Wheels

Oh well - fingers crossed then. But Tino is quite heavy!
 
Apparently you can turn the silent runner wheel into an open wheel with this front attachment. It is no good for hamsters as it has a grid/mesh surface, but I suppose you could stick a cork running track on it and make an open. silent 12" wheel :-)

Silent Runner PRO 12″ Wheel with Stand – Sugar Glider Shop

sugarglidershop.co.uk sugarglidershop.co.uk
 
In terms of reliability and long life, the silent runners are the only ones I've ever had that last for years with no issues. But these days I just dislike assembling and disassembling them now I have some joint issues. But just for future reference! And actually the plastic trixie 28cm ones tend to last quite well as well - and are usually quiet, if not silent. The most reliable open wheels were the rodipet wood and cork ones but they don't make those any more. Much as I love the trixie wood one (pets at home one looks similar) they nearly always break! And often need a bit of sanding.
 
Maz said:
In terms of reliability and long life, the silent runners are the only ones I've ever had that last for years with no issues. But these days I just dislike assembling and disassembling them now I have some joint issues. But just for future reference! And actually the plastic trixie 28cm ones tend to last quite well as well - and are usually quiet, if not silent. The most reliable open wheels were the rodipet wood and cork ones but they don't make those any more. Much as I love the trixie wood one (pets at home one looks similar) they nearly always break! And often need a bit of sanding.
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The companies need to hire home based wheel testers. I think Socks would be keen ❤️🛞
 
Yes it would be good to get hamsters to test them and give a seal of approval! I think the companies don't care - they just want to sell things! It's rare to get a refund for one that breaks too soon, unless you get it from Amazon. Thinking about it though, it's an important engineering skill making good hamster wheels. So many were bad at one time - they would do a scissors effect (where they looked wobbly when going round as it wasn't spinning exactly straight). Many of the stands used to be unsafe as well as the wheels.

I don't think anyone has produced the perfect wheel yet though! Like there is no perfect cage or enclosure either. Hard plastic ones can crack, soft plastic ones can be chewed. Wood ones can get stained and be chewed. Bearings go if they get wet.......... Silent wheels are good though.
 
It’s here. It’s the same colour as Higgins 28cm one - a sort of orangey pink - which is ok - as long as it’s not black or turquoise! Raffy’s old one is like green which I liked but don’t feel ready to use that one again yet and already has the pink one.

It’s come with the stand unattached. Haven’t had that before. So whether it’s supposed to be like that or it came unattached in the post I don’t know.

I might get chance to put it together and try it tomorrow.

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Hmm. Well I can see what you mean about it nodding. Already it leans slightly at the bottom and knocks on the stand if you spin it, and it spins wonky as well. So it's going back!

Back to the drawing board .....
 
Oh ☹️ Perhaps review it to let others know it's bad? Yes, the knocking is awful, now I remember. I thought mine was OK for a few weeks and then broke down. I'm tempted to get Socks an Omlet cage with a new wheel, but still at the planning stage. I'll have to see how much spare cash Mom had got 😀
 
The Omlet wheel is sold on its own as well :-) It's the same wheel as the one that comes with the cage.
 
Mom decided to go ahead and buy the whole cage 😁 She likes the easier access it offers for cleaning and handling and it should be easier to move around in the flat. Updates on the way!
 
That sounds exciting. It will be smaller than the 120 plaza socks is used to so you might find he wants to come out more often.
 
Socks Mum said:
Oh ☹️ Perhaps review it to let others know it's bad? Yes, the knocking is awful, now I remember. I thought mine was OK for a few weeks and then broke down. I'm tempted to get Socks an Omlet cage with a new wheel, but still at the planning stage. I'll have to see how much spare cash Mom had got 😀
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I can't really review it if I'm sending it back - also it might just be the one I've got - plenty of Amazon reviews seem happy with it (but then people tend to review when just getting something and it might go later). To me it isn't nearly as stable as the 28cm one. It's the same stand and fixing and it probably needs a stronger arrangement at the back for the extra size. I do like it otherwise.
 
