Wiktoria keeps falling out her wheel!

MummaBorris · 03-07-2015, 02:27 AM

I have a 6 week old Russian dwarf called Wiktoria. She is gorgeous and extremely tame because I have raised her from birth. But she is RUBBISH at running in the wheel. She starts off but after about 3 steps she falls over and rolls out! Whilst it is rather funny to watch, I'm concerned she won't get much exercise and will get bored in her cage.
She also has a wooden tunnel with various holes in it, a hanging chew toy and her house.

What should I do?

cypher · 03-07-2015, 02:35 AM

It's quite normal for young hams to fly out of the wheel but you do need to make sure they only land on substrate so they can't hurt themselves.
Some wheels seem to be better than others for stopping this though, I find the silent spinners & wonderland wheels work pretty well.
I am wondering if this may have something to do with the injured leg & she's struggling to run properly if it hasn't healed yet or hasn't healed correctly. Did you get the vet to check her out at all when she was limping?

racinghamster · 03-07-2015, 02:35 AM

Hi MummaBorris. What type of wheel are you using? If it`s a medium silent spinner, my Russian hybrid started off running on his and his back legs would slide off, but he mastered this and now runs fine on it. It could be that Wiktoria will do the same, but make sure the wheel surface is solid and wide enough for her to learn on. Then perhaps move her onto a wheel like a silent spinner that runs faster?

MummaBorris · 03-07-2015, 02:40 AM

Thanks guys. Cypher that's a good point about her limp - she is walking fine on it now but perhaps it is still a bit weak. I didn't go to the vet because by the next day it was lots better and completely gone the day after that.
The wheel came with Borris' large cage and the mum and babies all used it fine...maybe I need to put lots of other toys in a play pen for her.

cypher · 03-07-2015, 02:41 AM

It might be an idea to take the wheel away for a little while, just give her the other toys then try again later & see if she can run better.

Candra_Faulkner · 03-07-2015, 07:41 PM

Silent Spinners are great wheels, they're very smooth and quick running, and wide ...
your hamster may not fall off as easily

The 6.5 inch ones are pretty affordable.

If you're worried about her not getting much exercise , bend a bridges are great for climbing on, you could build some DIY climbing toys from cardboard or craft sticks ( if she has hurt her leg in the past, i would not make ladders with spaces between the rungs, but make a solid climbing surface then maybe add rungs on top , that's what I do when I build my syrian climbing toys. You could also try some sanitized stones for her to climb on, they'll trim her nails too

or a deep area of bedding for her to dig. She sounds so cute! I want a dwarf after Toby. I've only ever had Syrians.

Thin Lizzy · 03-07-2015, 11:52 PM

Cypher has said it all. Dwarf hamsters have these sort of problems at first but, they get into it.
I'd put more substrate in her cage so she doesn't hurt herself.
A break from the wheel will let her leg recover, hamsters are good at hiding any injury or pain.
I would suggest you get her leg checked out by the vet if her limping gets worse.

MummaBorris · 03-15-2015, 12:53 AM

Update - she can now run in her wheel and is doing really well

Thin Lizzy · 03-15-2015, 01:18 AM

So happy Wiktoria is running in her wheel so much better than before!