Bar Cages

The Prevue 528 is an amazing option for hamster owners on a budget. It's a lovely and sturdy cage with a more grown-up feel to it over other barred cages. The platform is a nice touch as well and adds additional floor space.​

The Prevue 528 offers about 600 square inches of floor space--super roomy and functional. It has plenty of headroom for a 12" wheel, making this cage great for Syrian hamsters. Most wheels easily attach to the bars, freeing up even more floor space because a stand is not needed. 

The Prevue 528 is exceptionally sturdy. The top connects to the base with 6 strong, yet easy to remove, clips. The cage also offers both a large front and top door, giving you easy access to your hamster. However, note that the closing on these doors is not super secure. We do recommend a back-up clip.

Criticism

The only downside of the cage is that it does not come with any necessary accessories. You will need to purchase a wheel, house, toys, dishes, and bottle separately. However, given the price difference between the Prevue and other barred cages, AND the fact that most of the accessories with those cages are junk, we think the Prevue more than makes up for it.

The Hamster Heaven is a fun choice for hamster familes that want the "hamster cage" look. Between the tubes, the "racetrack," and the fun colours, it's one of a kind!

The Hamster Heaven offers about 600 square inches of floor space, however, it can get crowed depending on the accessories you choose to keep in. It has plenty of headroom for a large wheel, however, the platform may be unusable depending on your wheel, as space gets tight very quickly with all the accessories. Because of that, this cage is still recommended for dwarf hamsters.

The Hamster Heaven is sturdy, but do be aware that the blue plastic is somewhat brittle, and often arrives broken from Amazon. The top connects to the base with 2 side clips. While they're extremely secure, they can be hard to get on and off; little hands will need help! 

The cage offers a large front door, as well as a small top door if you skip the tubes/house. However, note that the closing on the main door is not super secure, and most escapes occur this way. If you get this cage, always close the door on the second bar!

Criticism

There are a few downsides to this cage, other than the price. To start, you will not have great access to your hamster if you use all of the accessories. This is great for the hamster, as they love to hide, but can be hard for children. You will also need to replace the wheel as it's utter junk and too small for Syrian hamsters, so account for that expense. Finally, hamsters tend to pee in the top house--we don't know why, but it's almost universal. Hamsters!

The Kaytee Crittertrail Super Habitat is a very special cage to us. In 2017, the Pipsqueakery, a rodent rescue in Indiana, started a petition asking Kaytee (being known for their tiny Crittertrail cages) to create more suitable products for hamsters. Kaytee responded in kind by reaching out to the Pipsqueakery, sending a representative to their location to chat about necessary changes, and making this cage and some other products in response to their criticisms and input.

We also got the chance to chat with Kaytee at the 2018 OC Pet Expo, where we viewed the demo cage and made some great connections. We learned that Kaytee is truly interested in animal welfare and is interested in making more improvements in the future, hopefully with input from the hamster community.

The best points of this cage are the deep basin, which provides plenty of room for burrowing. There also is a large top door, giving you good access to the cage overall. The clear plastic makes it super easy to see your hamster as they go about their day.

Criticism

As much as we love the efforts Kayee has made, it's far from perfect. To start, the plastic is quite soft and it warps when the cage is fully assembled. This makes the door somewhat hard to close and nearly impossibly to close correctly. It's not really a problem, but for the price, it's an annoying issue.

The other main issue is that the cage doesn't always meet the minimum size recommendation of 450 square inches, depending on how you measure. Here at the California Hamster Association, we believe that cages should be measured at the base, where there is no variation. If you measure at this point, the cage is only about 400 square inches (platform does not count toward floor space). Other organizations feel it's best to measure at "bedding height." Because people put in various amounts of bedding, this measurement can vary. However, the general consensus is that the cage just barely meets the minimum requirements. 

For this reason, we solely recommend the Kaytee Crittertrail Super Habitat for Dwarf hamster speciees. We feel it is inappropriate long term housing for Syrian hamsters.