Silent Spinners dangerous...

[katmick]

I had to write this to warn others about Silent Spinner wheels for dwarf hamsters.
Well I hope it was just an accident that will not happen to anyone else again, but you never know...

Last night when I went to bed and went to say goodnight to my little Penelope she came running to me and I knew straight away something was wrong. She wasn't weight bearing on her right hind leg,in fact she was holding it at very unnatural angle. I put my hand in,she climbed on and I could straight away see that her limb is either fractured (broken) or dislocated. I could not believe it! She is my youngest littlest hammie I nursed from being sold too young to petstore where I work part time ( I know it's absolutely horrific!), my little trooper.
Just day ago was saying to my OH that she is only now about the right size to be available for sale, as she was teeny tiny little runtie. Of course,she is not going anywhere ,she is mine, I bought her from petstore.
Penelope is about thirteen weeks old and I have her since she was about 3 weeks old).
I am presently studying and writing stuff for my final exams next week (and I will be qualified veterinary nurse). The only vet that can help her is three hours away ( as I don't have a car) and three hours back. ( Bairbre O'Malley, the best and one and only exotic vet in Ireland). I would not trust anyone else to mend her leg,trust me...I have seen things.

Anyway,I am going to call Bairbre ASAP,as soon as my OH gets home as I am presently broke and don't even have a credit in my phone! Great! Thank god my life of student is almost over!

To the point : I am pretty sure Penelope injured herself on her 6.5" Silent Spinner Wheel. She was often thrown out into air in it, it was going way too fast and the fact that they are no foot grips on it makes it hard to stop. I have Karlie Wonderland wheels for my Syrians and other smaller wheel that came with cage for my other WW Florie, and non of these wheels created this kind of effect that the hammie would be thrown in the wheel around.

I think these wheels are dangerous and I cannot trust them again. I know many of you would swear it's the best wheel out there...but I think they are dangerous.
The size of the wheel was I think Ok for her eventhough she is tiny. I know Erin from YouTube uses for her WW 8" Comfort wheel,but her hammie is an adult size. I might go for comfort wheel in the future.

In the meantime, I took wheel and all the climbing toys away and I need to get my little one to vet who can help her.
Oh God,what a mess! Right when I am busiest for my college too!

Sorry about long rumble...

[Pebbles82]

Hi. I don't know how long you've had yours but apparently they changed the design recently so they stop spinning when the hamster stops running. In fact complaints about the revised wheel seem to be that it won't spin properly but I think that is mainly the big 12" ones. I know yours is just a baby but I've been reading up about wheels and dwarf hamsters are supposed to be fine in 8" wheels. I'm trying to decide what to get, and Wodent wheels seem to have a good record for safety - they do the 8" junior wodent so that might be a good bet. But right now I should get your vet appointment sorted asap - take the day off - you're allowed to for emergencies.

[Shannonmcn]

Poor little Penelope I don't have any silent spinners myself but I have seen Hammies spun around on them online a few times, I can very easily imagine that sometimes leading to a bad fall and an injury. I hope you're able to get her fixed up, you're so lucky to have such a great exotics vet that you trust.

[racinghamster]

First of all I`m sorry to hear about wee Penelope katmick, it`s never good to see one of our hamsters injured. I really hope the vet you see gives you some good news and there are no broken bones at least. Hamsters are so small and their bones so tiny, they can`t be splinted normally or pinned. Even rabbits can be delicate if they break a bone, never mind a hamster!

Onto the Silent Spinner wheel. I have read one online report about a roborovski breaking it`s back when landing awkwardly on the base/outer wheel edge of a silent spinner wheel and due to the fast mechanism on these wheels, a hamster can build up speed and unless they learn to control their stopping/balance, the wheel can unbalance them and just through sheer traction, throw the hamster out, onto the wheel or make the hamster spin inside the wheel a bit like a washing machine going round and round as we`ve all seen to our amusement on YouTube.

But there is a serious side to this and some hamsters have been killed or badly injured while using one. My Russian dwarf currently uses one and on the day I adopted him, he had never seen a silent spinner and his back leg kept slipping off the running surface and he would lose his balance, but he soon mastered it and now uses it fine. So I suppose most hamsters do adapt to using one, but small or underweight hamsters may find one a little on the speedy side and won`t have the body weight to stop the wheel.

You have done the right thing removing it and waiting to see what the vet sais. Comfort wheels do seem to be safer and have a wider surface to run on as well. They may be noisier wheels, but worth switching to if your hamster can`t us a silent spinner, or even reverting to a flying saucer, although these too can make a hamster run at an angle, rather than in a straight line, which is why I`m not a fan.

Really hope wee Penelope is fine, do let us know how she gets on. x

[cypher]

I'm really sorry to hear about Penelope, poor little thing just when she was doing so well with you, I hope the vet can help & she makes a full recovery.
All my dwarfs have or had silent spinners at some point & yes they do tend to fly out when they are tiny but I've had exactly the same thing with other wheels too so I don't know how much is to do with that particular wheel tbh.
I have to say my favourite wheel for them is the 8" Karlie wonderland but I still wouldn't write off my silent spinners.

