New hamster doesn't know what his wheel's for!

Popcorn · 07-12-2012, 03:26 AM

Hi, I've just bought my first hamster Popcorn, he's a Syrian hamster and I've had him a couple of weeks. I've got him a large Rotastak cage, complete with wheel and tubes and he loves it, however, he hasn't used his wheel yet.
I bought him at Pets at Home and they don't have wheels in their hamster's cages so I don't think he knows what it's there for. I have encouraged him into his wheel and span it for him, but all he does is stand next to the wheel and spin it with his paws or his teeth (it's really adorable!)
My question is, is there a way to get him to use his wheel?
Is it a problem if he doesn't use his wheel? He gets plenty of exercise running around his cage, running in his play ball and running over me!
He's currently built a bed in his wheel, so he's quite comfortable sitting in it

Ren · 07-12-2012, 03:36 AM

Eventually he should figure it out. It sounds like he's still so overwhelmed with how great his new cage is and just doesn't feel the need to figure out new things. But a good idea would be to take it out for 1 or 2 days and then put it back in. Don't spin it or draw attention to it but he should come and try and figure it out for himself since it's something new. My hamster went around his for about 15 minutes just nibbling and then running with his front paws on the side. And then when he FINALLY figured it out, he was in it constantly. I took it out because it seemed too small and he's rather young. But now he has a 32cm Wonderland wheel. It might be that the wheel is too small, what is it's diameter?

EDIT: I just googled the ratastak and it looks like a cage for dwarfhamsters. Tubes are very unnecessary for Syrians, they prefer more space to just run around. But maybe I'm looking at the wrong cage. Do you mind posting a picture of it?

Kissa · 07-12-2012, 04:07 AM

Syrians need an 8 inch wheel minimum, and a majority need an 11 or 12 inch wheel, which will not fit in rotastak cages. It is likely the wheel is too small for him and it is uncomfortable for him to use. Their backs need to be straight when running on the wheel.

What you should probably do it get a good 11 or 12 inch wheel and make a bin cage/bin addition to the rotastak home out of a good sized plastic storage bin (there's a bin cage tutorial on the top of the housing section). I'd watch him in the rotastak, though, the tubes are a bit small for Syrians and it's difficult to get a cage big enough for a Syrian without spending loads of money on addons. The RSPCA guidelines for cage size is a single level cage of 75 by 40 cm, which I'm 99% sure is impossible with rotastak.

**kyrilliondaemon** · 07-12-2012, 04:20 AM

Ren - Rotastak doesn't work alone for dwarf hamsters either.

Popcorn - Sadly the wheel will be a bit small. We used to use rotastak and we made a bin cage as an add on then put a bigger wheel in there. Could you maybe try that?
(Excluding the genus range which we never tried the biggest wheel you can squeeze into rotastak is the 7.5" rolly which is still a bit small, only fits in the triangle units and needs to be taped down to stop it moving to hit the triangle all night. Might be worth a try if you have a triangle bit to use at all, but a big add-on would be best one day if you can.)

Ren · 07-12-2012, 04:33 AM

I've never seen it outright. I've only kept my dwarf hamsters in large tanks.

**kyrilliondaemon** · 07-12-2012, 04:35 AM

Let me put it this way for future reference then, if it looks/says its modular and doesn't have a single compartment of 70cm by 40cm or more its probably not good enough for any hamster to live in without an addition of said single large compartment.
Sadly modular stuff is in petshops everywhere both in the UK and US.

Ren · 07-12-2012, 04:36 AM

I never did like the tube creations. I had one for my very first hamster when I was young and she peed in all of the tubes and it was a huge pain to clean. I switched her to a tank soon after that.

**kyrilliondaemon** · 07-12-2012, 04:39 AM

Scamp loved hers. We just added to it to make sure it was big enough and watched to be sure her adult size was ok with the tubes. Now she has a bit of rotastak inside her hutch as a bedroom

HorseyMandz · 07-12-2012, 08:15 AM

Min didn't use her wheel until we put a Wodent Wheel in her cage because the old one was tiny and fell off the cage at the slightest knock. Would you want to use a wheel that meant you had to run hunched forwards and rattled all the time?

Popcorn · 07-13-2012, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ren

Eventually he should figure it out. It sounds like he's still so overwhelmed with how great his new cage is and just doesn't feel the need to figure out new things. But a good idea would be to take it out for 1 or 2 days and then put it back in. Don't spin it or draw attention to it but he should come and try and figure it out for himself since it's something new. My hamster went around his for about 15 minutes just nibbling and then running with his front paws on the side. And then when he FINALLY figured it out, he was in it constantly. I took it out because it seemed too small and he's rather young. But now he has a 32cm Wonderland wheel. It might be that the wheel is too small, what is it's diameter?

EDIT: I just googled the ratastak and it looks like a cage for dwarfhamsters. Tubes are very unnecessary for Syrians, they prefer more space to just run around. But maybe I'm looking at the wrong cage. Do you mind posting a picture of it?

Here's a link to his cage Rotastak Pink Palace
He absolutely loves his tubes and spends the majority of time in them.
The wheel is about 15cm :/ seems far too small :/