Savic Plaza 120 Hamster Cage Review

Maz

Maz

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This is a review of the Savic Plaza 120 Hamster cage. Also called the Savic Plaza XL. Also below is a "setting up" video.

Cage Size and bar spacing

This cage has maxiumum external measurements of 118cm by 64 xcm deep by 52cm high. The minimum internal measurements (between the bars) are approximately 112.5cm by 58.5 cm by 50cm inner height. This is still a great size – especially the extra depth of 58.5cm. It makes it about 10cm (4 inches) deeper than the standard Savic Plaza, giving a lot more floor area.

It has 0.9cm bar spacing officially, although I measured the gap between the bars as 0.8cm (ie 8mm). It has two large access doors – one on top and one on the front. The door on the front is the same size as the one on the standard Savic Plaza (the 100cm one). The door on top is also the same size.

It’s a really big cage. It’s obviously much larger than the Standard Savic Plaza cage but not overwhelmingly so and just feels like a larger Savic Plaza cage without being too large to handle.

The base is 15cm deep (internal height) and seems fairly strong. It has quite thick, reinforced corner areas, and a fairly thick rim around the edge – presumably for strengthening with a base that large.



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Price

The price is £114. Which is a really good price for such a large cage, considering all cage prices are so high these days, and there are many costing a lot more than that. (Edit: As of 2024, this is being sold for £100 with free postage, by Pets at Home).


Assembly

Assembly is the same as for the standard Savic Plaza cage, whereby the panels of bars slide into corner struts and end caps are then fitted to keep it securely in place. It can be slightly fiddly and it’s easier to put the bars together on the floor and then lift the top into place onto the base. The first time I put it together it went together fairly quickly and easily. The second time it took longer for some reason. It’s easy to get one of the bar panels the wrong way round or upside down! It’s easier if you can put it together somewhere with plenty of space around you.

The roof comes ready assembled and needs to be pushed into place once the bars are assembled.

Once it’s assembled it is fairly sturdy and the whole barred top can be lifted onto the base without much difficulty.

The corner cap pieces appear to be identical to those on the standard Plaza, although I haven’t tested that. So it’s possible to have “spare parts” from a standard Plaza if needed.

It has two metal handles at either end of the bars to clip the bars down securely to the cage base.

Contents


The contents seem to be the same as for the standard Savic Plaza. The same green shelf and ladder and the same Savic Rolly wheel, which isn’t big enough. Plus a bottle and bowl and small plastic house. I didn’t use any of the contents. The plastic house isn’t suitable for sleeping in (although a hamster might like it as a treat store perhaps). I already have a bottle and food dish and large wheel.

I would have used the green shelf and ladder – but wanted to keep the cage set up layout the same as the previous standard Plaza cage, for familiarity with it being an upgrade. So had a wood shelf made the same as the one in the previous cage, but longer. (A couple of places on ebay sell them cut to size with the fixings).

If anyone is interested in using a wood shelf like that, mine is 25cm deep by 58.3cm wide. You need to cut small corners off the shelf at the back (as with the standard Plaza cage) due to the curved corner supports. My shelf came with pre drilled holes for screwing into and then you just screw it into place with screws and washers. If you have tools and are ok with minor diy, it's easy enough to just drill small holes yourself into the right sized piece of wood.

As the cage is so much larger, the green shelf and ladder could work much better because it won’t take up as much space and could be good for a quick easy set up. I still don’t like the holes at the front of the green shelf, which are large enough to get a hamster foot caught in, possibly - although have never heard of this actually being an issue. They are there as ladder supports. Some people have stuffed paper bedding in the holes to rectify that. Another option would be to cover the shelf with cardboard or hemp mat or similar, that goes right up to the edges, so the holes aren’t visible or able to be walked over.


Access and positioning the cage


Access is very good due to having the same lovely big front door as the standard Savic Plaza – plus a large top door. The top door is the same size and really helps when trying to attach something to the back (ie holding something inside while you try and put screws etc in on the outside).
Because the cage is so deep I could actually get quite a bit of my upper body through the front door! To arrange things inside the cage. The extra depth makes it a lot easier.

It takes some planning when setting up and deciding what height you want the cage to sit at.
I wanted the cage at the same height as before (on top of a 78cm ish cupboard) so the front access door is about waist height. But that means it’s not easy to reach or use the top door. Without standing on a stool or something.

If you want to mainly use the top door, then having the cage on something lower, like a coffee table, would make that easier. But then you need to kneel to use the front door. So things to think about in terms of what height to have the cage at.
 
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Setting up the cage

For an extra large cage, I found it easier to have the cage on the stand or cupboard where it’s going to live – before setting it up. Once it’s set up it would be quite heavy and awkward to lift – and would definitely need two people to lift and carry it. Before it’s set up it’s quite light and easy to lift and put on top of something. If you put the base in place first and then lift the bars onto the base. I put the whole thing together myself without needing any help. I only had some help to hold the small back shelf in place while screwing it in from behind, just because it was stiff to screw into (the starter holes weren't big enough on that shelf).

