Critter Nation®
Critter Nation®
$0.00
About Critter Nation®
Safe, secure and durable:
- Safe, secure interlocking panels
- Appropriately angled ramps with Happy Feet Ramp Covers help ensure safety
- Critter-proof dual-locking door latches allow for easy, one-handed operation
- Attractive, durable Gray Quartz Hammertone finish
- Sturdy square-tube frame and wire construction optimizes security
- Design provides maximum play area and easy climbing
Convenient:
- Full-width double doors allow for easy cleaning and feeding
- Removable “less mess” shelves are leak-proof and height-adjustable
- Shelves feature multiple attach points for accessories (e.g., hammocks, tubes, toys)
- Easily maneuverable stand with locking casters
- Provides storage space below raised cage
- Swing-up locking ramps (available in Model 162 and Model 163 only)
Description
Based on the design of the popular Ferret Nation® habitat, the Critter Nation® small animal habitat features doors that open fully, critter-proof door latches, large adjustable leak-proof shelves with anchor points for toys or bedding, wire ramps with Happy Feet Ramp Covers, and sturdy, leak-proof, removable plastic pans for easy cleaning. Small animal clubs and individual owners around the world use Critter Nation® habitats to house their pet rats, chinchillas, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, degus, and more. Give your small animal a happy home with Critter Nation®, the World’s Best Small Animal Habitat.
D’s mommaD’s momma –
First if all… We got this after alot of research in anticipation of a new pet. Ive read a few reviews about how hard it is to get together. Honestly.. it isn’t that bad. The first thing I will tell you… if you get the 1/2 spaced critter version make sure you put the inch spaced bottom “”shelf” on the bottom with the wheels… this will save you alot of time.Secondly… do not tightly screw everything in until you have the frame assembled… you’re going to be wiggling some racks around.. possibly twisting a few bars to line up correctly.Thirdly… butter… butter makes an excellent non-toxic lubricant for pushing those pegs down if you can’t quite seem to get it. (Dont laugh… it works)Fourth…its quite large… so whatever the advertiser is feeding those kids… he should market as a growth enhancer… because there’s no way my 9 year old can hover over this cage like they are…Fifth.. and I should have put this first… it’s quite heavy in the box… in sure the neighbors got a goggle out of me dragging this box on the house (I only tripped twice)All in all.. I love it, and it’s sturdy…
One person found this helpful
Heidi SmithHeidi Smith –
The only small animal habitat like it. Very heavy. One person can’t lift this box so buying at a store isn’t possible without a large vehicle and two strong people. One person can put this together alone. It isn’t completely intuitive but pretty close. Some of the ‘pegs’ and attachment parts were bent during shipping. I had to hammer them with a rubber mallet to carefully straighten the pegs and make sure the parts where snug and aligned. You can’t do that by hand. The box says you need no tools. That’s not true. The box is stapled together and you need to use a screw driver to pry these things apart. The Phillips head that comes with the kit is lame, you will want to use a real screw driver, but the included tool does work. Getting the box pried open will require leverage. You need a rubber mallet to softly bump the pieces together. Don’t use a metal hammer or your hand. It took about an hour and a half to slowly put this together while being interrupted.This is being used for rats and they are already at home it the unit. They are using all of the levels. The castors seem to be worthy of the task of holding this big thing and they make moving the cabinet easy. There are babies, 19 days old and they are safe in this cage, they can’t get out.I think that there could be just one type of cage, rather than a Ferret version and a Critter version. I ordered the wrong model, thinking there was just one type. There isn’t and rats can fit through the Ferret bars. I don’t see why there should be a different model for Ferrets, the cages are the same dimensions, why not make it simple and give ferrets the critter home as well. I didn’t give a full 5 stars due to bent parts and the need to use tools. I was worried that I would have to return the cage due to the bent parts, but I used leverage and a hammer to carefully correct them. This is a good set up and the assembly was easy overall, even with the bent parts.In the photo: The covers for the ramps fit well, they are well made. The other items in the cage do not come with the kit. I put a litter pan on the lower level and it is being used, so this should be easier with polar fleece washables and a litter box cleanse as needed, rather than messy bedding chips everywhere. The polar fleece covers for the pans were easy to make.
One person found this helpful
Crystal GruetzmacherCrystal Gruetzmacher –
Probably the perfect cage for rats! Much easier to clean with the fully opening doors. I have so much more room for hammocks, dig boxes, and toys now. The doors for mine came a bit warped so they don’t close properly. I will be contacting the manufacturer to see about replacing them, though it will be much harder to replace them with it already assembled. I have 2 female rats and will be getting a few more now. I may also get an add-on unit so I can keep some boys separate (since they are so much cuddlier). My dogs love to lay on the bed to watch the rats play and once I add the toys it will be so much nicer of a show!
Kelsey TorresKelsey Torres –
This cage is amazing. It has lots and lots of room, first of all, and the bar spacing is safe for even very young rats. With the double story CN, you can house probably about 8-10 rats comfortably. I have 4, and they loooooove the space. I also love that the doors open all the way. It’s super easy to clean–definitely the easiest cage I’ve ever had. For me, the biggest downside is that it’s soooo heavy. When we were trying to sell our house, I had to constantly move the cage in and out of the bedroom, over carpet and a small step. It was a pain. It’s also HUGE…like way bigger than you might expect it to be. I could fit inside pretty easily. Twice. But that, to me, is a plus, not a flaw. For me, this cage is as close to perfect as it gets. I’d totally buy another one if I got any additional pets. I think this would make a great cage for chinchillas, ferrets, and lots of other small furry pets!
8 people found this helpful
Amazon CustomerAmazon Customer –
There are a ton of reviews already on this cage. I bought mine off the dot com (american) amazon, although I live in Canada, because I can use a quick stop and it worked out to about half the price of the Canadian web site. I found it easy to put together, although I definitely needed a rubber mallet in a couple of spots to pop it together. This cage will be for rats. The biggest draw back is there is no litter guard. Fabric is not best for rats so if you want to use an absorbent bedding you will need a pan or some kind of tray. Some people use the cement trays, you can also buy metal pans from bass pro or atlantis rattery but they are expensive to ship. I ended up having a local metal worker custom make me pans as it was cheaper. Overall it is a nice big cage. The two bottom doors need a slight push to click the pins in, and there are a couple spots where the wire isn’t straight (not not bad, no animals can get out). I would recommend this cage but for rats you will need to be prepared to make some adjustments. For the price I think the company should send a litter pan with it.
2 people found this helpful
Haley Garliepp –
I love these cages so much! I have 3 doubles for my 12 pet rats. it gives them all the space they need, it’s easy to clean and takes like 15 min to put together. I’ve moved with them and they’re easy to disassemble and pack. The horizontal bars are great for my rats since they love to climb and it’s easy to hang things since rats need lots of enrichment. It’s easy to connect cages for more space or block off sections if I need to quarantine one of the rats. Love this brand and I’ll never get a different brand cage for the rats!
Toleka –
Last year we adopted a rabbit, Monty. He is the sweetest! We don’t have much space in our house and we already have a pet hedgehog so we needed to consider the best way to utilize our space. We decided to ditch the old hedgehog cage and place this unit in its space instead. After using it for a year, I still love it. The top part is perfect size for my hedgehog. We used felt to wrap the bottom tray and use the smaller shelving framework to hold the heat lamp. The bottom cage is always open and the home for the rabbits litter pan, food and water dishes. We felt wrap the bottom tray and he has room to lay in the remaining space available. Please note!!! This cage is not large enough to keep a rabbit enclosed in it. We have a couple of puppy play pens attached to the cage for him to have the run of the living room in our house. We took the smaller plastic shelf trays and use them on the bottom shelf of the unit. That is where his secret hideout is and he loves it!!! The assembly of this wasn’t too bad. I did have to use a rubber mallet a couple of times but it was overall easy to put together. The cage looks really nice and high quality! The doors open up perfectly wide making it easy to get to everything in the cage. I do not use the ramps and have the plastic shelves positioned to block the upper from the lower level. This cage is well worth the price! I suggest using felt for bedding but if you need to use something messy such as wood shavings, consider purchasing a guard that can be placed on the walls to keep wood shavings from going out of the cage.
