hamsters and hamster wheel

[Luv0fDisney]

I am thinking about keeping the hamster wheel out of the cage at night so i dont have the noise at night cuz they bring food in the wheel. Last night i ended up getting up three to four times to empty it. I will put it back in the day time ,

What do u think?

 

[Imzadi]

I am thinking about keeping the hamster wheel out of the cage at night so i dont have the noise at night cuz they bring food in the wheel. Last night i ended up getting up three to four times to empty it. I will put it back in the day time ,

What do u think?

Hamsters are nocturnal creatures. This is when they are up and exercising.

A friend who had this problem ended up moving the whole cage out of the bedroom at night.

 

[kimblebee]

Whatever you do, do not put any kind of lubricant on the wheel if it gets squeaky. I second the poster above. You can't take out the wheel, it's how your hamster gets exercise and occupies itself. Try moving the cage at night.

 

[SandrA9810]

I used a touch of shortening on the two little hooks. It never hurt them, but it got rid of the squeaking.

But this sounds like a solid wheel and the food rattling as it runs. I would just move the cage to another central area of the house, away from sleeping areas.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

My local Petco has a new type (well, I haven't looked at hamster supplies in about 10 years so it's "new" to me ) of exerciser. It's a tilted disc on a pedestal. Pretty darned cool - there was no banging against the glass and no rubbing, squeaking parts. I would imagine that any food your hamster might put on it would eventually slide off.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I wouldn't take away the wheel at night. Hamsters need their exercise and they sleep during the day. I would worry if you can't hear the wheel because that probably means he's up to something, like trying to escape from his cage! When I was a kid, I had one that went on great adventures for days at a time. My very mechanically inclined dad couldn't figure out a way to keep him from opening his door and escaping!

As others have said, I would put the cage in another part of the house at night so his running doesn't bother you.

 

[clutter]

We moved dd's hamster into the family room/kitchen. She became a less nocturnal animal, as she loved to come out when we were around. Worked great!

 

[Luv0fDisney]

Awesome.
Yeah, I figured they needed the wheel. I just emptied it before I went to bed... They bring food up there. The cage is a Super Pet CritterTrail X Hamster Home and has the green wheel above the cage with the spiral slide thing. so i can't really get a different wheel. The cage wheel is not the practical thing because when they deficate #2 it goes on the track below and then the wheel makes it spurt every where.... 1 word... eww. I'm thinking about getting an extender tubing for it..

 

[Buckalew11]

I moved mine's cage to another floor. It was still loud to me, lol. I did take away his wheel about 2 or 3 nights a week. He was fine. Such a cutie pie. He never escaped. He was a tiny little dwarf hamster (no biting or nibbling) and if he had gotten out, we would have never found that baby!

 

[LuLuO]

We have two Robo hamsters. Their cage is in the living room. They each have a "quiet" wheel but even those can make noise sometimes.

Ours are in a 20 gallon long aquarium with a screened lid like is used for reptiles. I bought appliance locks (the baby proof ones) to make sure the little girls can't escape.

 

[Luv0fDisney]

Yeah mine are robos and one does bite. I read they don't bite though. I'm confused. lol. Only one bites and other is fine.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

A different cage with a regular wheel might help. Ours never take food in the wheel, and no poop there, either, thankfully! The wheel we have is very quiet. (See sig.)

 

[Luv0fDisney]

Yeah i am planning to buy the wheel that comes with the tubes.

 

[Coonhound]

Whatever you do don't buy the kind of wheel that just has open rungs because hamsters and gerbils can get their leg caught in the rungs and break their leg or foot and then you have to put them to sleep because they usually can't fix that. Always buy the kind of wheel that is a solid plastic wheel with ridges to run on instead of just open rungs.

Also don't remove the wheel at night because hamsters are nocturnal and it's kind of mean to take out his way of occupying himself during the time when he has the most energy.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Yeah i am planning to buy the wheel that comes with the tubes.

The type I'm talking about does not come with the tubes - it's stand alone. The ones with the tubes may be a problem because they do like to transport their food in the tubes.

Here is a bigger picture. This thing hardly makes any noise at all. Sold with the hamster houses and other wheels.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Also don't remove the wheel at night because hamsters are nocturnal and it's kind of mean to take out his way of occupying himself during the time when he has the most energy.

I agree. In the "wild", i.e. the desert, they can run several to many miles per night.

Slightly OT - DH and the kids recently picked up a large bird cage at a yard sale ($10) and "souped it up" for the hamster. It's got lots of climbing areas, and they secured a tube going across the middle for him (which he goes through and on top of). They also hung a soft bed from the top. It's pretty neat. I'm glad they figured this out because we've always been looking for a better cage but most of the ones out there are that cheap plastic and they're fairly small and a nightmare to clean. The new cage has a tray that pulls out for easy cleaning. (This might not work for some of the smaller hamsters if they can fit their heads through the slats.)

 

[Luv0fDisney]

So today I went and bought cage accessories... . I bought a wood hut for the cage but the little hammies like the new bed area in the accessorie. lol. They also LOVE the wheel, and so do I!! Its much quieter.

The only thing, is that they tend to "plop" down the tube when they get closer to the bottom of it... I'm afraid they will get hurt. If i ever go on vacation I'm going to put the old wheel with the spiral loop so they don't get hurt when they "plop"

 

[Kellydelly]

So today I went and bought cage accessories... . I bought a wood hut for the cage but the little hammies like the new bed area in the accessorie. lol. They also LOVE the wheel, and so do I!! Its much quieter.


The only thing, is that they tend to "plop" down the tube when they get closer to the bottom of it... I'm afraid they will get hurt. If i ever go on vacation I'm going to put the old wheel with the spiral loop so they don't get hurt when they "plop"

I don't think they get hurt when they drop ). We have two dwarfs and four Syrian hamsters right now. The Syrians are always dropping from the top of the cage where they are pretending to be Spider Man to the bottom and they are fine .