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Old 03-24-2017, 03:31 AM   #1
jopop
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Default Wheel location - lower substrate?

Hi all
Just wondering - do you find there is a problem with wheels getting stuck with the substrate underneath? If so, how do you go about resolving this? Do you section off the cage somehow to give an area with less substrate? or any other ideas?
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Old 03-24-2017, 03:42 AM   #2
Drago
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Default Re: Wheel location - lower substrate?

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but I assume you're talking about a hamster piling bedding up beneath the wheel? I keep the bedding that my wheel is on at just 5 inches while the rest of the cage gets about 9 inches. I usually end up moving the bedding away from the sides of the wheel as Duncan will jam the wheel and then climb on it to try and escape! So you can put less substrate or you can manually remove piled up bedding daily, or both. Best wishes
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Old 03-24-2017, 04:16 AM   #3
Hamsterita
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Default Re: Wheel location - lower substrate?

You could put the wheel over a shelf, and if it's not possible, maybe you could make a stand. That's what I did, now I can't post a picture, but I have the trixie wheel

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-Plas.../dp/B01CJWIS2S

I took a piece of cardboard and I put it under the wheel, and then with popsicle sticks and white glue/elmer's glue/ crafts glue I secured the wheel to the cardboard making like "rails" (gluing the popsicle sticks to the cardboard and next to the dark metal part). I don't know if you understand what I mean...

That way the trixie wheel is fixed to the cardboard, and the cardboard doesn't allow the substrate to block the wheel because the substrate is under the cardboard. You can make the stand as bigger as needed.
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Old 03-24-2017, 04:29 AM   #4
leedsgurl
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Default Re: Wheel location - lower substrate?

Depending on which wheel and cage you have, you could attach the wheel (by the base) to the top or side of the cage.
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Old 03-24-2017, 05:02 AM   #5
souffle
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Default Re: Wheel location - lower substrate?

If they pile bedding under the wheel we just move it I haven't had problems.
Just remember to take in to account the height of your cage and the fact that the wheel is on a stand when buying. That wheel is 33cm diameter but the stand does add more height to it.
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Old 03-24-2017, 06:21 AM   #6
jopop
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Default Re: Wheel location - lower substrate?

Thanks all. I'm actually asking for a work colleague (I don't have a hamster of my own) so I will pass your tips on to her.
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Old 03-24-2017, 06:57 AM   #7
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Wheel location - lower substrate?

I used to have the wheel on the base of the cage with an inch or two of substrate (assuming the cage isn't tall enough to have the wheel higher up), and then either slope the substrate away from it or "fence off" the wheel end with a medium bendy stick bridge on its side, so you can have split level substrate. Sometimes hamsters do push substrate around and it blocks the wheel but you should check regularly to see the wheel is safe/spinning ok anyway and can just remove the offending bits again

Partly because of this issue, with my last cage I had a wheel that screwed to the bars and the wheel sat above the substrate so it was about the same depth throughout the cage base. This was more to increase floor area than to stop it jamming really. Also that cage was tall enough (but not too tall to do that). So for example, internal cage height was about 43cm. The diameter of the wheel without the stand (screwed to the bars) was 30cm, and the wheel was screwed 1cm from the top of the cage, meaning there was about 12cm of substrate underneath it. Even then if a hamster decided to push a mountain of substrate up to it, it would jam lol. But it is trickier when it's on the floor and substrate just falls into it easily.

Is it for a dwarf hamster or a Syrian? If it's a Syrian it depends how tall the cage is and what wheel it is, what you can do with it. If it's a dwarf with a smaller wheel I would try making a subterranean hide - like a wood box that sits on the floor of the cage and just protrudes from the top of the substrate, with the wheel on top. That way the hamster can burrow under the wheel without blocking it up - but if they decide to block it up they just do it!
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Old 03-24-2017, 09:17 AM   #8
AmphyAmphy
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Default Re: Wheel location - lower substrate?

My hamster's wheel is on a lower amount of substrate than the rest of the cage, just an inch. The area is sectioned off from the rest of the cage with a bendy bridge. I uploaded a photo.
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