One person found this helpful
Tara –
When I moved several states away, I opted to leave my Ferret Nation 181 behind and get a new cage for my little critter. One thing to note – the Ferret Nation has bars that run vertically and have wider spacing. The Critter Nation 161 has bars that run horizontally and are more closely spaced. This has had a couple unintended side effects:1) in my Ferret Nation, I didn’t use the upper level as additional house space, but instead used it as a ledge for a heat lamp. This worked great and I was able to safely thread the plug through the bars. However, with the more closely spaced bars of the Critter Nation, the plug doesn’t fit through the bars. I’m working on a solution.2) Because the bars are more closely spaced, when I recently adopted a kitty, I was not as concerned about kitty vs critter. And that proved to be accurate! Kitty can not stick his paws between the bars. Now, there is still a concern about curious kitties if you have a critter that wants to stick their nose/tail/feet outside of the bars, but that is not a concern in my case.One note – both this cage and the Ferret Nation required some… wrestling… to get everything to fit together. There was some pounding and pushing and pulling and maybe a tiny bit of swearing, but we did manage to get all the pieces to fit together eventually. Pro tip – don’t tighten everything all the way down until all the pieces are in place. The extra wiggle room is very helpful.All in all, I had years of enjoyment out of the Ferret Nation cage and Critter Nation is largely the same construction so I expect it will also give me years of stress-free use!
Cisco V –
I bought this for a 5-month-old Guinea pig we acquired due to schools shutting down for COVID 19, I was very impressed by the ease of assembly requiring almost no tools – I did have to use a screwdriver to bend a slightly bent hole where another piece fits in it. I took about 30 min to put together and I was amazed how solid it is, even though it is held together by gravity. In other words, it can’t be readily picked up because the pieces come apart by lifting. The Guinea pig was used to a single level home and was apprehensive about the ramps but was running up and down them within days. We bought fleece linings for both levels and put a layer of folded towels beneath to capture any liquids. With that combo, it is SO MUCH cheaper and cleaner to keep over time. The bedding lasts about 10 days between washings as long as it is swept out twice a day. I cannot recommend this enough.
David Bixler –
Great cage. Sturdy construction. A couple of pieces arrived a little “bent out of shape” but a couple of quick “adjustments” with a mallet and things were right as rain. There are a couple things I would have done differently in the overall design to make assembly a lot easier, but assembly took about 30 minutes. You will want a rubber mallet, a screwdriver, and probably a hot glue gun. The plastic trays might take some damage in-transit.I docked 1 star because of poor packaging, and for some assembly difficulty which should not have existed. It’s too easy to put a couple of things in backwards, and the instructions don’t help illuminate the orientation of certain items.Suffice to say if you’ve never assembled one of these, it would have been helpful to know which ways certain things are facing, before they need to be hammered or screwed together.That being said this thing is solid. Once assembled it rolls well, looks great, and is practically a tank. The easy open doors and open access make cleaning this beast fairly easy. The only downside is the ramps aren’t really that friendly for hedgehogs. I will probably have to fashion my own or buy some better ramps so my hedgie isn’t struggling so much to get up and down.
4 people found this helpful
Beonca ???? –
Sturdy, nice looking. If you need to emergency split, easy to turn the trays around to seperate levels. Absolutely horrible to put together though. Pieces were bent and it was a horrifying experience of having to bent out some parts, pinching fingers while trying to force parts together. Once it was together though, it’s really hard to get apart. There is no way any small animal could force it broken. It’s also easy to roll from place to place. The doors are easy to open and it’s easy to clean. I bought an extension for the top and I’d be weary of that if you’re short. I’m 5’1″ and literally need a step LADDER to even be able to pet the animals in the 3rd level. Cleaning the 3rd level also includes a step ladder and a receiver at the bottom.Over all, I would and probably will buy again, even if there was yelling an crying during set up and wondering if fingers were broken and some open scrapes.
AMD –
I’ve purchased a variety of cages over the years for numerous species. I have to say this cage, hands down, is the BEST one I’ve ever bought. It would work for countless critters, especially the ones that are small and easily escape. I actually bought this for a litter I’m raising, so it’s for temporary use, but I’ll be using it for anything I foster or rehab from here on out. It’s easy to put together (and take apart), easy to clean, cozy (buy the cover!) for nocturnal animals and provides plenty of space for beds, toys, litter boxes, hammocks, etc. This came with the ramp covers, which are really nice to help them get used to using the ramps without the fear of slipping or falling.I was hesitant to pay this much for something temporary, but I am SOOO glad I did. It’s truly worth every penny!!!!
Emily S –
I did assemble this myself BUT it is heavy in the box so either be ready to move it in pieces if you are doing it alone or have help. Also my only other thing was it says no tool required, it does give you one to use for the screws. I had to, and most other videos I watched, use a hammer or a mallet to help put together. I struggled for a while before I did get a hammer. I used a towel as a buffer for my hammer to try and not damage the metal or my hammer. Once I used the hammer to get the side pieces in, it did go fairly fast and easy. Overall took about 45min to put together on my own. Probably way faster if I had one other help and would have started with a hammer. No real complaints, just help for others who are doing this alone as well. Also the trays were a tad bit warped due to being in the box but allowed to set out they have relaxed, or I did place some heavier objects on them to help flatten.
JacobJacob –
I love this cage! I purchased it after watching a video from another purchaser that posted his review. I love being able to block off the entrance to/from the top and bottom sections. While I’m cleaning the cage, I lock my chinchillas in one of the sections and don’t have to worry that they will escape or be in the way. I also purchased corner litter boxes so I only put wood shavings in the litter boxes and take a dust pan and small hand broom to sweep the feces. I didn’t bother buying the tray guards because they received poor reviews. When I first got the cage, I did have bedding/litter shavings covering the entire trays but learned very quickly that most of it wound up on the floor. Huge mess so I switched to the litter boxes. I also went to a hardware store and purchased a roll of wire mesh like u would have on a screen door and attached it to the sides and back of the cage to limit the amount of pellets and debris that fall out the sides. I also purchased storage bins to go on the shelf below the cage for easy access to their food and supplies. I would highly recommend this cage to anyone that has 2 or more critters- my little guys love all the levels 🙂
32 people found this helpful
MCMcMCMc –
It came yesterday evening. I scootched the heavy box down the hall. Wanting to keep the box in case the expansion wanted shipping back, it took me about 30 minutes to get through the multiple staples on one side, at which point I was able to take the pieces out one-by-one. Today, I added the extension to my single Critter Nation. The hardest part was getting the top off of my old CN. After my cussing at it a lot, the top, losing patience with me, eventually flew into the air and, fortunately, hit nothing on its trajectory, including myself. I disagree with the manufacturer’s assessment that no tools are needed. I’d read a lot of customer reviews. Believe me, one does need a rubber mallet. Not for great tasks, but just for doing the final beating to align the various parts. It’s not to change the parts’ shape in any way, but to just make sure that every part fits snugly into the part into which it is supposed to slide. I’d gone out and purchased one immediately after ordering the CN’s expansion pack. One of my cats, discomfited by the bedlam and who, unbeknownst to me, had been hiding under the bed, finally came out and begged me to open the door so that she might escape the hellish noise. Anyway, this late-sixities, 5’2, 100 pound lady got it put together all by herself. The ratties love it! Cutting the heavy box up to put into the recycling bin was the most onerous part of the project. I had to replace the blade in my matte knife to even begin the task. Again, make sure you have a mallet!
hollie white –
I was tired of my ferret’s old cage – and there were things that irritated me about it – wire ladders that were a bit much for any of the shelving, the wire bottom that would get filled with food and bedding and all – the size – really wasn’t much room to run around in or as much room as I’d like her to have – so shopped around for a new ferret home and found this cage. This thing is fantastic – was easy to assemble. Love the double doors that open wide making cleaning easy peasy. Best of all – there is so much room. I only have a single ferret, but all the levels – I can move toys around and provide lots of interest for her. The litter box (btw I got a cheap dollar store rubber mat for that level – making cleaning even easier than having to remove trays and the rubber will provide a good feel for her feet rather than the plastic) – this thing is big enough that she can have a dig box, pretty large ferret bed and her food all on one level and still have room to play. I feel like I’ve given her a mansion – great cage – sturdy and easy to move around too. One of my best buys!
tiny –
My Chinchilla loves his new mansion! This cage gives him a lot of space to run around, explore, jump, and find new nooks to hid out in. The double doors and removable trays make cleaning the cage really easy. The cage is very sturdy and durable and I am not worried about any of the bars breaking from the constant jostling of my chins metal flying saucer attached to the cage, which was starting to wear and break down the bars in his previous cage (
Kaytee My First Home Deluxe Multi-Level Pet Home with Casters
which is a good starter home, but is not made to last, and the plastic shelved need to be removed). The entirety of the cage is made from metal horizontal bars, and there is no bars on the bottoms for any animals to get their legs caught, so I feel comfortable that he can run around and play without getting caught or hurt. The shelves are plastic, but can be covered in bedding and with the other wooden shelves I added, he does not chew on the plastic shelves.Although it is quite large and heavy, it makes it an amazing permanent home for your chin or any other small critter who loves jumping around. The added shelf under the cage is great storage for bedding, food, snacks, hay, toys, etc for your pet in an easily accessible place. I love this cage and only wish I had bought it earlier for my chinchilla! He really loves it 🙂
One person found this helpful
Aqua –
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Our family has had the single story critter nation for over a year now. We have no rusted cage bars, the cage is pretty easy to clean most of it, and the only real problem is some of our rats have taken to trying to chew up the tray. It has took them a while to get far thankfully so not chew proof but resistant. The cage bars themselves haven’t shown any wear from chewing though. They love the amount of space to run around. I like that I can move it to clean it. There are a few crevices at the bottom bars that are harder to clean but everything else is a breeze. It doesn’t seem to hold their odor either. We all really enjoy this cage.
