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Savic Aura 120 Plexi Hamster Cage Review. Also below is an unboxing and assembling video.
The Savic Aura 120 Plexi is a new hamster cage for 2024 and it ticks a lot of boxes. In fact I can’t find fault with it at all. The design is really quite clever, with excellent access, and thoughtful for both human owners, as well as hamsters.
It has a deep, 10” base for deep bedding (by means of a 10cm plexi extension above the base). It has narrow 6.5mm bar spacing, which is suitable for all species of hamsters. It has a large top door and a large front door which makes reaching into the cage very easy, for cleaning or changing things, without needing to take the top cage bars off.
I was keen on this cage on paper, but now I’ve assembled it I love it! The plexi actually attaches to the bottom of the bars, rather than to the cage base. This makes the barred top very stable, with the plexi fitted in place.
The dimensions just feel right somehow – having the large front door that bit higher up. Once assembled, there is no adaptation needed, such as attaching bedding panels. You can just set it up and use it, and that makes life much more simple.
Cage size and bar spacing
The Savic Aura 120 Plexi cage, is the same size as the Savic Plaza 120 cage, lengthways and widthways, at 118cm wide, and 64cm deep, which are maximum external dimensions, and it's probably the same cage base. The bar spacing on the Aura is narrow 6.5mm, which is smaller than that of the Plaza 120, which has 9.5mm bar spacing. I’ve measured the bar spacing on the Aura, and it's exactly 6.5mm. It's also 10cm taller than the Plaza 120, at 62cm tall, due to the 10cm of plexi on top of the 15cm cage base. Although this sounds tall for a hamster cage, it is actually just the right height, if filling the deep base with 10" of bedding, which is recommended by pet charities.
The end bars of the Aura 120 are slightly different to those of the Plaza 120, in that they have vertical bars, whereas the Plaza 120 has horizontal bars. I’m assuming this is for stability – particularly as there is a longer handled clip for securing the bars to the base at each end, as it needs to be long enough to go over the plexi.
The bars themselves seem quite strong and well made, just like the ones on the Plaza 120. Here is a photo showing the difference in size between the bars on the Aura 120 Plexi and the Plaza 120. Both are the same light grey colour (the light on this photo below makes the Aura bars look darker). The Aura bars are on the left photo. The front and back still have horizontal bars and the large front and top doors are the same size as on the Plaza 120.
I checked to see how easy it would be to screw things to the narrow 6.5mm bars and it isn't an issue. The screws and bolts I use for some existing wood shelves fit easily. The Silent Runner wheel rear bolt fits through the bars (just) and that is one of the thicker ones. So there is no issue with screwing things to the bars.
Assembly
It was easy to assemble (if you read the instructions!). And actually only took me about 20 minutes in total, at a relaxed pace. It only took 10 minutes to assemble the side bars (the roof comes ready assembled), but I found it slightly fiddly fitting the plexi panels to the bars at first - until I read the instructions and worked out how to clip them securely to the bars. So that was another 10 minutes or so. This is all shown on the video below. Once you know how to do it it’s not difficult, and once the plexi is attached, it doesn’t really need removing again - the entire barred top - along with the plexi - can be taken on and off in one piece when assembled.
I assembled it on my own and it’s easy for one person to do and to lift the barred top, which isn’t heavy. Once the cage has bedding and contents in it however, you would need two people to lift it and carry it. For this reason it’s an idea to put the assembled cage in it’s final place before adding the contents.
Assembly is done “upside down”. You start with the cage roof upside down, then attach the four corner struts to that, then slide the bar panels in between the struts. I found it slightly fiddly to get the barred sections to slide between both struts, as the struts kept moving apart, so decided to only slide them into one strut, removed the other strut from the roof and slid that onto the bars separately, then reattached the strut to the roof. It seemed quicker and easier that way.
Once the bars are in place and everything clicked down fully into the top and side struts, you then slide the plexi pieces between the struts, to sit on top of the bars (because it’s upside down).
