which is a smaller add on unit, and the Loft...which is the only cage anywhere near big enough to permanently house a Syrian hamster (or a pair of dwarves). The Ovo Suite retails at £31.99, the Ovo Pad at £21.99, and the a Loft at £49.99, although you can usually find the cages a lot cheaper than that online if you shop around.

One of the great things about the Habitrail cages is that they mimic a hamster's natural underground burrow, with small compartments attached by tubes. You need to connect quite a few to make a sizeable habitat, but one of the good things about Habitrail is that it is expandable, you can make it as big as you want.

They are also very attractive looking cages, much more aesthetically pleasing than a bunch of metal bars, and they look attractive in a child's bedroom.

Habitrail is not only suitable for Syrian hamsters, but can also be used for dwarf hamsters, gerbils and mice. With these animals, however, you will need to purchase the Habitrail mini connecting tubes, which are designed for the smaller and slimmer bodies of these animals to prevent them falling whilst climbing in the tubes.

The Ovo Loft is a slick looking and well designed cage, the top is very sturdy and the whole cage is very well designed and well put together, and it is much easier to take apart than the other Habitrail cages.

If you insist on choosing a tube style hamster cage, the Habitrail is probably the best...the Rotastak cages are famous for having loose connecting tubes, I have had two hamsters escape from them in the past, whereas the Habitrail connectors are so tight you will curse them...but at least they'll keep hammy safe!

The biggest problem with the Habitrail cages is the fact that they are so fiddly. Taking them apart and putting them back together is a total pain in the bum, and eventually the tubes wont fit together as tightly and will need to be replaced. The weekly cleaning is a major operation with the Ovo cages, they are much more of a pain to clean than a regular wire barred cage.

Some Houdini's will insist on chewing through the plastic, and an industrious hamster can escape from these cages in a few short hours. Unfortunately the only way to find out if your hamster is a chewer is to buy one of these cages and find out...and that is an expensive way to try out a cage!

The main downfall of the Ovo cages is, however, that they are too small. The main unit of the Ovo Pad and the Ovo Suite are tiny, and offer no scope for the Hamster to climb. Even the Loft, although it seems sizeable at first, becomes much smaller when the bulky exercise wheel and maze are attached to the inside. All in all, you need a lot of Habitrail to make a home for your hamster that ISN'T downright cruel. A lot of people misunderstand hamsters...in the wild they can travel miles in a night, which is why they are so into their exercise wheel, so cooping them up in a tiny cage isn't really very fair, there are much bigger, and better cages on the market for less money.

For the size of cages you get, the Habitrail cages are very expensive, you can buy a cheaper wire hamster cage that is larger for about £25. And if you wanted to build a proper sized hamster habitat, you really need to spend in the region of £80 plus.

If you do choose to go with the Habitrail cages, it is worth trying to look out the older models like the Habitrail playground...they may not go very well with the Ovo, but they allow the hamster to climb a little, which is better than nothing.

All in all, the bright Habitrail cages are pleasing to a child's eye, but they are less good for the parent's pocket, and for the hamster, and there are definitely better cages out there!

Summary: Cheap cages, only they cost a bomb!