Amazon CustomerAmazon Customer –
My cage came today and I love it, and so do my 3 rats!!CONS: The reason I gave it four stars was that it was an absolute NIGHTMARE to put together. And two of the pieces did not fit correctly, but I figured out a way to make it work. It’s also a little priceyPROS: it’s much larger than I expected! I was thinking I would need to buy the add on when my babies got bigger, but this size is perfect!!! It is pricey, but 100% worth itOverall I am so happy with my purchase
16 people found this helpful
EMcDuffeeEMcDuffee –
Bought this to keep two rats. Assembly is not difficult if you are handy, but it is tedious. A second set of hands is helpful, but not absolutely necessary. You will definitely need a rubber mallet to assemble the cage. I removed the bottom of the cage and replaced it with a cement mix tub from Home Depot, which creates more space for the little heathens, makes cleanup even easier, and keeps the little sh*ts from flinging bedding and poo everywhere. Definitely a top quality cage, and only made better by replacing the cage bottom with a cement mixing tub. However, if you replace the bottom with a cement mixing tub, you will lose the function of the shelf under the cage. I just set the tray meant for the bottom of the cage on top of the cage, and store things there instead.
One person found this helpful
Sarah AlgiersSarah Algiers –
After looking all over the internet for large ferret cages with good ratings, we decided to purchase this 2 level cage. It’s the perfect size for our 2 baby ferrets to grow into. It was not as easy to put together as the description made it sound. A lot the pieces were bent. We had to use pliers on some pieces to unbend them in order to get the pegs to slide into place.The frames for the doors were the worst. Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of the doors before we fixed them, but they did not line up. One door on each level wouldn’t even latch because the frame was so out of shape. My husband managed to find a review of this cage on sugarglider.com on how to fix the out of shape doors. The frames for the doors are very easy to bend.If the doors of your cage aren’t lining up, remove the doors from their hinges and lightly bend the frame for the door. Don’t put too much pressure on the frames because they do bend very easily. We used a level to make use the frames were straight and put the doors back on to test them. You can see in my picture that the silver latches aren’t perfectly aligned but the doors on both levels now latch correctly, preventing my fur babies from pushing the doors open.Once we fixed the doors, this cage is perfect and I understand all of the good reviews. There are even youtube videos available on how to make your own tray liners for this cage.I highly recommend this cage for small animals, even with the wonky doors and some bent pieces. It’s heavy, sturdy, easy to clean and with the double doors on each level, it makes it really easy to get into.
2 people found this helpful
Melinda SMelinda S –
Bought this for our new rat buddies! I like it pretty well. I received it on time, put it together by myself (well with my 3 year old) fairly easily. I only have a few issues.1) The right door bottom latch doesn’t line up and close all the way (no issues with rats pushing it though.) (Photo #1)2) the top right corner doesn’t close all the way (not enough space to escape so no huge issue here either) (photo #2)3) the bottom pan came damaged and there is a hole in the back left corner. We put the litter box there to cover the hole.Overall the cage is nice. It’s solid and highly doubtful either could chew through it. The wires are tight together so they can’t squeeze through. They go up and down the ladder (or the sides) with ease. It’s way bigger than what they were in at the lab so they are super busy in there. Definitely recommend overall.
2 people found this helpful
Amazon CustomerAmazon Customer –
I would have given it 5 stars but they need to add a better pan to the bottom so stuff does not fall out of the cage. After some experimentation I bought the urine guard and use cage liners to make sure there are no gaps and this has been effective. No more urine on the floor or feces kicked out of the cage. I knew this would be a problem which is why I was hesitant on buying. But so far my little tricks have worked.On the positive note my piggies love it!! They have so much room to run around and hide and play. I always hear them in here making their fun noises and playing.I do recommend buying the felt fabric liners made for the cage which helps them grip to get up and down the ramp. The height of the shelf is adjustable but the ramp is still pretty slick without the liner. Also, my piggies were not happy at first about the ramp but after some encouragement with spinach leaves they run up and down now without problems.
A. WitteA. Witte –
We purchased this cage for two rats we adopted from a local rescue and they absolutely love it. It’s quite large but they use every inch of the cage. We wanted some thing that was versatile and when these little guys are no longer around we might rescue a ferret or another little creature so we like knowing we won’t ever need another cage. I also really like that if need be you could block off the two areas from each other and essentially have two separate cages if needed. My husband was able to put this together in less than an hour. The *only* thing that gave me pause was how shallow the trays are. When we started out, I was putting little containers of bedding in there and trying to figure out how I could keep it from flying all over the place and ending up on the floor. After some research, we ended up covering the trays with fleece secured with binder clips, which absorbs urine nicely and really cuts back on the smell. Once a week I swap them out with another set and throw the soiled ones in the laundry. I’m not sure if that would be an option for all creatures because some do like to burrow but the rats are fine and they have other plenty of other areas to snuggle up in. Everyone who has seen the cage it’s really impressed by it, even the lady at the rescue Center said it was the “best of the best.”
One person found this helpful
Bene_Gbury –
We are impressed by this cage and happy to have found it. It is well made. It was easy to assemble and had clear and thoughtful instructions. We did need a rubber mallet and we used our own phillips screw driver. The cage is well thought through with large doors that open wide, the knobs need to be pinched to the center in order to open which is secure. The shelf underneath is very useful. The ramp has some thread and seems nonslip enough. There was a ramp sleeve made of fleece which we have not used yet. The whole seems of good quality. We will probably need to figure out a way to line the bottom to prevent the litter material from spilling outwards or maybe use a fleece liner instead. We found lot’s of good ideas in the reviews, it will be a matter of choosing one. I expect we should not have to invest in a cage for a long while.
undeadcow –
This was an open “used” item but because of this I saved a good bit of money! Some pieces had to be hammered into shape to be put together and trust me, assembly is not easy or quick! This thing is LARGE. I have two large pet rats in it and I think they love all the space. I could easily fit more, several more, rats in it! Its a very nice cage! Put it together where you want it! We put it upstairs in our upstairs living and this is where it will stay because taking this downstairs wont happen without disassembly! The wheels make is easy to move around though. This is a very sturdy well made cage. It was $$ but if you want you small animals happy, this is worth the money! No pet wants to live in a tiny cage so invest and you will have happy rats! Also there are no wires on the flooring so this is great for little critter feet and its bars are close enough that little rats cant escape.