Unlike with the Plaza 100 and 120, you can’t get the bar sections upside down by mistake – as there are U shaped clips on the bottom of the bars for attaching the plexi, so it’s very clear which way up they go.
You can see the U shaped clips on the bar spacing photo above). They are placed so that, alternately, one is sat on one side of the bars and one on the other side of the bars. Meaning the plexi has to be fitted between them so it's held in place at both sides. Once in place it's secure and the whole cage top seems very sturdy. And the plexi part does look very nice.
The plexi itself is also quite thick – I measured it and found it was about 4mm thick.
I assembled the cage on a coffee table, which seemed easier than doing it on the floor.
The instruction leaflet that comes with the cage is a single sheet of paper, and on the back is a QR code to scan - which takes you to online instructions with diagrams. There is a note on the back that says “We care about the environment….” and goes on to say they are minimising the use of paper and explaining about online instructions and the QR code. The instructions are also available on the website apparently, if for some reason you can’t scan a QR code, but I found it very convenient to scan it on my phone and scroll through the instructions and diagrams. Another environmentally friendly aspect is that the cage base is made from 100% recycled plastic.
These are part of the instructions, on my phone, via the QR code, showing the bar assembly
Setting up
I have only partially set up the cage so far, with bedding. I'm not quite ready to finish setting it up. If you look on the video, I initially put a full 70 litre bag of Fitch into the cage base, before attaching the bars on top. 70 litres of Fitch filled the base, but only level with the base.
Once the cage top was in place, I used the top door to pour another large bag of Fitch into the cage. I scooped some of it in through the front door first, until the bag was a better size for tipping through the top door.
The second bag was not quite a full 70 litre bag as I’d taken some out already, but not that much, and it wasn’t far off a full bag. So to achieve 10” of bedding, pressed down, in this large cage, you would need two x 70 litres of paper bedding – ie 140 litres. And presumably a similar amount for different types of bedding.
The Savic Aura 120 Plexi is a new hamster cage for 2024 and it ticks a lot of boxes. In fact I can’t find fault with it at all. The design is really quite clever, with excellent access, and thoughtful for both human owners, as well as hamsters.
It has a deep, 10” base for deep bedding (by means of a 10cm plexi extension above the base). It has narrow 6.5mm bar spacing, which is suitable for all species of hamsters. It has a large top door and a large front door which makes reaching into the cage very easy, for cleaning or changing things, without needing to take the top cage bars off.
I was keen on this cage on paper, but now I’ve assembled it I love it! The plexi actually attaches to the bottom of the bars, rather than to the cage base. This makes the barred top very stable, with the plexi fitted in place.
The dimensions just feel right somehow – having the large front door that bit higher up. Once assembled, there is no adaptation needed, such as attaching bedding panels. You can just set it up and use it, and that makes life much more simple.
Cage size and bar spacing
The Savic Aura 120 Plexi cage, is the same size as the Savic Plaza 120 cage, lengthways and widthways, at 118cm wide, and 64cm deep, which are maximum external dimensions, and it's probably the same cage base. The bar spacing on the Aura is narrow 6.5mm, which is smaller than that of the Plaza 120, which has 9.5mm bar spacing. I’ve measured the bar spacing on the Aura, and it's exactly 6.5mm. It's also 10cm taller than the Plaza 120, at 62cm tall, due to the 10cm of plexi on top of the 15cm cage base. Although this sounds tall for a hamster cage, it is actually just the right height, if filling the deep base with 10" of bedding, which is recommended by pet charities.
The end bars of the Aura 120 are slightly different to those of the Plaza 120, in that they have vertical bars, whereas the Plaza 120 has horizontal bars. I’m assuming this is for stability – particularly as there is a longer handled clip for securing the bars to the base at each end, as it needs to be long enough to go over the plexi.