Bedding panels can be attached to the bars to stop bedding falling out, or to have deeper bedding, or to reduce the height of the cage (eg cardboard or Perspex). If using something like Perspex ones that bolt on, it would be easier to attach those before adding any substrate. As I found the hard way! I dropped a screw and it took me about twenty minutes to find it – it’s amazing how they can just disappear. I had to take a load of bedding out again to find it. And then the same thing happened again with a wing nut!

On the other hand, it’s easier to add the first half of the bedding into the base before you put the bars on. So the easiest option is probably to attach The bedding panels to the bars, before putting the bars on top of the base. Eg

  • Mostly fill the base with bedding
  • Attach bedding panels to the bars before adding the bars to the base and clipping in place
  • Add more bedding through the front or top door.
I used the Perspex bedding panels I had for the standard Savic Plaza cage. This meant they weren't long enough and there were some gaps in places but I don’t think the odd gap is a problem as regards bedding falling through the bars, although it might a little bit. So I left my gaps mainly at the side and back! I put cardboard in one gap but it will probably get chewed off! For a hamster that doesn’t chew cardboard, then cardboard is an easy, cheap option.

Plenty of space for large items

There is a lot of scope for setting up, due to the size and it’s easy to fit quite a few large items in – like large shelves or houses, and other large items like cork logs and other large logs. And still have plenty of floorspace.

In terms of a wheel – the bedding depth will be limited to about 17cm deep in the wheel area, with a 12” wheel. Although the cage is 50cm tall (interior height), the curved roof bars limit how high a wheel can sit (if screwed to the bars). I just have a slightly lower area of bedding in front of the wheel and about 20cm or more in the rest of the cage. This took a LOT of bedding! I used most of a 10kg bag of Fitch plus about half the bedding from the standard Plaza cage!

For a dwarf hamster, with a 21cm wheel you could have the bedding much deeper in this cage – with bar panels.

Turning it into a tank – at a cost

Viking Laser said they are planning to make their Perspex panels for the Plaza 120 - either full height or part height – once they have the cage in front of them to make a template. Perspex panels aren’t cheap though – I’d rather use cardboard for that reason (which I’ve done in Pip the Robo’s cage because he doesn’t chew cardboard!). But it does mean that if someone wanted to turn it into a Perspex tank – it’s possible. It would make it an expensive cage that way though – with the cost of the cage plus the cost of the Perspex. But still cheaper than a glass tank probably.


What to stand it on

Because the base is so large and deep, it needs a deep enough surface to stand on. Mine is on top of a cupboard that is about 93cm long by 43cm deep. The footprint of the cage base is quite a bit bigger than that, so there is a bit of overhang at both ends and front and back. I put hemp mat between the base and the cupboard so it didn’t slip around easily, but once it’s fully set up (and heavier) it’s quite sturdy and stays well in place. You can also get silicone table mats which would work well for a non slip mat under a cage at the ends (I have some but found I didn’t need them).

Impressions

I absolutely love this cage. It's the best cage I've ever had. It ticks so many boxes I could say it's my perfect cage. I can't find anything to quibble about. I really liked the standard Savic Plaza, but the 50cm depth always felt a bit narrow and limiting and I missed the extra depth of the Barney cage (54cm) - but didn't miss the small doors at the front of the Barney cage! 4cm extra depth (just under 2") might not sound a lot, but it really makes a difference as it's along the whole length of the cage. Whereas the Plaza 120 has almost 10cm extra depth! It really does make it a lovely sized cage and it all seems in proportion.

I won't lie I had some slight freak moments before it arrived wondering how big it would be and where I would put it. And as some people on here know, I had to do a bit of furniture rearranging . But once it arrived it just seemed like what it is - a bigger Savic Plaza Hamster cage - big enough to be great but not overwhelmingly large to fit in a house!

Surprisingly, once it was set up in the same place as the previous standard Plaza cage, it didn't seem to take up much more room - although obviously is longer and deeper. There are some before and after photos of that on the video below.

With the 0.8cm bar spacing (ie 8mm bar spacing) it would be suitable for all species of hamster (except some smaller robos perhaps). It would need deeper bedding for dwarf hamsters due to the height, to effectively reduce the height of the cage and make it safe for a dwarf hamster. For a Syrian hamster you can easily manage 20cm of bedding or more in places, except in the wheel area, with a 12" wheel.

Edit: Just to add - I have no financial interest in the cage or in Savic :) And mine was bought (as a birthday present).

Setting up Video - below (includes Raffy exploring the cage)

 
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Those were just snippets from the videos :) I might post a bit more of him exploring the cage on his thread in another video.
 
I am so so impressed!

What a fabulous set up and fantastic review. So detailed and easy to follow that people will go back to it to use it as a reference and guide.

Raffy has this amazed look about him that it really is all his. Lucky hamster.


Thank you so much for this, Maz.
 
Aw thank you :) . That was partly the idea - and as requested - to show how things were set up. There are many ways to set up a cage though. After initially being a bit surprised at the odd thing, Raffy has settled in straight away with no issues. Which is why it's so important to keep things smelling familiar and layout the same - as we all know. He does sniff the bars occasionally looking a bit confused so clearly he can smell the bars are different.
 
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