One person found this helpful
Heather Vigil –
I have owned a Ferret Nation for years (over 10), in fact I owned two at one point. Given how well those cages held up (the second was given to a friend, and is still in like-new condition), I was ecstatic when I found the Critter Nation at a local PetsMart, and did more research online.The Ferret Nation and Critter Nation are essentially the same, except that the bars on the Critter Nation run horizontal and are not spaced as far apart as the Ferret Nation. The Critter Nation bars are even suitable for sugar gliders (they are only about the size of a chipmunk). In fact, I’m thinking about buying a second Critter Nation to upgrade my sugar gliders’ housing, as the first one is in use by my more numerous pet rats currently.At this point, the Critter Nation is comfortably housing 8 pet rats, and is split into separate units by locking the ladder in an “up” position (standard function for the cage). My 5 wonderful boys live on the lower level, and my 3 beautiful girls live on the upper level. I’m looking at buying the scatter guard accessory trays, but for now I’m just using the normal trays that come with the cage. While it’s inconvenient to sweep up their bedding so often, it’s still worth it to provide them with the extra space, and I have options to consider to help prevent this issue in the future.Pros:* The Critter Nation is SOLID. Rats are really intelligent and I always have to consider if they can escape a cage by operating whatever locking mechanism it has — that’s not a concern at all with the doors on the Critter Nation, yet they are still easy for me to open despite having tendonitis in my dominate hand. My Ferret Nation is now 10+ years old and does not have any rust on it, the door locks still work perfectly, and the cage is like new. I expect my Critter Nation will hold up just as well over time.* LOTS of room. The cage is huge and leaves plenty of room to accessorize — the underside of the shelves even have bars on them, despite the shelves being solid, so you can hang light-weight items like hammocks or small bird toys on the underside of the shelves to entertain your pet!* The shelves have solid plastic covers. This is a huge issue for me as I once had a special needs rat that had foot injuries, wire shelves, bottoms and ramps were just not an option with him, and since then, I don’t consider them an option with my other rats either. The solid shelves eliminate the potential for foot injury as there’s really no way for your rat to get its feet caught in the shelf.* They make washable covers for the wire ramps — Again, I don’t like wire ramps, floors or shelves due to the potential for foot-injury with rats, but there is an option to buy ramp covers as accessories, which makes them solid and can prevent injury in the long run. I was even lucky even to receive ramp covers with my order, free of charge. The best part is that I can toss them in the washer and dryer, so I’m not scrubbing them by hand.* You can add to this cage. I bought the single unit and the add-on unit at the same time, so my cage only needs one stand. I’ve separated it into two cages by using the feature that allows you to lock the ramp between units in an up position against the underside of the top unit, this closes the hole and prevents pets from going up or down into the other unit. What I realized when I added my second unit onto the original is that it had the potential for even more units if I so desired. I think this is a great feature, though I’m sure I would need a step-stool to clean the third unit as it would be quite a bit taller than me at that point.* The stand has wheels. This is great when you need to relocate the cage on the same floor of a home, or if you just need to move it a bit for cleaning. The wheels have locking features for safety as well.Cons:* The doors are really big, it’s sort of a pro and con all at the same time. It’s easier to clean, but the size of the doors are the only thing that makes me think twice about putting Sugar Gliders in this cage — if you have a pet that’s sneaky and prone to attempt escape, and there’s more than one animal in the unit, the chances of them being able to get past you are increased due to how large the doors are.* The cage is kind of expensive. This is only a con at the start, and you have the option to buy it one unit at a time. I have not found a comparable cage for a better price, however.* The cage is very heavy, but I only really noticed this when I had to move the boxes it arrived in before assembly. This is something to consider when you order it if you have to go up or down a lot of stairs — you may be moving it a few pieces at a time before assembly. I have only moved my Ferret Nation once when I bought a home and moved out of the place I had been renting, and over all, it’s not nearly as bad as moving large appliances.Ultimately, for housing rats and similar pets, I think this cage is excellent. I’d love to give my gliders the space of the Critter Nation, but I’m reluctant at this point only because of the size of the doors, the quickness of a sugar glider, and the gliders’ ability to climb and fly short distances. My rats will more than get my money’s worth out of this cage and I believe that for them, it was an excellent investment. The Ferret Nation is also wonderful for Ferrets and Chinchillas as I have previously housed both of those kinds of animals in my old Ferret Nation unit — you can even buy an external ramp for it to allow your ferret or chinchilla to free-range at their leisure.I would highly recommend these cages to anyone looking to give their pets a lot of space, particularly if you know you will continue to have those kinds of animals in your life, as this cage will generally long out-last the life span of the animals it can comfortably house. It is definitely a worth-while investment.
37 people found this helpful
Joseph Gokool –
I am disabled, so I had my mom and female cousin put the cage together. It took them about 45 minutes, but only because a few of the pieces were welded crookedly. Once they were able to make it work, the cage came together beautifully and was very sturdy.The purpose for this cage was to give me two guinea pigs a luxurious condo with lots of space. The first few days, they were very apprehensive and just stayed in their cave on one level. Then, they were running up and down all three sets of stairs like crazy. So, not only do they have lots of space, they also have a great source of exercise!My ONLY complaint is that the double latch mechanism on the bottom of the cage is off in alignment. It often seems to be locked when it’s really not. I have to pull on the door 3-4 times to ensure it is really locked before leaving the area.
RARA –
I had been holding off on a critter nation for a while, just because it is a bit of an investment, but I can say with 100% satisfaction it is worth the price! Shipped quickly, and in perfect condition. It took me about an hour to assemble by myself with the tools provided as well as a rubber mallet I had in the house–would probably take much less time if you had a helper or two, but the instructions were simple and easy to follow even for only one person. I have no complaints what so ever. The large double doors makes it easy to clean, the shelf on the bottom is great for storage, the fact that it’s all metal is perfect for chewers (like mine), and the bar spacing is perfect for small critters, even rats! I currently have four female rats living in mine and they love it. There’s enough space for hammocks, ropes, a litter pan and still room to run and play. Plus, knowing this cage can have additions added to it (should I ever have the need) is a huge plus. I 100% recommend you buy this cage for any small critters. You won’t be disappointed!
Gina –
This is by far the very best quality and most versatile small animal cage I have ever had. With the huge variety of critters that can be housed in this we have been able to keep using it through various phases and pet types as the kids grew up … like once the rats were gone, it could be used for ferrets, once the ferrets were gone we could pull it out and use it for chinchillas, or sugar gliders… etc. We never had to worry about the bar spacing as it is small enough to safely keep a variety of pet sizes from escaping. It is super sturdy, durable and very easy to clean. I love how the double doors open all the way so you can really easily access all corners of the cage for cleaning. I also love that it is a very BIG cage and we never have needed to upgrade to a bigger cage when we got an additional pet or needed to use it for a larger animal like a Chinchilla. I didn’t realize how big it was until we saw it in person… so you may want to check the dimensions and make sure it will fit the space you intend for it. I also love the versatility of the shelves. You can take them out, rearrange them, change the height… this cage can be arranged pretty much however you need it to be on the inside. There are a lot of extras you can get for it. We got Bass Equipment metal litter pans for it when we needed to have more litter in it, and when we didn’t need a lot of litter, we could just use the plastic trays that came with it. Also the shelves and plastic trays are replaceable. I seriously love this cage.
One person found this helpful
KdhKdh –
Like others have said, this is not without flaws. I did have to take a hammer and hit the metal piece that the legs slide down into to get them lined up over the hole. I also had to hammer the top hooks that go into the top of the cage because they stuck up to far. Other than those two issues the cage went together easily and the directions were easy to follow. **When putting the bottom rack together don’t completely tighten the screws until you get it completely get the rack assembled. This goes for anything you build.** The doors aren’t lined up symmetrically -;(They supply you with a tiny screwdriver but I liked using my own because it was easier on my hands. Some people use a rubber mallet to get the side of the cages in place, but I just used my body weight to push down (after I used a hammer to line the metal things up) and they went in just fine.This is a perfect size cage for my flyer. I did leave the middle section out so she would have more open space to glide, if she ever takes the notion.Because I left the middle out I had to modify the way I use the ladders because they aren’t long to accommodate the distance between the two smaller shelves. It worked out fine though. She seems to enjoy running up and down the ramps. Having the big doors that fully open is a dream. It makes cleaning a breeze. I purchase those 2.50 fleece blankets at W**mart to cut liners for the shelves. It works perfectly. I noticed her feet felt cold running around on the plastic.Another thing I like is the ability to add another level to it. You can purchase the “add-on” to give it a 3rd level.Only time will tell how this cage will hold up. She doesn’t chew on the wire, so I don’t have to worry about that.
Jenn DJenn D –
This is, BY FAR, the best rat cage I’ve ever had. I put off buying this cage due to its price but I’m sure I’ve spent more on different cages trying to find one that I like over the years.The large, wide-opening doors is what makes this cage so great. I’ve had other cages that were a decent size but the doors made it a real chore to clean. Cleaning this cage is a breeze.I use fleece but please note that it’s important to place an absorbent layer between the fleece and tray. Fleece is horrible in terms of absorbency. I use incontinence pads and they work very well.This cage is quite large, my rats are very content with all the space. It’s great to be able to see them running, jumping, and climbing while playing with one another.
One person found this helpful
JanieJanie –
I love this cage so much. The only reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is because there was one bar that didn’t get a good welding on it and it broke lose. I couldn’t send it back because it’s the only suitable cage I have for my ratties and I couldn’t imagine trying to repack it now that it’s all built and I threw the boxes away so Amazon gave me a 25% discount. I think that’s fair. I temporarily used gorilla glue and then cliped their litter pan over it so they couldn’t access it and I’m going to have a friend with a shop fix it later.Mine just arrived damaged but I’m still thinking it’s wise to be careful when clipping anything into the bars because the bar spacing is small and the spots where the bars connect are very small as well. I think too much pressure on the bars could possibly cause it to snap so keep that in mind.Other than that I am in so in love with the cage. Easy to clean. Easy to access. It’s a perfect cage for Rats. I don’t think anyone would be disappointed with this purchase.
9 people found this helpful
Shelby JonesShelby Jones –
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I got this one story cage for my three adult rats because the last cage was too small for these active babies and they tried chewing their way out. Only took about 20 min for assembly with two people. My rats have been playing in this for the last hour and they have so much more room to move around and wrestle. I plan on getting the add-on in the next few months so they will have a ton of room to climb. So far this cage is awesome and i know my rats are thankful for more space. Good for the price. I’ve added two pics and a video for a reference.
