[racinghamster]

Very good, easy to understand revue Coolcat. The wheel looks nice but it`s wood, so that puts me off. I like a wheel that can be cleaned more easily, so I tend to go for plastic wheels.

The splinter issue is also a big one for me and although hamsters and rodents will enjoy chewing wood, I don`t like the thought of a sharp splinter causing an injury, so another reason to put me off buying one.

I would buy a varnish that is safe and give the wheel part a good few coats and leave it outside for a week in a shed to air dry properly and then once I was happy that the smell of the varnish had faded, I would give it to the hamster to use. But I would probably still have issues with it, checking it all the time for any chewed edges.