Growing into a wheel?

[kiania]

I have a spare 6.5" silent spinner that came with my bigger tank. Currently won't fit in Nim's cage (she's got a flying saucer atm), but I've had it with her in a box I'm using as a playpen/something to catch her should she go for a leap. I've popped her in with the wheel, and also tried putting her on the wheel itself. She can't seem to clamber up into it, and struggles to get down (mostly by dropping herself over the edge with a thump). She also seems to struggle to push it round, and ends up rocking back and forth splayed on her tummy.

According to P@H, she is 10 weeks old. So my question is...is she going to grow into the 6.5" or should I get the smaller SS? If she will grow into it, I can cut the stand down a little (and pop it into her cage - won't quite fit by about 2 cm atm, but there is plenty of wiggle-room on the stand), which I'm perfectly happy to do.

Just a smidge worried because she looks petrified on the wheel in the playpen, keeps looking over the edge, running a few steps, plastering herself to the bottom while it rocks to a stop, then looking over the edge...rinse and repeat a few times before she eases herself over the edge absailing style! She also doesn't appear to be using her flying saucer - she clambers onto it and then army-crawls over the back, as well as running around behind it.

So, in short:
1) Should I be worried that she doesn't appear to be using her current (FS) wheel?
2) Is a 6.5" silent spinner the right size for a hybrid?
3) Is there anything I can do to encourage her to run on her wheels? Or to get her used to them so she doesn't look quite so paniced by their movement?

Thanks :)

[kyrilliondaemon]

The 6.5" will be fine :)
She'll grow a bit yet and probably get more used to it with practice. Some of our hams took a while to get used to them, and in run-time the robos have to jump into the wheels, but they're all really happy with them.
It sounds like she might be nervous of it at the moment is all, Muffin was quite unnerved when we first gave her and Whizz wheels back during the introduction. She got the hang of it in the end though :)

1. She'll get enough excercise elsewhere, some hams really don't like wheels
2. Yes
3. I'd just give her time since she's willing to give it a go. Maybe put a soft substrate around it for a while so that if she falls out she knows its a soft landing. Muffin knowing she had a soft landing really seemed to help her in the end.

[Jaybee]

She ~should~ grow to a size that won't have any problems with the 6.5 wheel. My robos used the 6.5" and my WW is currently using it, too. She was on the smaller size but quickly outgrew it. I would try to put the SS in the cage instead of the FS. I grinded the stand down on mine to fit in a cage, too. The SS can be overwhelming because of the ball bearings (it goes so fast!) so maybe just give her some time to get used to it.

[Hamtastic]

As said above, a 6.5" wheels is just fine. My 5 week old Campbell boys used 2 of those without any issues. SSs spin very easily, so that shouldn't be a problem. The only problem I had with those in terms of spinning was with my first set of robos, who flipped on them endlessly while they were little. But baby robos are much smaller than baby Campbells :D

[kiania]

Well, she toddled onto her temporary SS in her playpen earlier all by herself, although she didn't even manage to go two revolutions before hopping back off again (including the flattened pose as before while the wheel stopped). It is a start, and my fears about her getting on and off are over :)

I know hedgehog folk cut down SS's to fit into ZZ2s (the big SS's, naturally), and I'm guessing the concept is similar for the smaller ones - thankfully we have a spare one (free, but the stand is somewhat rusty, ick! Wheel is fine though - so for playtime!) to practice on first!

Is there anywhere people recommend getting SS's cheaply? Thought I should try asking in case there is a wonderful place that isn't in my normal range of internet shopping :)

Thanks for the assuring words from you all :D

[kyrilliondaemon]

We got ours on ebay (or our good priced ones anyway lol) but I think theres somewhere cheaper... I just don't remember where :(