Brenda BetheaBrenda Bethea –
This cage is freaking AWESOME!! I put it together in about 45 minutes by myself but I’m not mechanically inclined so most folks probably can do it much faster. I have 4 adult males who needed a bigger cage. It’s sturdy, easy to open & close, the instructions are really easy to understand, it arrived before expected, everything was perfectly aligned for assembly despite the obvious beating it endured during shipping and my boys seem to LOVE it! It’s been over an hour since I placed them into their new home with their new toys and they’re still exploring everything. I very much recommend this cage to anyone. Don’t waste your money on the flimsy overpriced crap —GET THIS. You will not regret it at all!!! And to top it off? It places my boys in direct eyesight of my 2 yr old grandson who adores watching them and giving them treats!!
Amazon Customer –
It’s the most recommended rat cage for a reason! Totally worth the pricetag. I also love that we can add a second (or third) level if our rat family grows. We did the popular cement tub modification to make a deep space for loose bedding. (Google critter nation cement mixing tub) I love that the doors open so wide for cleaning and attaching toys. The rats love to climb around the sides to get to their hammocks or just to see the world. It’s super sturdy and heavy, but easy to move around on the wheels. We’ve had to reposition a few times to keep their room temperature comfortable.It would be awesome if a deep bedding pan was a standard feature or even an option. With the cement tub, we only very rarely see a bit of bedding outside the cage.
Shade42-2U –
This was easy to put together and add-on to our single level Critter Nation cage.We have another brand of cage that we used before finding Critter Nation cages, I Definitely prefer these doors, they fully open to where it’s much easier to reach in and clean the cage.It’s roomy (once we added this part) and feels very solid/study, so it should last a long time.The horizontal bars give you more options when hanging pouches and Toys.My only complaint/warning is that I found 3 spots where there were extra little pieces of metal sticking up, so I filed those down to keep my pets paws safe.All in all, I really like this cage. I like that you can keep adding on.I saw a pic where someone made one huge cage by attaching 2 – 3 level units together… I don’t know if it’s recommended but it looked great and I bet his suggies were happy.
Jason M, MT(AAB) –
I’ve wanted a big cage for my little rat for as long as I’ve had her but was in a very small apartment. I got a new place last month and it was time for a new place for her too. She loves all the space, and she’s always been a climber, PLENTY of bars for that. Lots of space for lots of toys. Oddly enough, she doesn’t use the stairs to go up, she climbs the sides, but coming back down, she runs down the ramps. Iron bars, thicker than most cages, feel much sturdier than her usual thin steel wire cage. She realizes this too as she’s stopped chewing the bars since she moved. The only complaint is that there’s no sides to the shelving, you have to buy Rubbermaid bins to put the litter in if your rodent is like mine and builds with her litter.
Amazon Customer –
Really, really sturdy! We have only had it a week, so if things change I will update the review.It went together easily, soooo much easier than the smaller wire cages from any pet store and sooooo much better in terms of quality. And sooo much easier to clean!We did need to use the rubber mallet on a spot or two in order for the pieces to line up and slip into place, but it wasn’t a big deal or difficult.We have rats, and used the concrete mixing tub from home depot/lowes with some of the rim cut off to make it fit snugly and keep bedding contained. It worked like a charm. Thank you to whoever came up with that idea and shared it in the reviews.I wish I had invested in one of these 2 cages ago; don’t waste money on the pet store ones if you are looking at a bigger cage. The quality is so much better with this one, and the ease of cleaning is amazing.
amy waldneramy waldner –
CAGE REVIEW:So, we got the “critter nation double” for our 2 juvenile rats, who have more than enough room to explore, wrestle, and sleep. When the rats get older, the cage will probably be perfect in size. They are moving from level to level hourly. (usually they don’t use the ramps, they climb the wire on the side of the cage!) We put bedding on the two main levels, than covered the half-levels with a “critter nation fleece liners” so we didn’t have to put bedding on there. (link to that is at the bottom of review) The rats are always snuggling/sleeping together on the fleece liners! The cage cleaning is super easy. All you have to do is take out the trays and wash them with soap and water, then put them back in!HOW TO SOLVE BEDDING PROBLEM:Ok, so the only thing bad about the cage is the bedding, it easily comes out when they walk around, and is super hard to clean up. What we did was got “critter nation scatter guards” (top and bottom scatter guards for the double nation, bottom scatter guard for the single nation) You can put them in in under 2 min.,and they keep all the bedding in. (in the pictures, they’re the black things on the side of the cage) the link to them is also at the bottom of this review.TIPS:1. We bought 2 water bottles and 2 food bowls (1of each for each main level) so them they don’t have to go to the top of the cage just to get a drink of water2. We bought a rat carrier so we can put them in it when we clean the cage, it makes cleaning a lot easier.3. We purchased a little shelf to put at the top of the cage to make it 5 levels.ABOUT A WEEK LATER:So the fleece liners worked fine, but the rats got up inside them and pooped in there, then they were sleeping in their poop. So we are planning on buying velcro so we can stick them together, but take them off when we’re cleaning thEMFLEECE LINERS LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Piggy-BedSpreads-Critter-Northern-Included/dp/B076MKM5WP/ref=r_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=critter+nation+cage+accessories+fleece+guard&qid=1632621055BOTTOM SCATTER GUARD LINK:https://www.amazon.com/Ferret-Nation-Scatter-Critter-Animal/dp/B004UL3EUI/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1O9KCQLFPF47R&dchild=1&keywords=critter+nation+cage+accessories&qid=1632622170&sprefix=critter+nation+ca%2Caps%2C335&sr=8-2TOP SCATTER GUARD LINK:https://www.amazon.com/Ferret-Nation-Scatter-Critter-Animal/dp/B004UL3F52/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1O9KCQLFPF47R&dchild=1&keywords=critter%2Bnation%2Bcage%2Baccessories&qid=1632622170&sprefix=critter%2Bnation%2Bca%2Caps%2C335&sr=8-2&th
Rae Ah Na –
This is an awesome rat cage. It’s easy to clean, the doors all swing wide open, the trays all come out, it’s very sturdy, I can’t imagine a better rat cage.I buy cheap fleece blankets at Walmart and cut them to size to cover the trays. It takes 3 blankets for a set, one each for the large trays, and one for both small trays. I fold them over and pin them under with giant 4″ safety pins. Other people use office clips. I don’t cover the ramps because I took them out and added various ropes/rope ladders, which makes everything even more spacious and interesting. I use the extra scrap fleece for bedding and makeshift hammocks.I had no trouble putting it together by myself, and I am a short female. I did use a rubber mallet and that made it go pretty smoothly.I would definitely buy this again, it is very, very, very much worth the extra money to upgrade to this over something plastic or something flimsy.
One person found this helpful
Alias –
Don’t get me wrong, the cage is excellent. The assembly directions are simple and easy to follow. The problem is, when you buy this cage, something will 100% be broken or missing, and least two other things will be bent. I’ve bought this cage twice, and both times I had to contact customer service and wait multiple weeks for a replacement part. You will NEED a rubber mallet to assemble this cage so you can straighten out the parts and hammer them in place.Once it’s assembled, its a great cage. it’s on wheels and has a nice storage shelf. The large doors open completely for easy cleaning. You can choose to have the middle divider in or out. My rats like climbing the horizontal bars. The bar spacing is small enough to keep them inside. Overall, I begrudgingly recommend this cage, even though its a pain to get started.
Gordon –
First of all, however large you think this habitat is from the photos, be prepared it will be larger than you expect. Make sure you have the place in your house picked out for it. Its also quite heavy when fully assembled, but its on casters. If you are taking it upstairs, assemble it there unless you have strong adults to help you lift it.As mentioned in other reviews, best thing about this habitat is cleaning. Open the doors, lift out the trays, wipe clean and put them back in. My critters hang out on the wires of the tray shelves while I’m cleaning and are fascinated by what I’m doing.I have two well socialized male rats. They have so much room and so many places to climb in this thing. I don’t worry at all about them getting out or feeling cramped. They come down to the bottom shelf frequently to bump noses with the dog through the bars. I love that.Only recommendation is a change to the assembly manual. Would insert the following: after you have installed the middle shelf, briefly insert the middle shelf tray to make sure you have aligned the hole for the ramp correctly. I had the thing all the way put together before I noticed I had the middle shelf backwards. Also, as other reviews have mentioned, you probably will need a hammer, preferably a rubber mallet but you can also use a block of wood and a regular hammer. The design is very sturdy, but being imperfectly shaped metal fittings, it took some work to get everything to fit as instructed (twice! see above).
