MidWest Homes for Pets Deluxe Critter Nation Double Unit Small Animal Cage (Model 162)

Sturdy, spacious, and easy to assemble. Leak-proof pans and secure wheels are genius. Ideal for ferrets—durable, clean, and pet-safe. Highly recommend!

Double Check Before You Buy ThisI bought what was supposed to be a critter nation under this listing. It is called the critter nation (at least currently), and described as model 161/162, which is also the critter nation. However some of the questions and answers under the product refer to the ferret nation, and the pictures in the description and customer pictures are of both. I'm not sure if they use this listing for both and switch between them or what, but it makes things very confusing and they should fix it.I received the ferret nation instead, I couldn't exchange it from the seller since they didn't have the other in stock, so I had to send it back and reorder it for a higher price. I suppose I should have been a little suspicious because I had never seen the critter nation that cheap before...But the point is, whether you want the CN or the FN, as long as this listing is still confused with the pics and description, contact the seller and make sure you're getting the one you want before you buy it.As for the actual cage itself, it is a great cage. This is my second one, and I attached the two double cages side by side to make a quad. It is spacious and the design is decent. I would highly recommend it, but wait for it to be on sale. The CN is great for rats, the bar spacing is small enough that they can't get out and they are horizontal so it does allow climbing. The layout is made so you can hang things almost anywhere, and if you want to separate the top and bottom sections of the cage (either for cleaning or separating the animals) you can by hooking the ladder up. If you want the separated at all times you can also switch the top and bottom pans so the hole is covered. The wheels also make it easier to clean.It does have some flaws though. It can be hard to put together because the pieces don't always line up perfectly and you will need to hammer them into place. The new shelves are a bit uneven as well. The old shelf pans clipped under the shelf, and they were very nice but more difficult to clean. The new ones fixed that, they are much easier to clean and have a lip now, but they are not quite as secure and sometimes they sit on an angle, though it shouldn't cause any problems.And some people do not like that the cage doesn't have a pan for bedding/litter, however liners are much easier and if you really want you can buy pans that fit the bottom.I love this cage for my rats, but I'm not so happy with amazons listing at the moment, if they fix it I will change this.

I have owned a Ferret Nation for years (over 10), in fact I owned two at one point. Given how well those cages held up (the second was given to a friend, and is still in like-new condition), I was ecstatic when I found the Critter Nation at a local PetsMart, and did more research online.The Ferret Nation and Critter Nation are essentially the same, except that the bars on the Critter Nation run horizontal and are not spaced as far apart as the Ferret Nation. The Critter Nation bars are even suitable for sugar gliders (they are only about the size of a chipmunk). In fact, I'm thinking about buying a second Critter Nation to upgrade my sugar gliders' housing, as the first one is in use by my more numerous pet rats currently.At this point, the Critter Nation is comfortably housing 8 pet rats, and is split into separate units by locking the ladder in an "up" position (standard function for the cage). My 5 wonderful boys live on the lower level, and my 3 beautiful girls live on the upper level. I'm looking at buying the scatter guard accessory trays, but for now I'm just using the normal trays that come with the cage. While it's inconvenient to sweep up their bedding so often, it's still worth it to provide them with the extra space, and I have options to consider to help prevent this issue in the future.Pros:* The Critter Nation is SOLID. Rats are really intelligent and I always have to consider if they can escape a cage by operating whatever locking mechanism it has -- that's not a concern at all with the doors on the Critter Nation, yet they are still easy for me to open despite having tendonitis in my dominate hand. My Ferret Nation is now 10+ years old and does not have any rust on it, the door locks still work perfectly, and the cage is like new. I expect my Critter Nation will hold up just as well over time.* LOTS of room. The cage is huge and leaves plenty of room to accessorize -- the underside of the shelves even have bars on them, despite the shelves being solid, so you can hang light-weight items like hammocks or small bird toys on the underside of the shelves to entertain your pet!* The shelves have solid plastic covers. This is a huge issue for me as I once had a special needs rat that had foot injuries, wire shelves, bottoms and ramps were just not an option with him, and since then, I don't consider them an option with my other rats either. The solid shelves eliminate the potential for foot injury as there's really no way for your rat to get its feet caught in the shelf.* They make washable covers for the wire ramps -- Again, I don't like wire ramps, floors or shelves due to the potential for foot-injury with rats, but there is an option to buy ramp covers as accessories, which makes them solid and can prevent injury in the long run. I was even lucky even to receive ramp covers with my order, free of charge. The best part is that I can toss them in the washer and dryer, so I'm not scrubbing them by hand.* You can add to this cage. I bought the single unit and the add-on unit at the same time, so my cage only needs one stand. I've separated it into two cages by using the feature that allows you to lock the ramp between units in an up position against the underside of the top unit, this closes the hole and prevents pets from going up or down into the other unit. What I realized when I added my second unit onto the original is that it had the potential for even more units if I so desired. I think this is a great feature, though I'm sure I would need a step-stool to clean the third unit as it would be quite a bit taller than me at that point.* The stand has wheels. This is great when you need to relocate the cage on the same floor of a home, or if you just need to move it a bit for cleaning. The wheels have locking features for safety as well.Cons:* The doors are really big, it's sort of a pro and con all at the same time. It's easier to clean, but the size of the doors are the only thing that makes me think twice about putting Sugar Gliders in this cage -- if you have a pet that's sneaky and prone to attempt escape, and there's more than one animal in the unit, the chances of them being able to get past you are increased due to how large the doors are.* The cage is kind of expensive. This is only a con at the start, and you have the option to buy it one unit at a time. I have not found a comparable cage for a better price, however.* The cage is very heavy, but I only really noticed this when I had to move the boxes it arrived in before assembly. This is something to consider when you order it if you have to go up or down a lot of stairs -- you may be moving it a few pieces at a time before assembly. I have only moved my Ferret Nation once when I bought a home and moved out of the place I had been renting, and over all, it's not nearly as bad as moving large appliances.Ultimately, for housing rats and similar pets, I think this cage is excellent. I'd love to give my gliders the space of the Critter Nation, but I'm reluctant at this point only because of the size of the doors, the quickness of a sugar glider, and the gliders' ability to climb and fly short distances. My rats will more than get my money's worth out of this cage and I believe that for them, it was an excellent investment. The Ferret Nation is also wonderful for Ferrets and Chinchillas as I have previously housed both of those kinds of animals in my old Ferret Nation unit -- you can even buy an external ramp for it to allow your ferret or chinchilla to free-range at their leisure.I would highly recommend these cages to anyone looking to give their pets a lot of space, particularly if you know you will continue to have those kinds of animals in your life, as this cage will generally long out-last the life span of the animals it can comfortably house. It is definitely a worth-while investment.

I love this cage perfect for chinchillas, very big and I love how it comes with the padding for the stairs so their paws do not get caught. Very sturdy, easy assembly, package came in good condition. Definitely worth the money!