Kaytee CritterTrail Starter Habitat for Pet Dwarf Hamsters, Gerbils or Mice

After getting my daughter a hamster, we tried two cages before we finally got it right with this one. The first cage was also a Kaytee CritterTrail, but it was the model with the removable exercise ball on the top, which almost immediately dislodged itself and sent our new pet flying to the ground! That one went back to Petco! The next one was also a Kaytee CritterTrail, but a very simple round one with only two ports through the top. It seems to work great, but the hamster kept escaping! To this day we have no idea how. So I bought this one through Amazon, hoping for a miracle. This one was the winner, for sure. Secure, fun, easy to put together, lots of expansion port options. No more escaping hamster, no strange appendages to fall apart. We're very happy with this cage and the hamster seems pleased too! The included wheel is OK - a little noisy, so we just use the expansion port wheel add on, which is very quiet and doesn't take up any additional cage room. We very much recommend the lookout type expansions - our little guy races up and down the tubes and even prefers to sleep in the lookouts. We put a little bedding up there to keep him warm (and keep the air a little fresher since he relieves himself wherever he pleases).

We have been through so many cages for our hamster. Either our hamster can chew through it, or the wheel doesn’t turn, or it’s hard to clean. This one is perfect. I was worried it would be too small, but it’s actually the perfect size. The wheel and water bottle work great. It’s easy to clean, easy to close, and my hamster is happy and content :)

Nice cage and nice size

The cage is a decent size however we purchased the new one and it seemed to have been opened or something before we ever got it. One of the holes in the top are already punched out and the water bottle is defective and it leaks the whole time. The wire front and back were bent up and we had to fix it. We fixed it up the best we could bc we didn't want to wait for another one or have to buy one and other then the small defects and issues it's a great product to get for a starter hamster. A regular size hamster would fit nice in here even tho we are getting a dwarf hamster bc that's what my so wants.

I bought this for our Russian Dwarf hamster, Percy as a replacement for the same cage just an older version. I liked that unlike its predecessor, this is built alot more sturdy. They did away with the flimsy plastic tabs that held the old cage together. The water bottle is alot better on this one too. The angled spout makes it easier for smaller hamsters to reach. (My hamster could barely reach the spout on the other one) The deep litter pan is nice because its very easy to clean. The depth also allows you to fill it with plenty of litter if you want your hamster to be able to burrow. (I know Percy, like most dwarf hamsters, loves tunneling under the litter.) I like the nest, though the hanging part is useless. Not sure why they would think a hamster would want to climb into a swinging nest. My hamster tried jumping in it and was terrified when it came swinging back at him! We're talking rodents here, not birds Super Pet! I took the hanging clip off, stuffed some bedding in there and now my hamster loves it. Love how big the food dish is too as it allows him to jump right in there and forage around.I saw a lot of complaints in previous reviews about the water bottle and the wheel and I wanted to share some knowledge about those two components. The water bottle won't leak as long as you make sure the rubber piece inside the cap is firmly pushed into the bottle when you go to screw on the cap. You'll see a few drops come out but then it should stop. If it doesn't you need to re-tighten the rubber piece and/or cap. And also make sure the spout is pushed all the way inside the cap.As for the wheel, I too noticed how noisy it was. The instructions recommended putting some cooking oil on the piece that attaches to the wheel. We did that and then we started noticing a different noise that was a grinding noise! Finally figured out tonight what was causing it. There are these too vertical plastics pieces on the inside of the litter pan on the front middle and the back middle of the cage. If you put the wheel in the middle on the back side as instructed, the wheel will grind against those plastic pieces! It's a design flaw on the cage and I don't know why they would put those plastic pieces where the wheel should be. If you put the wheel on the back right corner it shouldn't make any noise.As long as you pay attention to those two things the cage is great.

Item arrived broken and missing covers for the holes that tubes could connect to. Tubes are also missing end pieces. Seems the cage would be useless if the rodent can crawl out

I bought this as a primary habitat for four mice, with every intention of upgrading by adding tubes and other habitats.This brand is one of my favorites. It's easy to put together, insanely easy to clean and great for my mice. The wheel started out quiet, but got noisy pretty quickly. I keep the mouse habitat in my room, and fortunately the squeaking of the wheel while they run on it at night isn't bad enough that I can't handle it. A little grease and it wouldn't make any noise, but I'm not worried about that.The hanging hidey hole wasn't very popular with my mice aside from them jumping onto the top of it like the spazzes they are. Water bottle I had no problem with and the same with the food dish. My four mice were comfortable, and even now that they're full grown would still be comfortable in this habitat.

It’s too small for a full grown mouse. I wish Kaytee would make an enclosure that’s 30L 20 H 18W with the tight bar space the starter habitats have. They would make so much more profit.

Great little unit, used it as an addition to a other cage.

Good quality

Facile à assembler et à entretenir. Belle couleurs

I got this as a travel/temp cage. It is not meant to be used as a permanent stay for any animal, unless it is in the animal's best circumstantial interest. Otherwise the square inches is lousily small. Look up the recommended size for hamsters/mice and so forth and you will see that Amazon has a terrible selection of ethical cages for small rodents. Bin cages are an option but as I've learned, galvanized steel is bad for animals, and that raises the cost of making bin cages considerably. While this is a good temp cage, making or buying an actual one would cost me about 100-200 bucks for sure. As far as the Kaytee company goes it seems awful. Their water dispensers never seem to work, this one in particular is busted, & this is the 2nd cage I've bought that has bent bars. It is not nearly as good as the first cage I've bought. They are lucky I'm desperate right now and need to bend the cages. At least I can warn people about cage standards here though.