Rotacrap (Rotastak Cages)

Member Name: JellySplat

Product:	Rotastak Cages
Date:	30/09/09 (187 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You can expand them

Disadvantages: Expensive, noly suitable for small rodents

When I first saw this product in it's shiny box on the shelf in the pet store, I thought I'd ask a bit more about it cos it looked pretty funky! I was enquiring about the Pink Starter home, as I couldnt really afford anything other than that.

The Pink starter home consists of a main room, with a built in exercise wheel, an attic room and another room with a built in water bottle and a handle on the top so you can take your pet to the vets if you need to. I thought that was quite handy, and the fact that there were 3 detachable rooms made me think it would be a good investment. You can also buy extra rooms and tubes and attach them.

So, I purchased the Pink starter home and took it home. It was relatively easy to put together, though I did catch my fingers a couple of times on the outer metal rings and the clips. If you are buying this for a child I recommend you have an adult supervise them, or even better, dont let a child build it at all. Do it for them.

The first thing I noticed was how small it was compared to how it looked on the box. Ok, so my hamster is pretty fat, but 3 seperate rooms should be enough for her, right? Wrong. I quickly realised that she had even less space in the starter home than she did in the standard cage I had her in originally. So, back to the shops I went and bought a Burrow Basement, which can be attached to any rotastak home. I put the basement below the main room (as it couldnt go anywhere else). Unfortunately, now the room with the handle and the waterbottle is suspended in mid air because that can only attach to the side of the main room.

So immediately there is a problem with the fact that you can add bits and pieces to the starter home. You need to think really carfully before you buy extra parts, as they might not attach to where you want them to be. I've had to put a pile of books underneath the room with the handle.

Ok, so now that I've got the extra room, it seems to be big enough for my wee fatty furball. It's still looking a bit small though. The problem is, buying extra parts is costly, because it's ROTASTAK. The pink starter home itself cost me just over £30, and then the Burrow Basement cost me an extra £20. For all of that, I could have bought one of the bigger Rotastak products for cheaper.

I wont just keep listing all the disappointments though. The great thing about Rotastak is that (if you have the money) you can expand the homes and build them to your own design. The Pink starter home also comes with stickers so kids can decorate the rooms. It's handy to have the portable compartment for taking your rodent to the vets, too. It's about time someone made a hamster carrier.

Unfortunately though, that short paragraph is all I have to say thats good about my Rotastak home. I think next time i'll just build a house myself.

Summary: I wouldnt buy one of these again. It's less hassle to get a standard cage.