[racinghamster]

cypher, is the wonder wheel the wooden one sold on Zooplus? I hear people say `karlie` wheel or `bogie` wheel and I get confused! I like the look of that wheel but splinters would put me off as I`ve read some revues where the wooden surface has cause a hamster`s paws to bleed? x

[katmick]

Hi, thanks to all for your replies.
Serendipity,my Silent Spinner was an older design for sure, as I "inherit it" from my friend when I looked after her hammie Millie in her final weeks ( and she was about two years old,so the wheel was probably too)... I guess there was a reason why they started making the wheels slower...
Racingham,yes, I may look into 8" Junior Wodent wheel as my next wheel for Penelope. They have protective mechanism that prevent throwing of the hammie about by having a kind of guard on front, isn't it?
I think Penelope may be a bit tiny for 8"inch,but I will try it when she gets better. She used to love her wheel...And lately she really was few times thrown about like in a waching machine,which freightened me, but I thought she will be grand, as we all seen even on telly with Roborovskis ( in "Pets in Wild" BBC ).
But fine it is not!

I too feel the same way about flying saucer. I always wonder if it is ok because it is slanted. But I say it is ok ,as it's suppose to imitate "natural running of small furries". But I too am not convinced....

Anyway,just to let you know I made an appointment with vet I was talking about for 16.45 and Penelope was to get an x-ray and be hospitalized with specialized nursing care. (This vet has a history on operating successfully even on Roborovski and a goldfish. The motto of their clinic is : " We treat anything from Great Danes to dwarf hamsters! ")

So I packed my little girl's carrier (filled with a plenty burrowing substrate and bedding,one wood chew she likes,food dish with food,slice of cucumber and a toilet roll). I even prepared her a "hospital bag" with her food,water bottle,sand and her sandbath,her small willow ball and her strawberry house). I know, I am crazy mother to my hamsters...

About 10 minutes before I was about to leave I woke up Penelope to put her into her carrier and guess what! She was absolutely fine!!!!!

And she still is! I am so delighted...I rang vet to cancel appointment and they the nurse I was speaking to told me she had definitely a bad sprain, maybe even dislocation of her hip but it possibly popped back in.

They told me to watch out for secondary signs, like not eating or drinking or any other signs of pain like hiding too much or having her ears flat or to the sides often. They said to me she most likely might have pain,but hammies are great at hiding it as they are prey species.

So far my little girl seems ok, I actually put her into carrier where she had a good dig around and even went to sleep there.
She is back in her cage, but may need to switch her to a different one (plastic one), without bars as she started to climb around too and falling down right in front of me...
She does not normally climbs bars, but as the wheel and all other climbing toys are out of picture, tell her not to do it...

She has plenty of digging space,tubes and tunnels,sandbath and chewy toys and a ball...including her house...to occupy her while she heals. This may take up to two weeks...

Thanks everyone for your well wishes, I am delighted my girl is better and I know I am crazy for almost travelling across the half country to see a vet...

Just please be careful with those Silent Spinners and as soon as you notice your hammie is "flying around" in it change your wheel for a different one.

I will never trust them again.

[katmick]

Oh and I just read your post about your concerns over bleeding paws from wooden wheels racing ham.
So far I have used them on my Syrians I have the largest I think is 12" one and 8"one for my Percy as he is smaller ham and it's fine for his back.

Their feet are perfectly fine and I do check my hammies everyday!
I may even consider this wheel,but my dwarfies seem to like to wee in them,so I may go for Junior Wodent wheel...

[cypher]

That's so good to hear!
I guess it's no wonder she's climbing bars with all her other climbing toys & wheel gone poor girl! I hope you can find a way to keep her safe & happy while she heals completely.
I don't think you're crazy at all travelling as far as you need to see a great vet, if I were you I think I'd do exactly the same!

RH the Karlie wonderland wheel is the wooden one on Zooplus yes, I've had quite a few now & no problems with splinters, I give them good check when I get them & then coat them with Plastikote & they're fine.

My Chinese pees in hers a lot but it's really easy to clean with plenty of plastikote!

[katmick]

Oh great Plastikote, I completely forgot about it... Thanks Cypher...I may get that one though as I really love them. They are really silent and great for hams! I think that little bars inside help the feet to get a grip and break safely

And I am definitely thinking about making a bin cage for my girl after this accident from IKEA SAMLA Bin 80x50 cm but in a meantime I will put her into a plastic cage I have which is I think 50 cm x 39 cm. I think it is a kind of version of mini Duna I think ( it is not a Mini Duna though). This is smaller what she has and will allow her to heal safely. I am letting her sleep for a while and put her into this cage tonight.