Cheri Q.Cheri Q. –
Many reviews mentioned issues with assembly and parts. The cage weighs as much as I do but I decided to try it alone without my husbands help. Hour and half later, a few bruises and one user error… success! I did have to hammer top level sides down as they wouldn’t slide on. Parts were not labeled but after reading instructions and looking things over it wasn’t hard to figure out.It is very study and as described. Opens easily, chew proof and holds all the ledges and heavy metal wheel with ease. Covered plastic flooring with fleece for our little guy. Chinchilla approved!!! Highly recommend!Assembly note… make sure to get pans and wire racks in correct directions prior to hammering any sides down. ????????♀️ Have scissors, screw driver and hammer (with towel if you don’t have rubber mallet) ready.Recommend putting together on carpeted area as it is hard to unbox as it’s packed in tight and very heavy.
Cierra Vidal-SylvainCierra Vidal-Sylvain –
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*Ledges and hanging toys in top unit came from sellers on Etsy*I bought the add on unit to expand my chinchilla’s cage (which is a little bare on toys right now because I have to replace all the ones he destroyed) and make it three floors. Shipping didn’t take long, but tracking was slightly off. The box was in good condition when it arrived. I put this together with my dad in about an hour, and I highly suggest having a rubber mallet and some stools if you’re adding a third floor. While I’m not using them, the ramps that came with it are not wire, which is good for little feet. And the platform that comes with it was in good shape. I’m very happy with the add on unit and so is my chinchilla!
One person found this helpful
Renaissanista –
My parrots have used it for a month and like it. I added perches and didn’t install all the trays. I use the top as a cage and the bottom to store their sleep cages. They can go to bed by themselves at night. They like separate sleep cages so I have two smaller cages for them. More gregarious birds would probably just climb around both levels. I have a quaker and conure. Conures would like this feature I think. You have to adjust a bit for parrots. Easier to clean and looks neat so far.I put it together by myself in a four hours, weak lady with a bad stiff back. My hubby carried it upstairs but he’s very fit. Don’t recommend that for most. It’s a heavy box.Pieces aren’t marked well. If you are not good at Ikeaing, you may need to find a helper who is. It’d be nice to have someone to hold pieces. I recommend a mallet or hammer and real screwdriver. I had to drill out one hole slightly that just wouldn’t cooperate.Most of the engineering is good.Very big cage. Measure to get an idea. I did and it’s still bigger than I imagined.Love the horizontal bars and horizontal space.No real negatives and I’m VERY picky.Great buy, really phenomenal for the price. Wish it came in black or white. Grey doesn’t seem cheap though. Still looks decent in my blue and brown bedroom with white trim.You can feel safe with purchasing this. I think most small animals would be happy and easier to clean up after with this.
3 people found this helpful
Regan Gundersen –
Very nice cage, best on the market. I chose this one because my Preview cage has railings that slide into each other and create massive pockets that hold pee no matter how hard you try to clean them. This one has enclosed railings that will not hold pee. My only complaint is that the doors came preassembled but were assembled lopsided. As you can see in all the photos, one door is always lopsided if not both. On mine both the doors are lopsided. If it’s going to come preassembled I would prefer they be at least assembled nicely. But otherwise a very nice cage
Christina Tortorilla –
This is the best rat cage money can buy. It’s enormous, and fully customizable. The full size doors are fantastic for decorating and cleaning the cage, and you can basically hang out in the cage with your pets, which allows for more bonding time because you can play with them in passing even if you don’t have time for a full, outside the cage play session. I can just pop my head in and the ratties come running up to say hello. You are not limited in what toys and hideouts you get by a tiny door that you can’t fit your arm through. You can easily block off half the cage for cleaning or to separate sick, injured, or aggressive rats. You can also easily expand this cage as much as you want-you can build it taller with add-on units or you can build horizontally by removing the side walls.It’s a big upfront cost, but definitely worth the money you’ll save upgrading your cage every few years, and the time and headache you’ll save trying to clean less convenient cages. Once you get this cage you will never want any other model.
One person found this helpful
Me –
It was a huge pain to put together AND it turned out amazing and really wasn’t as bad as I dramatically pretended it was. One of the doors wouldn’t open and was potentially welded shut, so I hit it with a mallet and it was fixed. One hole for the screw was stripped so I shoved the provided tool in it and used my own screwdriver (I will fix it later and put a real screw in). Additionally, I hit some of the other pieces that were hard to put together with a mallet and they fit. Just be sure to have a mallet. My rats are incredibly happy and I would definitely make this same purchase again were this one to randomly get cage-napped or something. A pain in the arse 5 stars! <3
Francie –
Ok, I put this together by myself. Very sturdy, Rizzo the rat has been exploring his new “digs”. Large enough for at least 3 adult rats. I recommend using a rubber mallet during the install. When they designed the cage, they wanted to make sure the pieces fit together tightly. So using a rubber mallet will make the “female to male” connectors fit securely. I also, like the wheels, Makes it so much easier to move for vacuuming. It’s also easier to keep clean than my smaller cage. The doors of the Critter Nation cage open wide. The plastic trays come out easily. I take all toys and blankets off it and wash the trays in the bathtub with some bleach and dish soap. The top tray height is adjustable if you’re concerned about baby pets losing their footing and falling.It took me FOREVER to find the cage I needed. I think I chose well.I do wish the plastic trays were white though or any lighter color. (light grey?) I’m trying to litter train him. He tends to pull off any comfort sheets, and relieve himself right on the black plastic. I can’t see what he doesn’t to clean it up quickly and remove the scent.
Amazon Customer –
We got this cage as an upgrade for our two pet rats and if it wasn’t for one problem this would easily be a five star investment.The positives:This was incredibly easy to assemble with two people and should disassemble for a move just as easily. Also if you have to take a level off and store because you don’t need it that is also should be easy to do.Our rats love it! So much room and they love climbing all over the cage and running up and down the different levels.Cleaning it is easy but takes a little more time with the different levels.The negative:The bottom of the cage is not acceptable for bedding at all. If you put it together without the guard (that is sold separately) you will be cleaning up bedding an what comes with it quite a bit and there will be a lot of it.Even with the guard which did minimize it you will be cleaning it up. The animals will push it under the guard and it will flow over. The guard is also a very cobbled together solution and makes harder to take the floor out to clean and put back in. Don’t waste your time or money with the guard and put the funds toward some other solution.I find it hard to believe it would be difficult for the company to manufacture a fitted bin with a 2′ lip to replace the current floor solution.
Kathy WKathy W –
The half-inch bar width is perfect for smaller animals. You can also open the 2-story up to allow for more freedom and jumping. The doors can be easily lifted off their hinges for easier cleaning, and reaching around to attach additional smaller shelving, food bowls, etc. The only thing I could see as an improvement would be to add a smaller door so the animals have a harder time getting past your hand when you feed them. I would also have preferred to have a tray UNDER the bottom instead of on top for easier cleaning. I did have a small problem putting together because the precut “nitch” that allows the “leg” to go down into a hole were too close together on a couple of sides and couldn’t be “pushed down” by hand. (See pic of leg on left with correct space compared to pic of leg on right which is too tight.) I had to hit the round leg “out” a couple of times with a regular hammer to separate a tiny bit, then I could use a rubber mallet (as recommended) to hammer them down into place. Once I figured out the problem though, it went OK. Also, I recommend placing the separating tray with the opening to the back, right side. That way, if you want to pull up on the ladder to close off a story, it will be easier to reach and latch from the front opening. All in all, it works great, and is very well built. It seemed like a lot of money, but we can always reuse or sell it.
K_TennK_Tenn –
Assembly was fairly straight-forward, although you will most likely need a second person just to keep things straight and help with the larger pieces. It is MUCH bigger than I first imagined. I have 3 little rat boys, so for them, it’s a palace! It has lots of places to hang things from and the ramps are great for their little feet, though you may have to replace the coverings on occasion.It can be a little challenging to clean if you put it in a corner, as the doors really need to be able to open FULLY on both sides to pull the bottom tray out. Otherwise, this is an EXCEPTIONAL environment for small pets! I have only 2 complaints – 1) Bedding tends to make a huge mess around the area. (I’ve lined mine with duct tape to catch the excess) and 2) It can be a real challenge to find enough toys and accessories to fill this thing up with! LOL
One person found this helpful
goldie2007 –
This cage is phenomenal- so well-made, so spacious, and horizontal bars- Yay! Why wouldn’t a rat cage have horizontal bars??? Yes, the base tray is too shallow, but that can be fairly easily remedied. I use fleece, so it’s a non-issue here. But be forewarned: it is an absolute witch to assemble, especially without help. It took me two hours of cursing to get it together. The instructions say no tools are needed. Wrong. Make sure you have a phillips head and a rubber mallet. I’m not sure a rubber mallet would help much. I used a hammer wrapped in a towel. Anyway, it can be done alone, obviously, but I’d suggest another pair of hands. Once you get it together, you’ll be thrilled. My two rat boys don’t know what to do with all the room! Highly recommended!!
