Cost of cages these days

Maz

Maz

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It occurred to me that for anyone getting a hamster these days, it must be off putting, the cost of good cages. Everything has gone up so much and no more Zooplus cages. The Barney and Alaska used to be very good value and about the cheapest (especially for the size).

Apart from finding a second hand cage (they're not always available when you want one). What would be the cheapest option for a new owner now? Even the Hamster Heaven costs almost as much as the Savic Plaza. DIY cages are great but most of those end up costing a lot as well.

It used to be that rescues would say - an inexpensive basic set up would be an Alaska cage and Trixie wheel. So what could be the alternative now?
 
Just to add, a cage is a hamsters whole home and world. They are going to live there all their life. This makes it vital they have a decent size cage.
 
I agree. I think it’s tough though when there’s a cost of living crisis and cages have gone up in price so much (and no cheap Zooplus cages any more). Saving up is probably the best thing. A lot of people buy hamsters on impulse though in pet stores and are then sold a small unsuitable cage at the same time and some of those aren’t cheap either!
 
Maz said:
I agree. I think it’s tough though when there’s a cost of living crisis and cafes have gone up in price so much (and no cheap Zooplus cages any more). Saving up is probably the best thing. A lot of people buy hamsters on impulse though in pet stores and are then sold a small unsuitable cage at the same time and some of those aren’t cheap either!
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I have seen tiny cages which cost £100! It is shocking.
 
It certainly is shocking. Maybe we should start a bad cages thread.
 
I might have time to start that later!
 
Maz said:
I might have time to start that later!
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Great idea. I am sure members may want to add to it too especially the members who have rescued hamsters from free ads that came with the cage.
 
As for reasonably priced cages - I can’t see anything under £70. Even the Hamster Heaven costs over that now. I guess a lot is import costs. Hamster Homes is Uk based though!
 
Maz said:
As for reasonably priced cages - I can’t see anything under £70. Even the Hamster Heaven costs over that now. I guess a lot is import costs. Hamster Homes is Uk based though!
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Are you taking about the site which has wooden hamster cages?
 
I have seen good cages and bad cages videos on youtube. Victoria Rachael was one of the youtubers doing them.
 
Maz said:
Yes. It's linked on the List of cages. Just called Hamster Homes.
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I looked at those but did not buy one as the height is 40cm. I thought that was a bit too low especially if I was going to adopt a Syrian.
 
I've seen videos on it too :) Maybe a thread with photos would show a lot in one go though. What we really need is a UK cage seller like Zooplus! It's so frustrating - the Barney is still available in Germany and France but not the Uk! Savic still manage to get cages to the Uk.
 
RainbowBrite said:
I looked at those but did not buy one as the height is 40cm. I thought that was a bit too low especially if I was going to adopt a Syrian.
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I didn't realise that but I guess it depends how much depth of substrate you want. 40cm is not a bad height for a Syrian cage and they do a 120cm one so one area could be deeper bedding perhaps. The 120cm one is 42cm high so slightly taller.
 
Maz said:
I didn't realise that but I guess it depends how much depth of substrate you want. 40cm is not a bad height for a Syrian cage and they do a 120cm one so one area could be deeper bedding perhaps. The 120cm one is 42cm high so slightly taller.
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I do not think that is the internal measurement. It seems to be the measurement with the lid so I assumed it was the outer dimensions. I may be wrong. I know with cages to always look at the inside measurements.
 
RainbowBrite said:
I do not think that is the internal measurement. It seems to be the measurement with the lid so I assumed it was the outer dimensions. I may be wrong. I know with cages to always look at the inside measurements.
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Good point! I guess it's a balance between safety and options to have deeper substrate, and ease of top access. Some taller wood cages have shelves attached that can be jumped or fallen off and create fall risks. Or be hard to reach down to things at the bottom of the cage or reach the hamster. But if no shelves there wouldn't be a fall risk. They seem geared to similar bedding depth as you'd get in a cage and ease of top access perhaps (or deeper and shallower areas of bedding).
 
Maz said:
Good point! I guess it's a balance between safety and options to have deeper substrate, and ease of top access. Some taller wood cages have shelves attached that can be jumped or fallen off and create fall risks. Or be hard to reach down to things at the bottom of the cage or reach the hamster. But if no shelves there wouldn't be a fall risk. They seem geared to similar bedding depth as you'd get in a cage and ease of top access perhaps (or deeper and shallower areas of bedding).
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I see people remove those shelves when they get cages such as the pawhut ones. I think that is a good idea as the shelves do look dangerous.
 
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I like the Pawhut ones but if I had one I would want to leave the shelves out and have a front door as well! One of them you can reverse the bottom panel and door when building it so there's the option for deeper bedding and a front door that's useable.
 
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