Wheels

Maz said:
I was thinking of getting a large wheel for the playpen - Tino is huge. He has his 12" silent runner in his cage but I wanted something bigger than the 28cm trixie wheel for the playpen and ideally deeper. There actually aren't that many that are 12" or more and deep as well. I notice the Niteangel supersilent wheel has a 12.8" version and that sounded ideal - until I saw the price - £69.95 !!! I know they're expensive (due to being imported from the US) but I'm not spending that on a wheel! The 11" one is about £54 which is still a lot. So maybe just a different 12" wheel then!

My favourite was the 32cm Rodipet wood and cork wheel (and I thought it was bad enough spending £45 on that!) which used to be Raffy's but I'd been planning on giving that to Higgins in his cage as he currently only has the 28cm trixie wheel - which is ok but doesn't spin as well as a silent one and doesn't sit as high as I'd like it to (tied to the bars).

Trixie do a 33cm one - but it doesn't look very deep - I think Socks Mum has one - can you measure the depth please? :)

I noticed when Tino was in the playpen the other night that the 27cm Getzoo wheel really isn't deep enough for him! He's so chunky. It's not big enough either. It's more like a 10.5" wheel - which is ok for the playpen but - he's got quite a bit bigger! His old playpen wheel - the Carolina Storm wheel - is also only 10.5" but at least is nice and deep.

Hence thinking about a bigger playpen wheel. I like an open wheel in the playpen really rather than the ones with holes in - so I can see the hamster!

Tic Tac do a 12 plastic bucket wheel (and also a 13.5" plastic bucket wheel!) which is deep - that's £45. Thinking about that. I'm not keen on the smooth surfaces as nothing to grip when they run.

Getzoo do a 32cm wood and cork wheel but I sent for one of those before and thought it was quite smelly! As in strong fumes - which didn't wear off after two weeks so I sent it back again. Not sure if it was wood glue or something?

I do wish Rodipet still made wood wheels!
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Rather than search for "hamster wheel" consider looking at the larger chinchilla wheels?
 
Thanks - I actually did that! But the only ones I found were for cage mounting only.
 
So I had actually left the wingnut screwed to the back of the Rodipet wheel - the sensible thing to do :-) and it is the correct stand for the wheel. However I think the wheel is far too good to use just as a playpen wheel. I'd forgotten how solid and well made it is. So I'm thinking it would be better for Higgins to have it as an upgrade (without the stand) and still look for a different wheel for the playpen. Because there aren't that many wheels that will easily screw to the bars in Higgins cage - apart from the silent runner and I'm a bit off putting those together and taking them apart again.
 
Maz said:
Thanks - I actually did that! But the only ones I found were for cage mounting only.
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Yes, chinchy cages are tall and accommodate fastened-on wheels quite well 🛞
 
Glad you found it. Rodipet make good stuff. Could Higgins and Tino share a wheel if you washed it between playpen sessions?
 
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Technically yes :-) But Higgins already has a playpen wheel that isn't big enough for Tino. I was wanting the Rodipet wheel to put in his cage as he currently has the Trixie 28cm one and it keeps getting jammed up and isn't really spinning as well as a silent wheel would. I think he deserves a nice wheel to run in :-)
 
Maz said:
Technically yes :-) But Higgins already has a playpen wheel that isn't big enough for Tino. I was wanting the Rodipet wheel to put in his cage as he currently has the Trixie 28cm one and it keeps getting jammed up and isn't really spinning as well as a silent wheel would. I think he deserves a nice wheel to run in :-)
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Wheels within wheels 😉
 
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Ok I still have wheel decisions. I had sent for another 12" silent runner wheel. I'm not keen on it but more about that in a minute. So the idea was to give Higgins the rodipet wheel and use the silent runner for Tino in the playpen. I had half thought about doing it the other way round. But this particular silent runner was an absolute xxxxx to put together! I don't remember having this much difficulty with them in the past. It was as if the running track was too big for the front and back plates. I did get that bit in but then the joining strip was ridiculously tight and took real force to get it to move and attach the two ends. Hurt my fingers! Anyway it's put together now but I never want to take it apart again! Hence it would be better as a playpen wheel as it won't need cleaning as often.

I was told they need warming up before putting them together by the seller. But - never had to do that before! I think they have changed slightly. But there aren't many 12" wheels to choose from ............... The stand has definitely changed as that is now plastic and height adjustable.

So the idea was to have an open wheel in the playpen but I still want Higgins to have the Rodipet wheel as it's too good just for the playpen.
 
Yes, I thought of soaking it in hot water, like customisable orthotics. But if it alters irreversibly, it might be difficult to get a refund 🤨 economising on materials seems to be the way to go these days unfortunately 🪑
 
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It's annoying as I've had two or three of these and never had an issue before.
 
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