Waneta –
I was afraid it was going to be hard to put together after reading all the other reviews. But we had no issues. The doors were a little misaligned at first and my glider would’ve been able to slip out. But we were able to pull up on the doors and the gap was fixed and staid fixed. My only complaint is that I wish the cage had a couple small, sliding doors so the big doors don’t always have to be opened to just switch food bowls or something. If you have a critter who likes to jump out at you and try to escape, that could be a problem. That’s my only complaint. It’s a nice big, very sturdy cage. And one of the few that has horizontal bars. To me it seems horizontal is easier than the vertical bars that my guy would sometimes slide down if he loosened his grip. Lol it’s taking some getting used to for him though. But he seems to love his new cage.
One person found this helpful
Andrea –
This cage is the only one you’re going to need to buy. I added the third story so the boys (3 male rats) have as much space as I can give them- which has improved their litter box use! It’s been worth it for me. Cleaning is so much easier with this cage.My complaint is that both the two story cage and add-on arrived slightly bent and damaged, in boxes that were clearly dropped. This could easily be due to local shipping providers, as I’ve had similar issues with other products. It did mean that I had to tap the peg inserts straight again with a mallet, had it arrived straight it would have been easier to assemble.I’m also reluctant to roll it around on the carpet because the base seemed strained by the motion. I’m not sure if it’s user error (ie. Maybe I need to tighten something. I’ll check at some point.) or if it’s simply not designed for rolling around much.Also those little securement hooks that you’re supposed to install… I wish the instructions had made that bit pop out more, because adding them after it’s already assembled is annoying/hard to reach. Invest in a step ladder.It’s also not entirely compatible with water bottles. It’s a little hard to jam the straw through the narrow spacing (which is otherwise ideal).Those are little things though and I’m still very happy with it. It has saved a TON of time during cleanup.I didn’t bother getting full size trays, I just got small cat boxes for pooping in+the dig box and left newspaper/cloth everywhere else. I haven’t had major issues with bedding on the floor, but my boys are pretty easy-going. They love their home!
STEPHANIE D. –
My daughter has 4 pet rats that were splitting their time between a 20 gal aquarium and and a 10 gallon aquarium with attached “second story”; however, THIS is like a dream come true for them. They ran and jumped and climbed and went nuts when first put in their new cage. The only thing is that the bedding falls out, so there is a constant mess on the floor. ( I know some people in here have a solution for that.) The trays come right out to dump the bedding out and clean for new bedding. The upper and lower floors can be divided using one of the trays to block the ladder hole. This is great when you have female and male rats and don’t want a gazillion babies. I didn’t assemble it, but my husband said it was kindof a B*****. That being said, it still only took him about an hour.
Chruel –
I was amazed at the sturdy construction and size of this when I got it. It’s beautiful and will last forever! Also, this sounds minor, but the instructions are so well written and easy to follow. Usually instructions are extremely minimal and vague, but these were very explanatory and didn’t leave anything out. My only qualm with this product is that it doesn’t have a deep rim or built-in mess guard. I even bought the add-on one, and it does nothing. They just push the bedding underneath it and out. Still trying to figure out how to solve this problem.
Emily Caudill –
UPDATE – Bought the single level cage too. There was one bent bar, but it was not bad enough to affect the use of the cage. STILL highly recommend this cage. Well worth the money, especially since the first rats we had chewed through the sturdy plastic bottom of an $80 cage. This time we started with the best!OVERALL – Great, sturdy cage! (We got the double Critter Nation cage.) I was a little hesitant to buy it when I read about some of the pieces arrive bent; however, I that wasn’t my experience. Yes, the ramps were a little bent in the middle, but easily corrected. One of the front panels was a tight fit, but two good whacks with the rubber mallet fixed it. If you want to have bedding or shavings in the cage, you will need something extra to keep that from getting all over your floor. We love the full length doors! cleaning and adjusting the cage is SO much easier. My daughters, our rats, and I would recommend it and buy it again!ASSEMBLY – The box is heavy! It was left on my doorstep and I managed to “walk it” inside the door. Then just took the pieces out out from there to my assembly location. Other comments mentioned that the cage was confusing to put together. I did a YouTube search and watched someone else put it together first. Some of the pieces do look a lot alike. Once we got going, my daughters and I put it together in about 1 1/2 hours.I would definitely recommend a rubber hammer. It comes with a Phillips head screw driver tool, if you have one of your own it might be more comfortable. Some of the protective pieces were hard to get off and the hammer helped with that too.HACKS – I read about using a large concrete mixing bin as the base for holding litter. Found the correct bin at Home Depot and a YouTube video for how to make minor cuts to make it fit. Took me about 10 minutes to complete the bin. My bin is 7 inches tall and I can put enough bedding for my rats to be able to dig and burrow. They love it!Another internet search let me find instructions/measurements to make extra ramp covers. Used an old fleece blanket from when my kids were little and it didn’t cost me anything. If you aren’t inclined to make your own, I saw that Etsy had some for sale too.Our favorite part was arranging the cage. We used bins, buckets, baskets, and shower curtain rings from the dollar store for cage accessories along with other toys made specifically for rats. We have 6 rats and they love all of the room they have!
2 people found this helpful
Waters –
I use this for my duck at night to sleep in. (yes, indoors) The tray comes out for easy cleaning but the doors have to be completely open to avoid having to wrangle it. It came with the tiny toddler size screwdriver to put it together, and they recommend using a mallet for some of the parts. (I used a regular hammer with a potholder for padding, it’s all I had and it IS required) The doors close and open easily with each one having it’s own latch so that makes it nice to keep one closed for quick feeding without escape. I don’t have any of the items inside in use because my duck is 22 inches tall and the smaller tray takes half of the space. The ramp padding is kind of thin. It will keep tiny feet from falling through the rungs but not from feeling them and it shrinks when you wash it. They smaller tray had a long crack in the edge-bottom crease that I didn’t notice until I had the whole thing put together an hour later. When I called, I was offered a small portion refund or the option to disassemble it and return the entire thing for a replacement. Nearly impossible to disassemble and absolutely impossible to get back into that box. I asked if they could just replace the tray and they said no. Small discount, duck safe glue on the tray and it’s good as new. The spacing of the bars is great, I can pour water into her bowl from the top without opening it but nothing else can get inside either. The wheels roll nicely on my tile floor, and it’s SUPER easy to clean. Just roll it outside and hose it all down. The shelf on the bottom is convenient and seems to hold 4 bags of duck food (8lb bags) without making it sag in the middle. The cage is fairly heavy (more than I expected) but due to the quality so it’s acceptable. Takes a big space to assemble and easier with 2 people. Make sure you read the instructions first because the way the panels face matters.
Amber Steff –
Just got it in today, and overall so far so good. I got it for my Adult chinchilla, wanting him to have more room to run around in and for more toys.The box it came in was pretty big and for sure heavy, (dropped it on my toe and holy f*** did it hurt) but everything was in it that I needed. There was a total of 3 small dents/warps to a few parts of the cage, like where one part connected to another. I grabbed a small hammer and lightly knocked it back into place how I needed to, which I needed anyways cause as you go the hammer helps making sure everything lines up properly. The instructions confused me a bit here and there, but nothing that left me completely clueless. The little ramps and platforms that come with the cage aren’t bad, I like the little dips under each platform to connect and hang toys under. Connecting the ramps with the velcro was a hassle,, so plan well where you want to put them. Overall, the cage was in pretty good condition and I was able to securely build it.And I know there’s measurements in the description of the cage, but man did I not realize how big this thing was actually going to be. Im 5″4 and it’s JUST barely shorter than I am, and a little wider than an average doorframe. So yeah, its for sure big.Once I got my chin in there I left him alone and I plan to let him settle in his new home for tonight. If I remember to post a little update for long term I will, but so far so good
Bill Frisbee –
Great product. We got this for two new ferret additions to the family. Very solid. Shipping might be problematic. It was relatively easy to put together but this is not a light weight cage. It takes two people to move the shipping container around. When I got this, the two big plastic trays were cracked (the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars) and some of the components were slightly bent but it wasn’t difficult to bend back and once assembled, very solid. The cracked trays got a strip of duct tape and they are functional. (Got it as a Christmas present for a daughter so it sat in the garage, in hiding for a while before we discovered the problem).I really like the ability to compartmentalize the upper and lower cage. Basically you raise the ramp between the two and it latches onto a hook above. It did help with litter training the ferrets (it got old cleaning up 4 levels, 2 is much easier). The doors open so you can access everything. At first I thought it might be problematic keeping the fuzz butts from getting past me but they are pretty manageable and it wasn’t the problem I thought it might be. I did get the corner blockers (springs) and that actually helps keep the doors closed but care must be taken that they don’t slam, especially with a little rug shark in the way.One interesting tidbit, one of our ferrets can climb the outside of the cage with disturbing ease from the ground. I just have to blink and she is on top of the cage. Falling from that height can be dangerous so I’m looking into some way to prevent that.Overall I love it. Great product, very solid, easy to clean and there is no escape. Plenty of accessories too.
