# rotastak



## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

are they really as bad as people make out?

I have a normal cheap hammy cage cause it was given by a friend but the hammy is going to drive me mental chewing the bars. He has plenty of stuff to do in there but he wants to climb into the top corner and chew the bars!

So I have just bought the kidney shaped rotastak with a bedrrom, and bought a dining room and some more tubes, to keep him occupied... as there are no bars Im hoping he wil chew the actual hamster chews instead!


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## CheekoAndCo (Jun 17, 2009)

Not my idea of a good cage. I have an Imac Fantasy and waiting on 3 more for the other hammies. Really like them as a cage and recomended it to all the people that took my hammy babies.

Runty is in a zoo zone 2 just now. She's so going to hate me when she gets the smaller cage :lol:


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

They really really are bad hun, they are lethal in fact, hamsters cant get enough ventilation in them and they block up the tubes and suffocate, there have also been instances of hams getting stuck in the tubes. They dont have large enough sections to fit in a big enough wheel (syrians need at least an 8 inch wheel or they develop spine problems) and you cant really fit toys in the tiny compartments anyway. Zoozone type cages would be perfect for you or have you researched bin cages, they are amazing, cheap and can come in any size (only limited by the size of the storage box you start with)


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

Thanks I didn't realise they were that bad!
I thought with that hammys like to tunnel etc they would enjoy the tubes.
We had rotastak before and never had any problems.

I had a zoo zone for my rat but I couldn't find a decent one on ebay but will go to the pet shop after new year cos Im sure they had some.

Will just have to sell the rotastak back on ebay :lol:


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

they are really bad cages, also the set up you have bought is too small to house a hamster happily, and there is very little floor space for toys, and no where to fit an 8" wheel for a syrian

if you have a bar chewer what about a zoozone cage, with the roof meshed over to prevent escapes

see a set up here








excuse the patched up hole on the side, i housed a demon plastic chewer in it, shes chewed out of so many cages lol

most of my hamsters are in ZZs or gabber rex's

ZooZone Rabbit Guinea Pig Habitat Cage Box Blue / Pink on eBay (end time 07-Jan-11 14:28:04 GMT)

whoops you posted at the same time as me, shows how long i took to type that, is that link cheep enough for you?


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

Can someone help me find what I am looking for here....

I had a zoozone for my rat before I bought him a big multi floor cage.

It had a shelf and a wheel attached to the shelf and a wee ramp down to the bottom, the shelf sat between the blue base and the clear plastic top half.


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

do you mean a gabber rex?


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

PoisonGirl said:


> Can someone help me find what I am looking for here....
> 
> I had a zoozone for my rat before I bought him a big multi floor cage.
> 
> It had a shelf and a wheel attached to the shelf and a wee ramp down to the bottom, the shelf sat between the blue base and the clear plastic top half.


That kind of sounds like a Mini Duna...but not quite size-wise.
Small Animals Pet Supplies and Products: rabbit hutches, water bottles, feeds, food Mum's Pets


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

mini duna was my other guess, but thats no where near zz size


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

hmm it was kinda like the one in the link you posted... but bigger. it had a blue/see through shelf that covered about a third, on one end and the ramp just went straight down, and the wheel attached to the side of the shelf.

It had a yellow double removable food dish that was the width of the cage aswell.


But I do like the look of that first pic, the pet shop has some like that in various sizes so looks like I'll be going there lol.


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## Nithnell (Aug 22, 2010)

I 'inherited' a rotastak from my other half whose daughter used to keep hamsters- was astonished at how narrow and small everything in them is, however it is perfect for my russian dwarf who seems to love it. Its mainly solid plastic but there is a tiny bit on the top level which has bars (its apparently based on Star Wars) and she insists on gnawing on them, despite having proper chews and things.

It's quite funny to see her hanging onto the bars, little feet dangling in mid air. I gave her something to stand on but no, she wants to be an acrobat apparently.


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## Lady Sol (Aug 20, 2009)

Old thread about whether rotastak is really all that evil here. Personnally I think the starter cages (which it sounds like you've bought) are a waste of money.

However actually owning a larger setup, I've never had any problems with ventilation. Most setups can be adapted with the tubes in different positions that the hamster can manage. The only cage tube that a hamster has blocked up with sawdust was an Imac Fantasy, not a rotastak and was my fault for sticking the sawdust "upstairs" in the first place. 9inch wheels can be fitted to rotastak cages if you want to. I still think most people who hate rotastak cages and list the dangers have never owned a decent setup themselves.

I only got one as my chinese dwarf could not live in a barred cage and I didn't feel his bin cage had enough room for him. He had tons more toys and fun in his extended rotastak, that is now being enjoyed by a russian dwarf. It is also ridiculously expensive. The rrp of my cage setup is over £100.

Biscuit being a syrian would probably be happier in a different cage. Most of my syrians inhabit Imac Fantasy cages. Although you could connect the rotastak parts onto another cage if you wanted for space for him. Rotastak tubes do fit onto other tubes and there is no reason why you couldn't use a kidney unit as an extra burrowing section. Or one of the round sections as a toilet or dining room. My Merlin and Bandit have odd shaped Habitrail spaceships sticking out of their Imac Fantasy cages, not big enough for any real toy space, but ideal as a syrian toilet. I refuse to buy any cage now unless it can be extended, as there aren't any out there that I feel are big enough for my hamsters to have enough space to run about and play.


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

I do like the look of the imac fantasy but the chewing the bars will drive us mental.
I am trying to make sure biscuit does not annoy OH in the slightest so I can make him let me get rats.
Have been looking at zoo zones and similar cages today.


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## Jazzy (Apr 15, 2009)

Nithnell said:


> I 'inherited' a rotastak from my other half whose daughter used to keep hamsters- was astonished at how narrow and small everything in them is, however it is perfect for my russian dwarf who seems to love it. Its mainly solid plastic but there is a tiny bit on the top level which has bars (its apparently based on Star Wars) and she insists on gnawing on them, despite having proper chews and things.
> 
> It's quite funny to see her hanging onto the bars, little feet dangling in mid air. I gave her something to stand on but no, she wants to be an acrobat apparently.


Yes I used to keep my chinese hamster in one and she loved it. I built it up so she had quite a few storeys and a maze unit that she used to love playing in. I put a dining room at the top and she used this as her bed. I think for dwarf hamsters they are okay as long as you provide the ladders in the tubes. The only thing I hated was the cleaning them out, it took me ages..:laugh:


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## CheekoAndCo (Jun 17, 2009)

PoisonGirl said:


> I do like the look of the imac fantasy but the chewing the bars will drive us mental.
> I am trying to make sure biscuit does not annoy OH in the slightest so I can make him let me get rats.
> Have been looking at zoo zones and similar cages today.


Runty chews the zoozone more than the bars. There's a 1 inch round hole chewed out the size that has been covered with wood but she's started chewing her way through that now too


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Have you looked at bin cages at all, you could make one and attach the rotastak to it to extend it, you could make a hell of a cage out of them together.
http://www.hamsterfanaticforum.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=113


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