Attaching Karlie Wonderland to the cage?

[fluffybumolivia]

So Hamish's Karlie Wonderland wheel has just arrived today!! I am so excited to add it to his his cage after coating in plastikote. I was just wondering if there is any way of attaching to the bars. Not really a problem but would probably be better than sitting on the floor as I am using shredded cardboard on the floor and is not that stable! Thanks!

[WinnieTheHam]

Maybe move the substrate out of the way so the wheel can stand on the base? I find Karlie wonderland wheels are very sturdy so even if it is on the substrate I don't think it would fall over

[Shannonmcn]

I have a Trixie which isn't that stable either, I set a bendy bridge down flat and use that to stabilise the wheel if that might work for you?

You could try and cable tie the bottom of the wheel to the roof of the cage so it hangs rather than sitting on the substrate? I know you can do it with the Trixie and the Wodent wheels, not sure about the wonderlands but you could give it a go?

[Pebbles82]

That sounds like a good idea Shannon. You'd need to unscrew the wood base to do that and then it would depend on the depth of the back piece the wheel is attached to - I have a feeling it would be too deep to fit through 1cm bar spacing.

I used to have ours directly on the base of the cage, a little bit of substrate around it and then slope the substrate away from it so it got deeper and deeper the further away from the wheel it got. It seemed to work ok. I'd worry about a hamster trying to dig underneath it if it was on top of the substrate.

Another option would be to have the wheel sat on a low platform and tie the back strut to the bars with some sisal string to keep it stable. Rodipet actually made a wheel platform that is 9cm high. It has a cut out to fit their wheels but I reckon the stand of the Karlie wheel would sit fine in the cut out bit. It depends on height then - the Karlie wheel is 32cm tall I think. Plus 9cm stand would make 41cm tall - which would fit in a Barney - but you'd need minimum 42cm internal height in the cage.

Here's the rodipet platform, or you could maybe make something similar. I like the idea of their platforms as it means the hamster can go under the wheel safely and use that area of substrate, and the wheel is stable - I do think you'd need to steady the wheel on a platform though, by tying the back strut to the bars so it couldn't fall over.

This one is designed for the wodent wheel, but if you took the wood clip bit off the top it would be a virtually flat platform (just ignore the grooves).

https://www.rodipet.de/shop/laufraed...ent-wheel.html

Or this one is the one with the cut out area for their wheel base - you'd need the larger one linked so the Karlie wheel base would fit. Or you could fill in the cut out with something - cardboard or something, to make it flat

https://www.rodipet.de/shop/laufraed...rklaufrad.html

I'd been thinking of doing something like that - I'd like the one for the Wobust wheel.

[don]

I've done just that.

Remove the 2 screws that secure the base, then I pointed the 'upright' upwards.
The tricky but is offering it up to the cage as it can be fiddly.

I then used 3 short wood screws, with some large flat washers on the outside of the bars to clamp around the bars and hold it solid.
I also but a small length of rubber strip clamped between the bar and the washer for maximum rattle prevention. I'm not sure that last bit was necessary but I had some at hand so I did it anyway.

I think it's fantastic, I'll pop a photo up later.

[Pebbles82]

Excellent! Someone has done it! You are clearly good with wood things! Did the upright bit fit through the bars, or did you leave it underneath the bars and the bottom piece on top and screw them together through the bars? I might even manage that and I hate diy!

[fluffybumolivia]

Thank you so much for your ideas, Don it would be great if you could post a photo as I not quite sure what you mean?! I do like the stands but I have spent about a hundred pounds on the animals xmas presents lol! If I can't do Dons idea for some reason how about putting it on a bendy bridge and then tying it to the bars??

[Pebbles82]

I'm not sure about the bendy bridge - it might not be that stable. I seem to remember there are a couple of screws at the back of the base that attach the upright part (the bit the wheel is attached to), to the base, and that they come out quite easily. Basically then you have taken the base off. Hold the wheel upside down in the cage so the upright part bottom is at the top of the cage inside. Then put the base on the outside top of the cage and reattach it with the screws. Is that it Don? Assume it needed a bit more than that.

Or for a stand you could just get a piece of wood to stand the wheel on and tie the back to the bars. Ours was find stood on the cage base with just a bit of substrate around it - you could even 'fence off' that area with a bendy stick bridge and have the substrate higher on the other side of the fence - that's what I've done with our current wheel as it is almost as high as the cage.

[don]

Hi. I've attached some pics here for you.
For reference, I have the Alaska cage.

The only materials you'll need are some short wood screws (about 10-12mm long) and some large flat washers. Make sure the head of the screw does not slip through the hole of the washer - if it does then you'll need a different washer.

Step 1.
Remove the 2 screws holding the base. Pull off the base. Mine was also glued on but so I had to sand off the rough edge once I removed the base.

Step 2.
Whether you decide to mount your wheel upside down or not depends on your cage and how much height you've got inside the cage. On my Alaska, I thought it looked best 'upside down'.

Step 3.
Get your screws ready. I used 3.
Poke each screw through a washer and put them on the table next to you so they're ready and at hand.

Step 4.
Offer the wheel up to the side of the cage. Note that if you mount the wheel upside down like me, gravity will make the upright want to rotate downwards naturally. I temporarily put a piece of sellotape on it to hold the upright still as I offered it to the edge of the cage.
Move the wheel around to see the optimum place to mount it.

Step 5.
When you e decided exactly where you want it then push it up nice and tightly against the inside of the cage. A 2nd pair of hands may come in useful here.
Now on the outside of the cage, grab a preprepared screw/ washer and then screw it into the upright of the wheel from the outside.
Do this for all 3 screws.

Finished.

As a side note, the only other thing I did was use some 'sealing strip' that's used to seal the edges of doors and windows. I cut short lengths and stuck it to the inside of the washers. This was to provide a bit of damping of any vibrations of the wheel through the cage. If not sure if it was necessary but I had the stuff to hand, so I thought why not.
My wife is a nurse so I wanted to minimise noise as much as possible when she's on shifts.

[don]

Another pic.