3 people found this helpful
Summer BSummer B –
Ok, I know I could’ve measured for an idea before ordering but it truly looks smaller in photos. I had to rearrange my entire room for this thing to work and not make me want to rip my hair out.A few wires were bent, but nothing crazy. It’s so sturdy (and heavy, it’s 60lbs) and it’s best to assemble with someone. I didn’t have a mallet so I used my hands. Works all the same way.The doors are really the selling point. It was so easy to put everything inside since there was so much room.If you have anything that I have inside, you can get an idea of how large this cage is. That being said, it’s 10x larger than you could imagine. Now I know why it’s so expensive!!!Overall, GREAT purchase. Thank you critter nation and thank you to the lovely delivery guy who had to deliver this.
Valeria Alessandra de Oliveira –
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Great cage! Very spacious and way larger than the other cage I have. Space bars are great, mostly if you’re to have litters. My rat is expecting so this will make it a lot easier to keep the kittens safe. I love the shelves, they are large which allows to place more hideouts around, hanging hammocks are a lot easier on horizontal bars. My rats love it. I put it up by myself so I wouldn’t consider too hard. It did took me longer than the ferret cage I have but because critter nation is bigger. I only had issues with one of the pegs from the top part of the cage that wasn’t aligned which I was able to fix it with butter knife lol I just placed the butter nice between both pegs and it separated a bit making it possible to attach it to the cage, the other issue was with one of the sides that the attachment part was higher so I just had to fix it with a mallet. I just hit it twice and could already attach. I didn’t see a big deal with that but because of that and the scratches that the cage came with, I’m giving 4 rather than 5 stars. I understand that type or material is easier to scratch but I feel for 234 dollars the cage should come in great conditions witj no scratches and it should come aligned. That will definitely be my to go cage from today on 🙂 I would just recommend more caution on the packaging so it wouldn’t have scratches and better alignment so there’s not need to use a mallet or other materials to adjust. Mostly if the you are putting the cage up by yourself, having to put parts together and separate pegs at the same time makes it a bit more difficult, not impossible but more difficult. Overall a great cage and I definitely recommend it
Well Meaning Plant Killer????Well Meaning Plant Killer???? –
I really like this cage but the doors are janky as all hell. Both of the doors are crooked on the same side, so its obviously a manufacturing defect. The cage door could be pushed open in the upper right corner. If it becomes a big issue if or when I get bigger, stronger animals than hamsters, I’ll just zip tye the top of the side that doesn’t latch in and can be pushed open.I was able to assemble by myself in 1 hour 20 minutes. That includes getting the dang box open, it was taped and stapled all up. A rubber mallet did come in handy a couple times. I didn’t have any issue with assembly whatsoever. Everything fit together perfectly, but a couple times I did need some pressure from the mallet to get the pieces in correctly.I put the wheels on right away and locked them and had no issue with the cage moving. But I’m also on carpet. And I built the cage upright, not on its side. I read somewhere that someone assembled it sideways by thwmselves, then had someone help them tip it upright once it was done being built.I’m saving up for some Bass Equipment 3″ SS floor pans and SS urine guards for the bottom floor and the upper levels as well. Just as soon as I come up with an extra $220, I just spent a ton of money on this cage lol!For a temporary solution I bought a cement mixing bin for the very bottom but it takes away at least 50 square inches from the floor. My Syrian is on the bottom, Dwarf on the top. The dwarf is adjusting just fine and not making much of a mess, but I bought a shop vac to help clean the cage out and the surrounding floor. The Syrian is starting to bar chew, but with a ton of chew toys, it has helped.UPDATE – I went ahead and spent an additional $340 and modified the cage with extra shelves, ramps, and Bass Equipment Stainless Steel pans and urine guards. When I save up more money, I want to buy 3 more Stainless Steel shelve pans and more urine guards.Overall, I love my cage for my 2 hamsters. Sometimes they still bar chew, that’s why more urine guards are on my to buy list.A con- when I more the cage to clean, it sways and I’m terrified the whole cage is going to topple down. That’s why I get on my hands and knees and push it from the very bottom instead of standing and pushing it.
2 people found this helpful
Black Cats RuleBlack Cats Rule –
We bought our first ferret last year and didn’t know much. We started with the PreVue Hendryx 485 cage. It was fine and well made, house two ferrets just fine. It was a pain to clean and only one door opened on each level. We upgraded to this cage, but the price tag made me very nervous with the negative reviews. Mostly shipping problems and boxes coming in smashed with damage to the parts. Our cage was delivered by Amazon in perfect condition. Super easy to assemble. It’s an amazing cage, super easy to clean, way bigger than the PreVue, and I’m very happy with it. We liked it so much we bought the add on. It’s probably over 7ft tall and we put their hammocks up top. Now 3 ferrets have a ton of room if they need to spend time in the cage (they’re free when we’re home). If you need to upgrade, don’t be afraid. We did add some cardboard to the bottom for poop splash and use pee pads which we buy at Costco and change daily. It’s a great cage and will last forever.
constance eustace –
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Omg. I feel like such a bonehead for resisting buying this cage for so long. For some reason I thought I would try some slightly cheaper cages first, and they were all absolute garbage compared to this cage, so all I did was waste a bunch of extra money. I heard so many good things about it, and yeah, it’s amazing. Don’t be like me. Seriously, it’s beyond worth it. It’s SO sturdy, solid, nice, and so convenient to use. I just have such better access to them in the cage, so I don’t always have to reach in there to pull them out to play with them. I find that I play with them way more being able to play with them while they’re in the cage, because they do make me itchy when I hold them. The whole front of the cage swings open, so I can kiss them and play with them and pet them without actually having them in my lap/arms. They love it. I love it. It’s awesome.
One person found this helpful
Em –
The box for the cage was all torn up when it arrived (it arrived like three days sooner than expected) and when I saw that I was a little scared it was a little destroyed. But, when I opened it everything was there, all the bolts you need. (I would suggest getting yourself a hammer to put it together even though it says no tools needed) because some of it needed to hit into place and shifted a little bit to fit perfectly. (which was the most frustrating part) Overall it is an AMAZING cage. My chinchillas love it and have slept better in this cage than I’ve ever seen them in their other cages. It’s worth the price and putting it together isn’t too hard. (The instructions make it 10x more complicated, there is a video on Youtube to show you) It’s a little over 5 ft tall and is very pretty (for a cage).
6 people found this helpful
MrsJohnsonfromWI –
This cage is most likely the best one on the market today. My shy little ferret, Dax, who is two and a half months old loves it, and so do I because of the awesome design.The thing we like most about our Critter Nation is that both the doors on each level open easing access to cleaning the platforms and maneuvering things around in the cage like the shelves, hammock, water bottle, litter pan, or hanging toys. I appreciate the platforms because without them, my ferret would have to walk on a wire floor. I’ve seen many cages that do not have them.The shelves are adjustable and are able to be positioned in three different heights, the cage is secured on locking wheels if you’d prefer, the shelf below the cage is perfect for storage and the ramps come with covers so your little pal won’t get his paw stuck between the wires.There is a lot to love about this cage, but there were some things that were not in perfect condition including the pieces not fitting together and one of the shelves being bent. This explains the missing star.The wire shelving is what the small platforms sit on. If the wire is bent like ours, the platform will not sit on the shelf correctly and you will have to try and straighten it out by stepping on it and trying to bend it back. The platform still sits incorrect so I use a water dish as a weight to hold it in place.During assembly, only installing the short side panels on both levels were a hassle. The panels would not fit into the grooves on the base underneath them and we needed to use a pipe wrench with a towel between and use the wrench (or mallet) to pound the piece into place. It worked just fine 🙂
3 people found this helpful
boicat –
This is very sturdy looking cage, roomy and huge! I was by myself when I received it, so no choice but to set it up on my own. It is very heavy, I had to take out the parts outside, brought them in a few at a time. I followed the directions initially. You need to get it right the first time, otherwise it will be a pain to disassemble to put it back the right way. All parts fit together without screws (except for the bottom shelf). I accidentally had the bottom shelf upside down, the short bars were up instead of long bars.. slightly annoying but I wasn’t about to re-do it. Anyway, it’s a good investment for your pets. I recommend if you don’t mind the assembly part.
Bill –
I was a bit concerned ordering a cage over the net, sight unseen but we were pleasantly surprised. It is nicely made and for the price, I cannot imagine a nicer quality one. It is very heavy and the paint will not chew or flake off, at least not for our little chewer. The only issue we have had is that our little pet is a ‘super chewer’ and loved to chew on the edges of the plastic shelving so we just replaced them with pieces of wood so she can chew away and we just replace it as needed. She never totally destroyed the heavy plastic shelving but we were concerned she may be swallowing it.