Ware Manufacturing Chew Proof High Rise Pet Cage for Small Pets

3/8-inch Bar Spacing and Other Facts
Before I purchased this, I looked up all over the internet trying to find info on the wire bar spacing of this high rise cage and could not find it. So, I took a chance and ordered it anyway. Now, I can share with others the bar space measurement, which is very important to know when you have small pets! The bar spaces are 3/8-inch(which is 1 cm). I got it to use for mice and have not had any trouble with escapees. There was one corner where one bar is distanced further, so I cross-wrapped some wire around that small spot, so that I wouldn’t have to worry about my mice making the great escape. I would recommend going over the cage before you put your pets in to make sure there are no areas like this…all it takes is one spot a little wider than the others and small mice or hamsters can slip out.Also, in the item description here on Amazon it says the measurements of the cage are: 19-1/2-inch width by 11-inch depth by 10-1/2-inch height. However, this is not the actual measurement. As stated on the box it comes in the measurements are: 20 1/2 width by 10 3/4 depth and 10 1/2 inch height. This fits perfectly on a ten gallon aquarium. Also, the Amazon description says that it comes with a wheel and tunnel tubes, which it does not. I am going to email Amazon, so that they can correct the description. It does come with a water bottle and food dish. I already have a water bottle, though, so I didn’t even try this one. (edited to add that I tried the water bottle just to see if it works…it leaks like crazy! With some adjustment, I got it to stop leaking out the metal ball part, but then it started leaking at the seam where it screws together…so it went in the garbage!)This cage comes folded up with all the sides all ready connected to the top, so you just attach the J hooks of the sides together and then attach the shelves and ramps inside. It comes with two shelves and two ramps, which with the aquarium makes it a three story house. I didn’t have any trouble assembling it…it just takes a little patience attaching the shelves inside, as you have to maneuver your hands and the shelves around the inside of the cage to connect them. They are also attached with J hooks. It says you don’t need any tools, but I borrowed my Dad’s pliers to pinch the J hooks tighter where the ramps connect to the shelves. My mouse that I had in another cage always got under the ramp and would bump it(maybe trying to move it) and when I tested these ramps by putting my hand under them and giving them a bump, they lifted right off. I didn’t want my mice getting hurt by falling ramps, so I just pinched those hooks tighter with the pliers and now they are secure.When I was considering buying this, I was confused by the conflicting reviews, as some said it was great and others said it had broken and bent wires, etc. But, I knew Amazon always gives 100% refund if an item arrives damaged, so I went ahead and ordered it. No problem with mine, so hopefully the company that makes these has better quality control now.On the box, it states the cage is for hamsters, gerbils, mice, and rats. I really can’t imagine a rat having enough room in there when they’re full grown, but I’ve never had a rat before(only mice), so maybe I’m not the one to say. I just always love my pets to have plenty of room and for mice, this gives them lots of fun space. The mice cages at pet stores seem so small, so I had been using a big plastic bin, but this is much nicer(no plastic…yay!) and easier to view the little critters. It has a large snap door opening in the top, so you can reach in to interact with your pets. The cage is easy to lift off…you just lift the spring loaded clamps on each side and it lifts right off. Those clamps are attached to the cage and you pull them down to clamp under the black rim of your aquarium. But, they are SPRING loaded, so if you have children, be sure they know not to fiddle with them…when I first took the cage off the aquarium, I just snapped them up and they jumped up like a gerbil…you wouldn’t want a child’s hand to get hurt or startle the inhabitants of the cage. The cage feels secure on top of the tank; I tried rocking it back and forth and it stays securely. I have found it works great for mice.I made an extra shelf to put on the second story, so now the second story is a full floor. I used metal grating like the type used for these shelves. I got it at a hardware store (I got the more expensive kind, because the less expensive kind had rough metal). I cut it to size with overlap on the front and back…that way the overlap is what holds it in place when I clamp the cage on. I attached felt around all the edges to cover any sharp points where it was cut with wire cutters.