The bars themselves seem quite strong and well made, just like the ones on the Plaza 120. Here is a photo showing the difference in size between the bars on the Aura 120 Plexi and the Plaza 120. Both are the same light grey colour (the light on this photo below makes the Aura bars look darker). The Aura bars are on the left photo. The front and back still have horizontal bars and the large front and top doors are the same size as on the Plaza 120.
I checked to see how easy it would be to screw things to the narrow 6.5mm bars and it isn't an issue. The screws and bolts I use for some existing wood shelves fit easily. The Silent Runner wheel rear bolt fits through the bars (just) and that is one of the thicker ones. So there is no issue with screwing things to the bars.
Assembly
It was easy to assemble (if you read the instructions!). And actually only took me about 20 minutes in total, at a relaxed pace. It only took 10 minutes to assemble the side bars (the roof comes ready assembled), but I found it slightly fiddly fitting the plexi panels to the bars at first - until I read the instructions and worked out how to clip them securely to the bars. So that was another 10 minutes or so. This is all shown on the video below. Once you know how to do it it’s not difficult, and once the plexi is attached, it doesn’t really need removing again - the entire barred top - along with the plexi - can be taken on and off in one piece when assembled.
I assembled it on my own and it’s easy for one person to do and to lift the barred top, which isn’t heavy. Once the cage has bedding and contents in it however, you would need two people to lift it and carry it. For this reason it’s an idea to put the assembled cage in it’s final place before adding the contents.
Assembly is done “upside down”. You start with the cage roof upside down, then attach the four corner struts to that, then slide the bar panels in between the struts. I found it slightly fiddly to get the barred sections to slide between both struts, as the struts kept moving apart, so decided to only slide them into one strut, removed the other strut from the roof and slid that onto the bars separately, then reattached the strut to the roof. It seemed quicker and easier that way.
Once the bars are in place and everything clicked down fully into the top and side struts, you then slide the plexi pieces between the struts, to sit on top of the bars (because it’s upside down).
Unlike with the Plaza 100 and 120, you can’t get the bar sections upside down by mistake – as there are U shaped clips on the bottom of the bars for attaching the plexi, so it’s very clear which way up they go.
You can see the U shaped clips on the bar spacing photo above). They are placed so that, alternately, one is sat on one side of the bars and one on the other side of the bars. Meaning the plexi has to be fitted between them so it's held in place at both sides. Once in place it's secure and the whole cage top seems very sturdy. And the plexi part does look very nice.
The plexi itself is also quite thick – I measured it and found it was about 4mm thick.
I assembled the cage on a coffee table, which seemed easier than doing it on the floor.
The instruction leaflet that comes with the cage is a single sheet of paper, and on the back is a QR code to scan - which takes you to online instructions with diagrams. There is a note on the back that says “We care about the environment….” and goes on to say they are minimising the use of paper and explaining about online instructions and the QR code. The instructions are also available on the website apparently, if for some reason you can’t scan a QR code, but I found it very convenient to scan it on my phone and scroll through the instructions and diagrams. Another environmentally friendly aspect is that the cage base is made from 100% recycled plastic.
These are part of the instructions, on my phone, via the QR code, showing the bar assembly
Setting up
I have only partially set up the cage so far, with bedding. I'm not quite ready to finish setting it up. If you look on the video, I initially put a full 70 litre bag of Fitch into the cage base, before attaching the bars on top. 70 litres of Fitch filled the base, but only level with the base.
Once the cage top was in place, I used the top door to pour another large bag of Fitch into the cage. I scooped some of it in through the front door first, until the bag was a better size for tipping through the top door.
The second bag was not quite a full 70 litre bag as I’d taken some out already, but not that much, and it wasn’t far off a full bag. So to achieve 10” of bedding, pressed down, in this large cage, you would need two x 70 litres of paper bedding – ie 140 litres. And presumably a similar amount for different types of bedding.
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thanks for the really thorough review…really helpful 
In Norway it's being sold for the equivalent of £131 (see above post).
. But it would need setting up carefully for a Robo.
