Chinese dwarf hamster and wheels

[yoshiko]

Today I went and looked at some hamsters...I have suffered the loss of Yugi and I am heartbroken. A woman who works at the store was talking about the Chinese dwarf hamsters. So curious I picked one up and this one was already pretty tame sitting in my hand of course he was nervous and shy but no biting or anything.

The lady tells me she mainly uses a 5.5 in wheel with her chinese dwarfs. I've always been told that a 8.5 wheel is better as it doesn't cause the back to curve causing problems later.

the hamster I am looking at is very young a couple months old still baby like. So my question is do you use a 5.5 wheel or a 8.5 wheel? btw I live in the U.S

[cypher]

5.5" would definitely be too small, even for an 8wk old, they are quite long when they stretch out to run & need a good size wheel.
I use the silent runner for mine, it's really light & easy to spin, well made & easy to clean too (essential with a chinese lol!) & they love it.