Syrian Hamster wheel reccomendations

[Bethyboo11]

Hi everyone!
I'm currently working on setting up a detolf cage for my Syrian, cookie, and I've decided that I'm going to do a woodland/natural theme.
I'm looking for a new wheel that is silent, durable, and matches with colours such as green, orange, brown and wood
If you have any reccomendations, please let me know! She is currently using a blue flying saucer, which she loves , however, it won't match with the theme!

[FreddyAndMe]

I believe that you can get a wooden wheel called the Karlie wonder land wheel which gets good press. I think you just have to varnish it with yacht varnish or something like that so if the hammy wees on it it won't rot.

[AmityvilleHams]

An upright wheel is the best wheel since they offer the natural running pattern!Flying saucers are only really good as an extra toy anyways since they cause side arching and actually even the large ones don't necessarily offer proper space for Syrians to run

A 12 inch wheel is best,or around 30.5 cm.A DIY bucket wheel might be possible but it isn't always easy to find one which has the right internal diameter,and it's pretty much impossible to find a 12 inch wooden wheel from what I've seen so that probably isn't an option either.

A good option would be the Exotic Nutrition Silent Runner wheel,since it comes in a 12 inch size with a very durable stand and also comes in a color selection which is otherwise very boring but the 12 inch wide Silent Runner is green which does fit in nicely with the theme This wheel actually has an excellent reputation among the community from what I've seen as well,which is an extra bonus.

[Bethyboo11]

Originally Posted by FreddyAndMe

I believe that you can get a wooden wheel called the Karlie wonder land wheel which gets good press. I think you just have to varnish it with yacht varnish or something like that so if the hammy wees on it it won't rot.

My hamster does tend to pee on her wheel from time to time... Thanks for the tip! I've looked into the Karlie Wheel already actually, and it has a lot of raving reviews!

[Bethyboo11]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

An upright wheel is the best wheel since they offer the natural running pattern!Flying saucers are only really good as an extra toy anyways since they cause side arching and actually even the large ones don't necessarily offer proper space for Syrians to run

A 12 inch wheel is best,or around 30.5 cm.A DIY bucket wheel might be possible but it isn't always easy to find one which has the right internal diameter,and it's pretty much impossible to find a 12 inch wooden wheel from what I've seen so that probably isn't an option either.

A good option would be the Exotic Nutrition Silent Runner wheel,since it comes in a 12 inch size with a very durable stand and also comes in a color selection which is otherwise very boring but the 12 inch wide Silent Runner is green which does fit in nicely with the theme This wheel actually has an excellent reputation among the community from what I've seen as well,which is an extra bonus.

Wow I've never heard that about the flying saucer, but it does make sense! Cookie does lean to the side while using her saucer! Thanks for telling me

[CMB]

Water based plastikote is good for varnishing wooden wheels, houses, shelves etc. Diy shops sell it and other shops to as well as online.

It comes in clear and also few colours.

[Pebbles82]

I have the 12" Silent Runner! (Orange). I love it - it is silent, spins really well, so easy for hamsters to run in and has a safe sturdy metal stand with no bits to get trapped in. It isn't cheap though. The sugarglider shop sells them and it's £24.99 plus about £6 postage.

Silent Runner 12"

I did a few wheel reviews so will link them below if it helps to see them operating or whatever. I have also had the Karlie Wonderland wood wheel. That is also silent and looks great. There have been issues with splinters on the track with some, so you need a piece of sanding paper to hand just to smooth over any rough edges and then paint with plastikote. It does have the more natural look but mine broke after about 6 months (we have a big heavy syrian lol). There is also the Karlie Flamingo wheel - exactly the same wheel really but instead of the wood treads it has cork, which is nice on hamsters' feet - the Germans seem to like cork wheels. So less splinter issues. Someone on here who has one says plastikoting the cork surface as well as the wheel worked well.

This is the Karlie Flamingo (cork) wheel on Amazon - about £26 - although for some reason they show the photo of the standard one (my review shows the cork one below).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Karlie-Flam...Flamingo+wheel

Of the three, the standard Karlie Wonderland wheel is the cheapest - if Zooplus have it in stock (it is out of stock a lot these days). If not it costs about the same as the Silent Runner if getting it from Amazon. Edit - it's out of stock again.

You could also get a wodent wheel in the colour of your choice! They do brown and green. But again they seem to be permanently out of stock at petplanet and the sugar glider shop. Rodipet sell them on Amazon uk but they are more expensive than usual due to the postage from Germany. About £20 plus £8 postage.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamster-Whe...s=Wodent+wheel

You could buy them direct from the Rodipet shop which works out very slightly cheaper and you can choose the colour wheel, plus they sell all the spare parts so you could choose the running track colour and the front and back pieces and make it whatever colour you want. The 27cm is the syrian sized one (unless you have a very large syrian like ours)

https://www.rodipet.de/shop/laufraeder/wodent-wheel/

Here are all the spare parts

https://www.rodipet.de/shop/laufraed...-wodent-wheel/

I copy and paste bits into google translate to read bits I don't understand Delivery is quite quick from Rodipet, but still costs £7 or £8. Overall maybe a pound or two less than via Amazon and quicker delivery direct from Rodipet.

I like the wodent wheels but the 27cm wasn't quite big enough for our large Syrian. The 29cm Karlie wheel was big enough. Hence I got the 12" Silent Runner - it's quite light so spins really well and I like the large holes which make it easy to wipe out inside.

Here is the review of the Silent Runner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFussTX5PuE

And the Karlie Flamingo cork wheel - which I loved but again it just wasn't quite big enough for our large syrian (it is about 28cm internal rather than 29cm like the Standard Karlie wheel - but that is fine for the majority of Syrians).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96IiKcBjgjU

You can see what the 27cm wodent wheel looks like on this video with some dimensions. I had the 30cm Wobust wheel for a while but it was far too deep and bulky. The 12" Silent Runner is also 30cm (ie 12") but is less deep - 9cm deep the same as the Karlie Wood wheel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGH7aZOLuaE

Having said all that - the 12" Silent Runner won't fit in a detolf heightwise - unless you hack it so you don't use the stand. Some people drill a hole in the wood end part of the detolf and mount a wheel through the hole. That way it would fit, and the Silent Runner does have an optional cage mounting pack so you could screw it to the end panel - it's two metal plates and a bolt - but that's an extra £6 as well.

In terms of height you'd be better with a 27cm wodent wheel, which is the lowest of the Syrian wheels at about 31.5cm tall. Shannon had a 28cm Trixie wheel in her detolf so that fits (colour wouldn't be right for you though) and that is either 31 or 32cm, not sure.

There's more info about wheels here

Guide to suitable hamster Wheels

(As you can see I have a wheel fetish lol). Agree with the others, a flying saucer isn't a substitute for a standard wheel for a Syrian, but can be a nice extra. They run much better in a standard wheel and in a straight line.