wheel

The Wheel-
Your hamster's nightly companion

Hamsters are hyper little things. I have raised several dwarf hamsters from birth- and I am always amazed at how fast they begin exploring the almighty wheel- sometimes even before their eyes open.
Your hamster will most likely break in his new wheel within just minutes of discovering it- unless he is afraid and needs more time to settle in. His wheel will be an important part of his life. While you are in bed sleeping at 3 a.m, your hamster will be doing what he naturally would have done in the wild... RUNNING ALL NIGHT!

    Although the gifs on this page are "wheely cute," they are just there for us to uhh.. gawk over their cuteness. ANY wheel with open rungs, like the ones pictured here, are DANGEROUS! Hamsters have suffered broken legs, broken feet, and even death because of these wheels. The open rungs are dangerous for feet, while the axle stand is responsible for many hangings.
     The wheel you choose for your hamster should have a SOLID SURFACE, and if it does sit on a stand, your hamster should NOT have to come in contact with it at all to enter the wheel. (such as the dangerous wheels featured under this page's title.)
     You ask, "If these wheels are so dangerous, why do the major pet store chains sell them?" Good question... I asked one chain's corporate headquarters the same thing. After, they stopped selling the open slatted ones, but now still sell the "mesh" surfaced ones. I'm not so sure these are any better. Let's just stick with solid surfaces, for the sake of our hamster's poor little feet, ok?

My recommendations: Superpet caries a super-safe, inexpensive wheel in many sizes, called a "Comfort Wheel." The smallest is good for dwarves, while a syrian will need a larger wheel- one that appears large enough for a rat.
An even better wheel, although expensive is Transoniq's "Wodent Wheel." It also comes in many sizes. For all hamsters, the Wodent Wheel JR will work fine. My Ziggy is a super large syrian, and he loves his WW Jr.

Remember these rules for providing your hamster a safe, comfortable wheel:
1) Any wheel with open rungs will injure your hamster sooner or later.
2) Any wheel that causes your hamster to have to pass through an axle to enter it is a hanging waiting to happen, and should be avoided.
3) If your hamster must arch his back to run in his wheel, even in the slightest, the wheel is too small and you should replace it with a larger one as soon as possible.

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