Ugh! The hex cage takes 2 1/2 hours to clean every week! And it's still gross anyway because there's so many nooks and crannies I can't get to!
My quad lives in there.
I'm seriously thinking about just getting a madagascar cage for them instead. I have one for my duo and its SOOOO much easier to clean! It would be quite a bit smaller for my quad though.
I love my babies, but I hate breaking my back every week!
Would it be wrong to get a madagascar cage for my quad when they're in such a nice big cage already?
(Making a cage is out of the question)
Thanks.

I would say go for the Madagascar! Cleaning is important. In my opinion.

I think a bigger environment is really important though. We rarely clean our cages except bowls/trays/toys. They actually don't get very messy. Consider creating a glider kitchen so that food stays in one area at the bottom of the cage, that would at least help.

Awww! Astockd1 I know you're right but ugh! We actually use two dining rooms and an "upstairs" dish (one of our males wasn't getting food from the dining rooms) but they like to grab and go, and the hex cage has serious nooks and crannies regardless! It's just such a pain. I'll tough it out for now...but around 2 hours into cleaning I always start to change my mind again lol!

Did you try using a toilet brush? I have the Large Sturdy HQ cage for my trio and they love the size. I ended up getting a pot scrubbing brush just today instead of the toilet brush because the toilet brushes looked so large and awkward for using on the cage. It's funny, they never seem that way when cleaning the toilets, .

I just did a full clean using the steamer a week ago and I had one of those kinds of sponges with the scrubby side. The sliding doors that are zip tied along the front of the cage rip the sponges and rags up, so I'm hoping the brush will work better all around and help get between the bars even better. I also just recently noticed that the doors get wookie in between because they're so tightly closed with the zip ties that it's not fully cleaning them, YUCK, so I understand the kind of thing you must be having such a time with, however I can fix my issues more easily, I'm in the process of switching to all removable zip ties on the front.

Now I know the Madagascar cage well, I had one of those and loved it as well. I had my pair of girls in there and then the trio. This is a very decent size cage and should comfortably house four gliders nicely. I understand it's downsizing a bit, and space is very important. But I also believe that a sanitary cage is very important as well, and after all you don't want bacteria developing in those areas. I think with proper designing, they would do fine adjusting to the Madagascar cage, but if you could swing the expense, the Congo would be a better choice. I understand it's more costly, and as I stated, the Madagascar should be okay for them if you make sure the entire space can be utilized.

Yeah, I use a toilet brush now too ever since someone on this site mentioned it! It helps a litte. It's such a pain that I can't reach 3/6 sides of the cage though! I have a steamer too. It's sort of hard to explain but crud ends up being caught in all this little places on the bottom because of the cage design and in particular the center section has a tiny gap along the length which just just collects pee and is literally impossible to clean unless you disassemble it.

I may be able to fit the Congo cage in its place and that would be a fair trade, but, my husband isn't sold yet!

Have him clean it once . JK.

Try suggesting that you can sell the hexagonal cage to get a bit of your money back. Even if you cleaned it up real good after taking it apart, if you could even get a hundred for it, that's a good chunk toward new cage.

Lol TJones I already suggested that to him and he's not willing!
The hex cage would have to be disassembled and lord knows how someone would transport it...what a freakishly awkward cage it is! No worries, I'll tough it out a while longer. When I'm completely fed up, I'll get a different one. I had the same thought..try to sell it on Craigslist, even $100 would help,pay for the new cage!


The biggest reason to keep the hex cage right now is I dont want to stress my quad out by giving them a different cage than the one they've known pretty much their whole lives. Oh well!

I don't believe it would stress them out at all. Just put their stuff in there, with at least half straight from their original cage so it's scented like them. Also, if you'd feel better about it, after wiping it down you could rub some of their fleece items on the bars to help, but it's not really necessary.

My two girls came with a cage (they had for about a year before I homed them), I had them less than a year when I replaced it (due to some rust spots) with the Madagascar cage. They stayed in a PP cage, their vacation cage temporarily while I waited for the new cage to be delivered. Then they went into the Madagascar cage, no problem and even located in a different room (from spare room to our bedroom). When I homed Ollie, he had two cages, a mesh one, that was a good size for two to three gliders for travel and his home cage, which I didn't get because it was so big and it was planned that he would be in the Madagascar cage with my girls anyway eventually. So after successful introductions, they all three lived in the Madagascar cage, no problem. Then we moved across country a few months later, they all lived in a vacation Glide-Arium for the road trim, and the large screened (mesh) enclosure of Ollie's after we arrived in new location. So another big change all around plus a new enclosure for the girls. They all adjusted so well and quickly. Then after a little over a month, I got them the Large Sturdy HQ cage, which is the current one they still have, I did haul that baby back with me when I moved back across country. So all the new locations, new cages and all, they all always adjusted just fine, as long as they were fed.

The only issues I had was with our relationship, as out of cage time was not available to them for several months. After I figured how I could swing it, months after the move, it still didn't happen as regularly has it once did, and the tent was very different than the bathroom play, they had grown a little skittish by then, and was able to build a little bond back up. Then we moved back (me and the critters) and it took a while again for me to be able to get them out for playtime, but we've been going pretty good now with regular playtime and they're almost back to how they once were with me.