Low quality but gerbils love it!
The most important part of this review is that the gerbils love it and I do believe it is safe for them. Otherwise it’s a train wreck that you spend a good deal of time (and zip ties!) trying to monkey rig!-Assembling it was an exercise in patience! Every time I got the floor attached to the wall, it got bumped and fell off again. It was SO frustrating! On the lower platform, one side did not have a hook to hold it to the side wall so it drooped. We fixed it with a zip tie in that corner.-The ladders are a JOKE and the gerbils have them knocked off and on the floor in a matter of hours! However, they don’t really need the ladders. They jump from the shavings in the tank and climb up the wire bars. They have a blast doing it, too! I did, however, secure the ladders in place with zip ties. I realize the gerbils could easily (and quickly) chew through the zip ties but even if they did only the ladder or platform falls and they are still secure inside the enclosure.-The topper did fit with no gaps on top of the tank, however it would slide off one way or the other leaving the whole topper leaning. My husband fixed this by bending the wires at the bottom that hugged the tank. Now it sits correctly.-A couple of the wire bars had separated from where they were welded. This has not caused a problem. The wires are close enough together that I don’t believe the gerbils could fit through the gap and even if they could, they would have to apply tremendous pressure (for a gerbil) to that specific loose wire. However, for the price, I was VERY disappointed to find loose wires.-The water bottle and dish that came with the topper went straight to the trash. I didn’t really care because we already had a ceramic dish (they would have chewed up the plastic dish that it came with) and a glass chew-proof water bottle (because they ate a dozen plastic ones before that!).-I gave this product 4 stars despite the issues we have had because the gerbils love it SO MUCH and that was the purpose of buying it! For the price, I certainly think it shouldn’t require pliers, zip ties or monkey rigging but in the end, everything was fixable to our satisfaction.-One thing to consider, because this has bars, predators (ie. cats) can reach in and potentially injure the small animal inside. This is obviously not an issue when they live only in the tank. We had to move our tank to a place the cat could not reach because he managed to get his “fingers” through the bars and trap one of our gerbils against the wire. She did not appear injured but I was right there when it happened and if I hadn’t, it could have been much worse!Overall, I am glad we got it, but am disappointed with the amount of work we had to put into it to make it usable.

Pretty neat design. With the wire cage, you can add your own additions and whatnot. We have an 8″ wheel for our Gerbil to run on that actually fits on the bottom level of this (hung from the very top), and we wired in a wooden platform as well… I like it that we can put his food on the top level, which keeps wood chips out of it — and allows us to see how much food he has left or needs. The water bottle is also attached, and having it on the outside (with the spout inside) is a big plus – he’s less likely to move it around and inadvertently get water dropping onto his bedding. The bottle that it comes with, though, is plastic — I don’t trust gerbils with anything plastic, so we replaced that with a thick glass one. These toppers basically double the floor space for your pet, but allow you the benefit of using an aquarium tank, which keeps bedding and wood chips from spilling out (or to a minimum). At first, our gerbil wasn’t too confident going up and down the longer ladder, but within a week he was moving up and down at will without any problems.

After searching high and low and pricing out many different options I decided to try this. My son has a pet rat that has been kept in his 10 gallon aquarium since Christmas and while that seemed good as a baby, now seems a little small and boring for her. We could fit little else in there except her hiding tube and food bowls. I was curious if she would like this and if it would be as good as the design, but for anyone with limited space this is a fantastic option. It was awesome to see Lola climb the ladder and investigate the levels as soon as I assembled and attached it to the top of the aquarium. My son is easily able to remove the top to clean out her home. It looks neat and tidy and best of all still keeps all her bedding inside the aquarium as opposed to other type cages. (she likes to push it all up in one corner or another to hide her treats) I would highly recommend this purchase to anyone looking for more space for their little critter it’s just too bad I can’t charge Lola rent to pay for supplies! lol

Yes it was a bit hard to put together because its was not a perfect fit, but once it was put together its great! Lol we put plastic food wrap around it only because our gerbils started making a bed on the top level and all the bedding would fall out. When I get another fish tank I will be buying another one of these for my next one!! Thank you!