Kaytee 10 Gallon Aquarium Tank Topper Add On Habitat for Pet Gerbils, Hamsters or Mice

I've never actually used one of these before, but the hamster I just adopted needed more room and this was the most affordable option. It fits perfect and is easy to remove for cleaning. The top access door is fairly large, which is great.

I'm stuck between 3 and four stars for this tank topper. Overall it's done it's job and my hamsters love running around all over the top levels and their favorite place to eat is from the little food bowl on top that came with the topper (I'm not sure why but they both greatly prefer eating out of that one). Since I have two sisters in one cage, they never have to be near each other if they don't want to be and that's cut down on any aggression between the two (though there was hardly any to begin with). This has given them so much more room and they can now run on a huge wheel and burrow in their nesting corner of the tank while still having lots of room to run around. If they could review this topper, they would absolutely give it five out of five. But as a concerned pet owner there's a few things I'm not a hug fan of.Number one, the bars are kind of weak. I think if a hamster was really determined they could either chew through them or slip through them. I would absolutely not house a roborovski in this tank/topper combo because they could absolutely slip their tiny bodies through the bars since the bars move so easily. That being said, I have two sister Campbell dwarfs that love in this setup and they are both way too big to even stick their noses all the way out. I'm not worried about them escaping at all. Now if you have an escape artist for a pet, the bars are too flimsy and the top opening is too easily removed to house them safely.Number two, cleaning is kind of difficult. Not the topper itself persay, but the cleaning process with the topper. To get the wheel, houses, or bottom level food bowl out, I have to take the whole topper off and set it down somewhere in order to be able to do anything with the bottom portion. I've gotten used to it, since they like to pee all over their wheel and I have to clean it every other day, but I always end up getting bedding and poops all over the place from setting the topper down. It's super unconvienient because now I have to put a towel down, take the topper off and clean the towel any time I need to get to the bottom tank portion of the cage even if it's just to fill a food bowl.Number three, and probably most upsetting, the water bottle doesn't work at all. I had the bottle that came with the topper set up down in the tank. My hamsters used it frequently until I noticed that they were trying way harder than they should have needed to. They were biting it and yanking on it and even hitting it with their paws and nothing was coming out. They had had it for several days and even though I had seen them drinking out of it, the water level was the same, meaning they weren't getting any water from it. I went that day and got them a new water bottle and set that up in there and they were franticly drinking from it as if they had never had any water before. I felt so bad and felt as if I had failed them so I stopped using the topper one immediately and just used the one I got from Walmart and now they are properly hydrated. Endangering my hamsters life like that I should give this product 0 stars, but the topper itself is a good product and my hamsters really enjoy it now that they're not being deprived of water, which is why I'm able to give this product between 3 and 4 stars. I'll be contacting th company and asking for a replacement bottle.

It would probably work best if you got an actual cage rather than a tank topper. The good cage that I want to get for my rats, however, is $60+. This tank topper was $25.48 when I bought it. I got free shipping on it. I got a plain 10 gallon tank from Wal-Mart for $10 (+ Tax). This is my cage, for $35.48.This is not the best product in the world, that I know of. This is my first 'cage' and my first set of rats. So far, I am really satisfied.Opening and closing the cage part is somewhat difficult, but at the same time that is a good thing. Both of my rats have I believe tried to open their cage and get out. They are very smart rats.. they pick up their food bowl and they move it around.The metal was somewhat bent when I first got the product, but it was barely noticable. It was probably just how it was supposed to be, and I was just paranoid about my rats escaping and meeting my dogs...The cage part securely attaches to the tank. The rats love to climb around on the cage. They hardly ever use the steps. They hop up onto the housing part, and then they ninja leap up to the cage and start climping around like spiderman holding onto the wires.My rats have a lot of fun climbing up and down this tank topper. They absolutely love the included house. They go in there, and they snuggle up and go to sleep.The food dish goes into a hole that is in one of the planks at the top. My rats have moved the food bowl out, and now use this hole as a place to go in and out from the top part.I do not use the water bottle that was included with this cage topper. It fits into a spot on the housing area. My rats would not like this very much and would probably try to move this as well. Also, if they run out of water, I don't want to have to try and get to the very bottom of the cage to get them new water. Also, the bottle is only 2 ounces. I got a 4 ounce water bottle and have it attached to the side.Overall? I am really satisfied with this product, and I think that anyone else out there would be too. This is great for first time rat owners, and it would be good for other rat owners as well.EDIT--This is still a good cage. However, not good for rats. Rats are better to be kept in actual cages rather than tanks. The tanks are not healthy for their lungs, and actually pose a danger to them by opening them up to the possibility of having respiratory issues. I don't advise that you get this just to save money. If you have a small animal, like a hamster, mouse, something like that, then this will work. But this will not work for two large dumbo rats. They are cramped, and it is dangerous for them.This product is still holding up, if not getting better. At first it was hard to open and close the door. After using it, it is now much easier to open and close.Again, still good product. Just not for rats.

