To want to throttle the man (and i bet it was a man) who invented Rotastack hamster cages?

[PortBlacksandResident]

Thank goodness the one we've got was given to us and i didn't fork out £££s for it. They are IMPOSSIBLE to clean out without exploding wood shavings everywhere and you can't get at the hamster to lift it out to play with.

Plus it's so huge it's taking up half the living room (original plan was to put in DS2's room - except at night). There are so many clips on it i'm not even sure i've put it together right, and holes and ledges for the sawdust to slip through.

And they have to have metal bits to protect the plastic from being nibbled and hammy escaping - but she's giving it a good go .

When i was a kid my hammys had neat little wire cages, a plastic cottage and a wheel!

P.S. I also have rats in big but 'normal' cages and they're never a prob.

WHO THOUGH THEY WERE A GOOD IDEA???

[horsemadgal]

Totally agree, ours used to fall apart too.

[clayre]

our hamster used to escape out of his all the time, it is one thing i dont miss about having a hamster, i loathed cleaning it!

[FromGirders]

Vermin Rodents do not belong in houses!

[elsiepiddock]

I'm with you! What a pita they are. Ours is packed up in the garage at the mo because after the last hamster died, I couldn't face another just because of the cleaning. We had this incredibly elaborate 3 storey affair. It used to take about 2 hours every weekend to clean - during which time the poor hamster would have to exhaust himself in one of those ball things.

Ironically though, if I go to a house where the hamster just has an old fashioned cage, I feel really sorry for it!

[lal123]

my old hamsters loved their rotastack - had a corner which they used as a toilet so that was the only bit which needed regular cleaning.

Also - re being difficult to get at hamster - thats the whole point - gives hamster some security and somewhere to hide. Old style cages might have been easier to clean etc but weren't/aren't half as much fun for hamsters!

[TakeLovingChances]

I am glad it's not just me who thinks this!

Our hamster died a month ago (RIP Hewbert) and I always dreaded cleaning his cage due to it being an absolute task in itself to take the fecking thing apart, cleaning down the tubes and put it all back together again.

My DH thought the cage looked great in the shop, but even then I knew it'd be a bugger to clean.... and I was right!

[Hulababy]

We have Habitrail which is similar, but we don't seem to have the same problem of cleaning it out. We have two big homes, a small den which is its bed and a food den too. Toilet is one area in one of the big dens so easy to sort. Have a couple of tubes, etc. in each direction too. We can pen all 4 of our dens to access the hamster, and can also easily seperate areas so confine the hamster into one den for easy cleaning.

[LifeOfKate]

Ooo, get an IMAC cage (am still clinging onto mine, although it's seriously unlikely we will ever have another hanster ), they are so amazingly easy to clean

cgi.ebay.co.uk/Large-Funky-Hamster-Cage-by-IMAC-Excellent-condition_W0QQitemZ3502491432 97QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUKPetSuppliesSmallAnimals?hash=item518c79cc01&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Here' s an example of one. They look tiddy, but are actually huge, and you can add extra layers to it if you think it's too small.

[LifeOfKate]

Ooops, sorry, in all my excitement, I forgot to add it as a proper link to click...

V. Groovy Hamster Cage

[DaisymooSteiner]

We had Rotastack cages when I was a child. They were constantly escaping, and we never really worked out how

[PortBlacksandResident]

Oooh Kate i like the look of that.

As i say we usually only have rats but DS2 wanted a hamster and we got given this cage. I may have to get a different one, yes.

She does have a ball for when we clean him out - but we don't leave her in there for long.

Thanks for all your answers - i thought it was just me

[FritesMenthe]

Don't do what I did when looking after my sister's rat hamster. Took the rotastack cage off its base and stuck it on the floor to get the hamster out to play with. Returned the hamster to its cage via the small top level bit. Forgot to put the cage back on its base.

By the morning it had chewed the wool off the carpet - leaving a perfect circle of hessian backing - and put the wool in its bed.

[PortBlacksandResident]

Frites - it is soooo easy to make a mistake - too many holes and ledges.

[shivster1980]

YANBU We had one of these - impossible to put together and clean. Plus my hammy was a bit thick and couldn't seem to work out the tubing!

[Portofino]

Our cat sussed out the tubing! He separated it from the rest, and the poor hamster was never seen again!