2x Large bin cage habitat - Page 2

cypher · 05-11-2016, 12:38 AM

It really doesn't need to be that complicated

They just need bigger wheels!

AmityvilleHams · 05-11-2016, 12:42 AM

Definitely bigger wheels

Sometimes it just gets very complicated when your brain goes from one aspect to another every few seconds!

**Cinnamon Bear** · 05-11-2016, 04:27 AM

I'm talking about the Flying Saucer in an addition to the two 4.5 in Silent Spinners.

Two 6.5 in Silent Spinners or better yet 2 Wodent wheels 8 in are a good idea to look into go

Think I mentioned this on another thread. Just cause they are tiny doesn't mean the wouldn't enjoy the bigger wheels.

RCalabraro · 05-11-2016, 09:47 AM

I have the biggest flying saucer they make, and I'm on my 4th, because X-23 used to wreck them. She was BRUTAL. Constantly trying to escape, always chewing on everything... I had to move her into an intact bin because she chewed on any holes or gaps or bars or anything, no matter what I put in her cage to divert her. And she could RUN. I finally got a brick and hot-glued a steel pin to it to use as a base for her flying saucer because I was tired of buying new ones.

In any case, the flying saucer solution I used was very good, spun with very little friction. It would spin and spin and spin. And the reason I insisted on the largest one was because I was always worried about my hamsters' gait. I don't believe a hamster should have to bend his or her back in order to run. A ham should have a natural posture while running.

Initially I had the big flying saucer in there but they couldn't get it to move, in spite of the very low friction. They would run up it and slide down the middle, where there are no ridges. I got the silent spinners because my previous silent spinners would spin and spin and spin, with even less friction. After figuring out the whole deal with the new design of the axle, and how much that sucks, I was able to find those two silent spinners that have the old design. I watch them closely, and I don't believe the small size of the wheel interferes with natural posture while running. They're REALLY small. They're shockingly small. Even holding them both in one hand, they're astonishingly light. You can barely feel them.

I'm very conscious of their posture while running. I've had much larger hams and I've tried all kinds of different solutions for this, including re-engineering a giant metal wheel to run on a silent spinner axle. If I thought they had to run with a bent posture due to the size of the wheel, I would do something about it.

RCalabraro · 05-11-2016, 09:49 AM

Maybe they're actually younger than 6 months? It's possible the person I got them from didn't know what they were talking about. All I know is that they're so teeny, it boggles the mind that they're actually hamsters. That pool tubing is only an inch and a half wide, and they bolt through it without a problem. When I bought it I worried that an inch and a half was too narrow (simply based on what I read about the size of full grown robos) but it's more than wide enough.

I tell you... these two are nano hamsters.

**Cinnamon Bear** · 05-11-2016, 09:58 AM

I've heard of people using the 4.5 in Silent Spinners for their wheels. As long as they don't look cramped in there, as they are tiny, would think the 4.5 would work then. If they do grow bigger then maybe reconsider wheel options later.

Also, they would need the medium sized flying saucer, not the 12 in.

You could even try the smallest flying saucers too?

oddlyoblivious · 05-11-2016, 06:17 PM

It really depends on the size of the hamster. One of the plus sides of a larger wheel, (I'm a fan of the 6in silent spinners so long as they work properly) especially if you have multiple Robos is they can start to run together (Which can be very fun to watch especially when they are jumping over each other to do so. The downsides of going too large, of course are the space limitations inherent with bin cages.

RCalabraro · 05-12-2016, 06:05 AM

Here is Gertrude sitting next to one of the wheels. It was really hard to get a pic of her on it, so this was the best I could do

In any case, you can see that she is extremely small. Her sister is the same size.

**Cinnamon Bear** · 05-12-2016, 06:21 AM

She is so cute & tiny wonder if they are younger than you thought? My flying saucer has ridges that extend to the sides, no gaps at all. Wonder if we are talking about the same saucer or not? It's a Pet-Co wheel!

RCalabraro · 05-12-2016, 06:28 AM

I got my flying saucers at petco too. They're the giant ones and I have about four of them. All of them got broken off of their bases by my demon hamster, X-23. The ridges don't go through the center; that part is smooth plastic. they would run up between the ridges and slip on the smooth plastic there, kind of like that video of the white hamster in the teflon pan. they tried to run around the saucer but it wouldn't turn. I was afraid that if I bought a wheel that was too large, they would have the same problem with a wheel that they had with the large saucer.

At some point I'll post a pic of my McGyver engineering job on the wheel, to overcome X-23's irrational exuberance.