Maz said:
That sounds exciting. It will be smaller than the 120 plaza socks is used to so you might find he wants to come out more often.
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Yes, he is a bit lost in the 120 now that he is a bit slower. I'm hoping to put a bank of bedding against the perspex to see him snoozing if he tunnels near the edge of the cage ❤️
 
My wheel progress got interrupted by jiggering my laptop yesterday. I splashed a few drops of tea on the keyboard. Thought I’d get away with it and wiped them off but unfortunately not - it switches on but is typing gobbledegook. So I was suddenly without my laptop yesterday and it made my brain freeze! I couldn’t get on with organising anything! I don’t like typing on my phone much (which I am at the moment) and need a proper keyboard and big screen to get anything done. I’m leaving the laptop to dry out for a couple of days and hopefully it will be ok!

Meanwhile I dug out my old netbook and set that up so I could at least use a laptop again and access all my files online and passwords etc!

So I’m switching between the netbook (which is very slow) and my phone - depending on which feels the least tedious at the time ha ha.

So that is a long explanation for why I haven’t sent the trixie wheel back yet or decided on another wheel.

However - when getting the flying saucer out if a cupboard I also found a wood wheel stand. And I think it might be the one from Raffy’s 32cm Rodipet wheel. I thought I had sawed that up to make a wood piece for screwing the wheel to the bars - but I’m pretty sure it’s a Rodipet stand so maybe I used the piece of wood from a different sawed up stand (ie Pip’s Rodipet 9” wheel).

So it looks like I might be able to use the 32cm Rodipet wheel in the playpen instead - IF I can Remember where I put the wing nut from the back of the wheel! I had a sort out last year and moved a lot of hanster stuff upstairs into a storage box and can’t remember where things are now 😂. Some are upstairs, some downstairs.

I had planned to give the 32 cm wheel to Higgins though but as it’s so large it could be better for Tino in the playpen - so then I’d need to get a new wheel for Higgins cage. And one that will screw to the bars.

As for the laptop - I had actually just sent for a second hand one if the identical model as it was a bargain and I thought if mine ever packed up I could use it for spares. So I do have another one coming. I just didn’t expect it to pack up the next day! Entirely my fault too - trying to carry a laptop and pick up a cup of tea at the same time.

But fingers crossed the current one will dry out and be fine. It’s quite old so the identical model was very inexpensive as also quite old. But now I’m strapped for cash for a few wheel - so Higgins might need to wait a couple of weeks.
 
Oh, I hope your laptop dries out and recovers🤞You are good with technology! It's strange that the primary human invention should be impacted by the ultimate human invention, the wheel versus the computer! My phone keyboard adds words here and there if I'm not watching, "dog" or "the" will slip in 😃 Yes, wing nuts can be elusive things. Luckily they can be ordered to size, unlike a lot of things 🦋
 
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What is the most productive computer? Maybe not the most new fangled, but the one you are most familiar with ⌨️💻🖥️🤔
 
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Yes I also found it a thing - the wheel depending on the computer ha ha. I think any computer that works is the most productive! But I do prefer older laptops where you can replace parts. A lot of the new ones don't have anything replaceable - or just the hard drive. Mine has a 2tb hard drive as there is a lot on it. I switched to cloud back ups last year though, so even if my computer is defunct, I can access files from another computer.

I did prefer the much older chunkier laptops but you can 't get those any more - they are all thin! My netbook is incredibly old and very nice to type on, (and also chunky) but is a bit slow and will only run Windows 10 - and Windows 10 is end of life in October. Hence wanting a spare/backup laptop. Or at least spare parts for a current laptop. My current one has upgradeable parts.

But liquid damage can kill a computer. Mine still switches on so there's hope for it!
 
And back to wheels 😂 I need to decide whether to give the rodipet wheel to Higgins and get a different playpen wheel. Or use the Rodipet wheel in the playpen (now I've found the stand) - assuming I can find the wing nut.
 
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