jesirose

After trying out many cages, I have come to the conclusion that there are none I love. However, I did find many different options that may work for your mischief. Here are my reviews of four cages I tried and would recommend. I have 5 girls, aged approximately 5 months to 1 year, 200g to 350g.

All of the cages have 4 levels. All but the Super Pet have 2 floors and 2 balconies. The Super Pet has 3 balconies and a base floor. All but the Rat Manor are steel construction. The Rat Manor is some sort of wire, but it is more pliable than the others. All but the Rat Manor required an electric screwdriver to complete assembly in listed time. I used these Cage Calculators: 1, 2.

Cage	Prevue “Feisty Ferret”	Super Pet “Welcome Home Multi Level”	Midwest “Ferret Nation”	Petco “Rat Manor”
Rating	3.5 Yogies	2 Yogies	4 Yogies	5 Yogies
Size	31″ x 20″ x 55″	32″ x 18.5″ x 54.5″	36” x 25” x 62 1/2”	16.5″ X 22.5″ X 32″
Bar Spacing	7/8″ x 4″	1″ x 5″	1″ x 5 5/8″	0.5″ x 3″
Approximate Assembly Time	45 minutes	30 minutes (not completed)	1 hour (not including mod time)	20 minutes
Assembly Ease	Difficult Two Person Instructions had no diagrams of parts, poorly written and labeled.	Easy One Person. Good instructions.	Difficult Two Person Instructions are great, well labeled. Heavy parts and large cage required two people. If modding, change to “insanely difficult”.	Medium One Person I hardly read the instructions. Shelf/Balcony Installation a pain.
Out of the Box	Required pliers and hammer to fix bent parts Rolling wheels still don’t fit in right.	Bottom wire piece bent. Every other piece perfect.	Plastic pans broken, otherwise fine.	Shelf/Balconies slightly bent, had to bend with pliers.
Assembly	Uses “star” screws - six-sided “hole”. See review for more.	Uses “star” screws - six-sided “hole”. See review for more.	Uses Phillip’s Head Screws	“J-hooks” - no screws needed.
Bar Spacing	7/8″ x 4″	1″ x 5″	1″ x 5 5/8″	0.5″ x 3″
Color	Black	Sage with Grey Bars	Black & Grey	Black
Cost	$160	$170	$150-$230 ($183)	$80 ($72)
Maximum # of Rats	7-9	5-6	10-12	2-4
Suitable For (without modification)	Adults	Adult Males, Large Adult Females	Adult Males, Large Adult Females	Any
Bedding Tray	Slide Out, Wire Floor	4.5″ Deep Slide Out, Wire Floor	2 Slide Out Pans	Drop In, 5″ Deep Pan

First Cages: My original cage was a white one I got at Petsmart, they no longer make it. They do sell one now that is similar but has purple shelves. I don’t know how else it is different. I’ve kept this one as it makes a good cage for when I have to clean the main one, a sick cage, q-tine, etc.

Then we made our own.It worked, but eventually the wood got chewed and the melamine did get soaked.

First up, the Feisty Ferret. This is the cage I have been using since January. I loved this cage for its size and the slide out litter pan. I also love the larger bars, which make it easy to take photos and look in the cage. This cage should not be used for babies or small females due to the large bar spacing.

It has two solid balconies. An annoying thing about these is they have a big hole in them - presumably for food dishes, but the holes were too big for any of my food bowls. Sometimes the girls would push their igloo over the hole and then sleep ON it instead of IN it.

There is lots of room for hammocks, toys, and a 12″ wheel. The bars run vertical, making it easy to use the Super Pet Comfort Wheel which locks into vertical bars. The large front doors make it easy to put toys, wheels, and hammocks in. The door locks were much easier on the hands than my first cage.

First Cage:

For a few months I simply cleaned it by wiping it down and changing the litter, and removing the ramps, balconies and toys and cleaning them. After a while it still smelled so I decided to take it apart and clean each part in the tub. This is when the downfall of the FF began.

The screws are what are called “star” screws, they have a six-sided shape as the hole. The problem with this is that once you have assembled and disassembled and reassembled the cage a few times, the holes strip and turn into circles. Which…cannot be removed. I eventually got it down to just one screw and took it back with all but that one out.

