My old man isn`t using his wheel..

racinghamster · 11-25-2012, 06:43 AM

Over the past few weeks, my two years and two months old syrian Boris has lost interest in his senior wodent wheel. His legs are all working well, although I have noticed a slight change in him where he`s become a bit slower. He`s eating like a mini horse and enjoying his ramps and boxes, but I tried cable-tying his wodent wheel to the roof bars in the hope that moving it to another position might spark his interest again, but no. He doesn`t even go inside it now.

I know it`s totally his choice and I`ve always left his wheel in just incase he took a notion to use it again, but this morning, I removed it and put a box in it`s place where he can sit inside and come and go instead, which he seems to be prefering these days.

What I wanted to ask was, has anyone else seen this happen with their syrian as they have aged? And was it something that just happened and they never used their wheel again, or perhaps due to the wodent wheel being `enclosed`, so an older ham may feel they can`t manouver around inside it to well? I`ve always used open-fronted wheels for my little ones, but since taking on a syrian, I had to go for the bigger wheel and the wodent wheel seemed the best option at the time. I`m wondering if a smaller, open fronted wheel might be better? Although I don`t want to by one and then find he doesn`t use it. I do have a Roly wheel but no stand for it and when I try hanging it from the cage bars, it scrapes off the sloping sides of the cage base.

So that was a non starter. If I had a Roly wheel stand I could try the Roly wheel but it is only seven and a half inches across, so ideally, an eight inch wheel would be better.

Having said all that, Boris does sleep all day and when he is awake, he sits in his tissue box having a wash and takes a few food treats and then loses interest, walks down his ramp and toddles off back to his bed...!

Lougarry · 11-25-2012, 06:58 AM

Hmmmm, maybe it's a little stiff or hard to access - or maybe he just has less energy. Magic's stopped using his Silent Spinner altogether and uses the Flying Saucer only for short spells these days.

**kyrilliondaemon** · 11-25-2012, 07:50 AM

I'd not worry, as hamsters get older they do often stop using wheels. Skip was a robo but when he got older he scarcely used his wheels, I think they do just become too much effort in the end.

racinghamster · 11-25-2012, 08:05 AM

Thanks very much guys for your input. I didn`t want to think I was depriving him by removing the wheel altogether, but having watched closely over the past week, I know he hasn`t touched the wheel and late last night, I was sitting my his cage and he actially walked over to the wheel and I thought he was going to step inside, but instead, he just sniffed at it, turned around and went back to his bed. I always made sure I sat one of the openings at a certain angle aswell so I would know if the wheel had been moved, but it hadn`t.

What I`m doing now is concentrating on giving him other options like a new box to play inside, hanging a kabob again from the cage and puting some interesting things on it to see if it sparks any interest!

He`s never been a bar chewer or a climber or even seeked much attention, so he`s quite a contented lad really. I guess I can`t expect much more now that he`s in his second year of life and will make sure he has everything he needs in terms of cuddles and treats. He`s been such a lovely syrian to own considering he was a childs pet for seven months of his younger life and originated from Pets At Home stock. If I can get hold of a Roly wheel stand I will give the Roly wheel a go just to see if he takes any interest again, but for now I will leave the wheel out as it takes up so much space in his Mickey 2XL cage.

HammieandMerlin · 11-25-2012, 08:35 AM

Like the others have said, I find it happens with age. It happened to my Sheldon as he got on, and I thought Toothless had abandoned his wheel (he's almost 28 months now) because he didn't touch it for a week, but then after 8 days he started using it again, and is now back to using it every day, which I can't explain. I'm glad he's very content, and that he's aging so gracefully with you : )

racinghamster · 11-25-2012, 08:56 AM

Thanks HammieandMerlin. I havn`t ruled out adding another type of wheel just incase he re-discovers his youth!

I will look into doing that soon because even if he doesn`t use it often, he may want to on the odd occassion, so I wil keep an eye out for a second hand wheel that isn`t a wodent wheel.

shiny · 11-25-2012, 11:08 AM

Sounds like Boris maybe needs some more senior options now he's an older chap, & it sounds like he's enjoying having a new box anyway

. It's a shame to take up cage space with a wheel if he's really not keen on it for now. Maybe swap it back in a couple of weeks & see if the novelty of it sparks any interest? I like to swap some of our hammies things in & out of the cages from time to time anyway for a bit of a change & to keep it fresh for them.

My Syrian Teddy isn't even a very old chap but he is very laid-back nowadays & prefers just pootling around his cage to anything else even though he's got a lovely big wheel to go in

racinghamster · 11-25-2012, 11:14 AM

I ordered a stand from Pet Supermarket this evening for my Roly wheel, so it will give him a different wheel for a change if he chooses to explore the option of using it!

I didn`t like the thought of not having a wheel as an option for him, so the Roly should at least allow him to sit on it without feeling enclosed, like the wodent wheel does. Will update once the wheel is in place and let you all know if he starts to use it.

purple_x · 11-25-2012, 12:24 PM

Hey racinghamster, my bridge hammy Dexter was the same.
When he got to about 2 1/2 years old he just stopped using his wheel. Hed never really been interested in it anyway but as he got older he just didn't even get in there at all (he used to sit in there at least)
So as he wasn't interested anymore I decided to take it out of his cage and use the space for some tunnels that he was interested in.

He would come out for playtime pretty much every evening.
Then grab some treats and go back to bed.
He certainly didn't miss his wheel.

I hope Boris enjoys his new wheel

GemmasMom · 11-25-2012, 12:57 PM

Someone here said awhile ago that hams always know what's best for themselves. So, there must be a good reason why he doesn't want to use it. He would probably rather use his energy for other purposes he finds more meaningful. Like everyone said though maybe he will be more interested in a new wheel or in his old wheel in a couple weeks.