No discrepancies here. Couldn't chew through it. Fit nicely. Secured unit

We inherited a not great small plastic cage with the gerbil we rescued. Wanting to give her a much deeper space to burrow, this tank topper seemed to be the ideal thing to get for her!Note, you need a RIMMED 10 gallon tank for this. I had hoped to use my 10 gallon that I had shut down for this purpose, but it didn't have a rim on top and was therefore not useable. I had to purchase a new tank for this set up.Our gerbil LOVES the deep substrate in the tank now, compared to the previous habitat she had. But she's still capable of making a mess outside of the bars of the cage with her substrate haha! This girl banks it up quite high!We have since replaced her included dish with one she couldn't chew (and had to make the hole larger on her platform to contain the dish to keep her from toppling her food out).I would love to have a larger, one piece snap on platform to better hold her sand bath.Overall very happy with this purchase, and it looks more "grown up" in the 11 year old's room vs the small kid-centric colours of the previous habitat.

It took about 2 hours for the mice to figure out that they could slip through the bars on the corners. A hamster is large enough to not fit but a mouse slipped right through.I had to take the mice I rescued back to the rescue facility

I have mixed feelings about this tank topper. I find setting up the platforms extremely frustrating. There's also the potential for a serious fall unless you fill your tank all the way to the top with bedding like I did. Despite these two things I'm actually very happy with my purchase and do reccomend this tank topper for Gerbils. Although I may have to replace the plastic platforms and ramps with wooden ones (depending on whether or not my Gerbils chew them) I overall got the outcome I was hoping to achieve.I also like that it gives my cat the opportunity to view the Gerbils in a safe way (although I NEVER leave them unsupervised).**Please keep in mind that if you're going to keep your Hamster or Gerbil in a cage this size you should be providing ample exercise and stimulation outside of it.**

This delivered exactly what was promised -- it doubles the space for your gerbils or similar small pets in a 10-gallon aquarium. No problem assembling it or attaching it to the top of our aquarium. The gerbils love it, though they use it mainly at night, perhaps because it may seem a little exposed to them up there during the day. Only drawbacks: as other reviewers have mentioned, the gerbils got to work right away gnawing the plastic ramps (which themselves seem to have rather weak areas where they bend), so bits are missing already -- not sure how long they will last! Also, the gerbils seem to be using the platforms as their toilet (makes sense, since it is the furthest area from their bedding below), so the cage is rather more smelly than before, and requires more cleaning ... and they are now able to kick their food and poo out of the cage, which didn't happen previously. Otherwise fine -- seems sturdy, and the trapdoor on top closes tightly.

Great idea, but it doesn’t fit properly on top of the aquarium. I had to duct tape it down so my hamster doesn’t escape. In turn, making it very difficult to clean the cage as I have to remove all tape and then re tape when done.