In addition, the second floor sits on a little ledge, which is made by the two side pieces. This ledge is a hidden shelf for urine to collect, and cannot be reached without removing the second floor. It is difficult to reach the back left side because the doors are only on the right, so in order to really clean it, you must take it somewhat apart. There are other small cracks and crevices for urine to collect in that have the same problem.

I went to Petsmart and talked to the manager, who agreed to take back the cage in its original box for store credit. So I began my search for a new cage.

Next, the Super Pet Welcome Home Multi Level. I ordered this cage along with the Ware Clean Living LG 6 Level online. Both of these did not have the bar spacing online but I assumed 1″. It was indeed 1″. After I had mostly assembled this cage, I discovered the floor piece was bent. I decided the bar spacing was too much of an issue and packed it back up. It also uses the “star” screws.

The doors on this cage were also an issue. It has a flip-top, so putting in wheels and things would not be a problem, however it was not very securely shut. The two front doors are the same as any other Super Pet cage, and are a complete PITA to shut. In general, I prefer doors which open to the side instead of top to bottom. Also, I’d imagine the flip top would be harder to open because I’d hang hammocks from it and the girls love to sleep in them.

The shelves have a ridge along with edge which collects urine. Many people seem to really hate this - personally, I’d rather it collect on plastic which is easily accessible and cleaned than hidden metal cracks.

I didn’t bother putting the Ware cage together, but now I wish I had as I still have no idea how those doors work.

I picked up the famous Ferret Nation that day and assembled it. Right away I loved it. It is actually much bigger than the Feisty Ferret - I was under the impression they were more similar in size. So here are some photos to show the difference.

I really liked the regular screws, so that if I need to disassemble it, it is much easier than the FF cage. Also, because the shelves attach to the sides and not the front and back (like the FF) you can put them facing either direction. The storage shelf on the bottom also had more room so my food bin fit on the shelf much better.

I made some quick makeshift fleece liners using safety pins and a few quick hammocks. The girls loved it.

I had a slight issue with the doors - it really bugged me (cosmetically at least) that the doors are not even. I had to pay attention when closing them that they all were closed, because it’s hard to tell since they don’t line up anyway.

I loved the second floor, but from the photos I had seen before I had no idea how it actually closed off. In the FF, the opening to the bottom half is in the center back. In the FN, it is in the back right or the front left. The ramp actually lifts up and attaches to the middle level with a small hook.

However, the bar spacing was still too large. I decided I could either spend several hours and more money to attach hardware cloth to make it suitable for my girls…or try another cage.

Lastly, the Rat Manor from Petco. I was a bit skeptical. Then I opened it up and was amazed at how big this cage really is. The pan is the whole box, and the walls fold up, so it’s huge.

Assembly was easy for the most part - the shelves and balconies were a bit hard, but my husband helped. The mesh on the shelves isn’t as sturdy as I’d like, and was torn or bent in a few corners, but I just fixed it with some pliers. Here’s a shot of the “J-Hooks”

The 12″ wheel does fit, but I wish it could go on the top level easily - I prefer the wheel to be on the top so it doesn’t get pee’d on, but oh wheel. However, it fits on the bottom. It does not lock because the bars run horizontal, not vertical, but so far the girls haven’t toppled it over.

Another annoying thing about these bars is that my water bottle and food bowls are designed to lock into vertical bars, but I quickly figured out how to make them work.

Food Bowls in the FF Cage:

Water Bottle in the RM:

The cage locks into the drop-in pan, which is HUGE. I absolutely love this, the girls can’t kick out their Carefresh anymore.

The doors close similar to the Super Pet style but with one amazing difference. They have this little lever or lock which you use to close them. This makes it so much easier and they actually stay in place without having to lock them behind the bars. (If you have no idea what I mean, check out the Super Pet cages next time you’re in a shop).

(Sorry these are blurry, best I could do)

The cage calculator says this cage holds 2-3 rats. However, this cage has a lot more shelf space than you’d imagine. Because I am using many hammocks and hidey-houses, I feel it is okay for my 5 girls. I am going to use this cage until the Midwest Critter Nation is released. (This is a shot of just the one hammock, there are more.)

Here’s a shot of 4 of the girls in my triple hammock in the RM