Best wheel for Tamburino cage?

xosunflowerox · 02-12-2019, 02:19 PM

Hello, I am new here! I just got my first hamster on Feb. 9th. She is a long haired Syrian Tortoiseshell. Before getting her, I spent a long time researching hamsters. This forum was especially helpful to me as I learned about the Tamburino cage from here! I really like the cage so far and I think my hamster does too. However, she needs a wheel. I was planning to order the 9” Silent Runner from Amazon, but I think that may be too small for her. I see most people get the 12” wheel for Syrian hamsters. The cage is 12” tall, so I’m worried a 12” wheel won’t fit. I currently have a 7.5” saucer and it’s a bit too small for her. I have looked at the Wodent Wheel and Carolina Storm. I’m concerned the Wodent Wheel will be too tall as well. I believe the Carolina Storm will fit the cage, but I’m not sure if it’s large enough for a Syrian hamster. The Carolina Storm wheel is 10.5” in diameter. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice? Thank you!

Pebbles82 · 02-13-2019, 04:59 PM

Hi. It's described as being 13" high - but that will be maximum external height. Could you measure the internal height? A 27cm senior wodent wheel is about 31.5cm tall and should fit. But as she is long haired you might be better with a spindleless wheel.

A 12" wheel won't fit - the 12" silent runner is 35cm tall (ie about 14"). How big is your hamster and is she full grown? 8" diameter is about the minimum recommended for a small to average syrian. The Silent runner would be better because it doesn't have a spindle for long hair to get caught on. The 21cm silent runner may be ok if she is not a particularly large hamster - what does she weigh?

To be honest 11" is fine for most syrians - 12" is a bit overkill - but the silent runner only comes in 9" or 12". And it's a good wheel.

The Carolina Storm wheel may fit - it says the lowest setting is 11.5 inches. But it's quite deep and may take up a fair bit of the cage. It's a better size than the 9" silent runner, diameter wise and also has no spindle. But the 9" silent runner is slimmer.

Pebbles82 · 02-13-2019, 05:05 PM

That cage has a nice long built in house that is space saving. Assume you've removed the wood hayrack ladder thing as that isn't really suitable for a hamster.

Tricky the Carolina wheel is the better size - if it doesn't take up too much space. Then you would need to have an area of lower substrate where the wheel is - and deeper substrate in the rest of the cage.

So the wheel might have to go at one end. Ideally you want at least 3 to 4"deep substrate in the rest of the cage - more is better - then you can spot clean mainly and not have to do full cage cleans very often. Plus they like to dig in it. Full cage cleans stress them out. So better to do partial ones.

Sorry if I'm telling you things you already know. But for the first 2 or 3 weeks it's best not to clean anything while she is settling in and scent marking her cage. Just remove a handful of pee'd on substrate and replace it with a clean handful - after a week or so.

If you use a litter tray she should use it if you put it in her pee area - then the cage should stay clean and dry for longer. You just empty the litter tray every five days or so

When you do have to do a substrate change, it's best to replace some of the clean old (sprinkle it on top) so it still smells familiar, and don't clean anything else at the same time. You can do the wheel another week and any toys etc another week again.

Also best to leave their nest and hoard unless it's peed in or they get very upset and it can lead to abnormal behaviours like peeing on the hoard.

mangoandmimi · 02-13-2019, 05:06 PM

I wouldn’t get a smaller wheel just to fit the cage because the cage she’s in is definitely on the small side unfortunately. It might’ve been recommended on here some time ago but these days more people use tanks as they’re larger. For a Syrian I would try and get a 75 gallon tank. 40g is popular but if you look at pics of Syrian setups you’ll see they still end up quite cramped - so 75g or larger would be better. Then you can get a decent wheel in there as 9” is likely to be too small.

Pebbles82 · 02-13-2019, 05:12 PM

The flying saucer is far too small for her so even a 9" upright wheel would be a huge improvement. I think I would go with the Carolina Storm wheel personally. She will like that and it's 10.5" diameter and should fit fine. If it's at one end, opposite the house, there will still be plenty of floor area for toys etc.

Pebbles82 · 02-13-2019, 05:17 PM

There are two Carolina Storm wheels - it's the top one you want - the CSBW. The one lower down the page is taller (CSE).

https://www.carolinastormhedgehogs.c...orm-wheel.html

The cage is ideal for a dwarf hamster as an 8" wheel fits, but slightly more of a challenge for a Syrian

Pebbles82 · 02-13-2019, 05:20 PM

I agree with Mango and Mimi. Ideally a bigger/taller (but not too tall) cage or tank would be better for a Syrian. But it's not a bad size and as you say she's happy in it - it's about the same size as the Duna Multy. The CSBW should fit and is a good size for a Syrian unless she is a particularly large syrian. And if she has plenty of out of cage time. Hamsters vary also. Some are much more active and need more space.

Pebbles82 · 02-13-2019, 05:23 PM

The only other decent sized hamster cage I know of in the US under $100 at the moment is this Prevue one below and it isn't much of an upgrade - very slightly longer. The height is better. Otherwise it's tanks or bin cages. But if you've only just bought the Tamburino and she's happy in it and she's not massive then she should be ok.

https://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Pet-Pr...gateway&sr=8-1

xosunflowerox · 02-13-2019, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

The only other decent sized hamster cage I know of in the US under $100 at the moment is this Prevue one below and it isn't much of an upgrade - very slightly longer. The height is better. Otherwise it's tanks or bin cages. But if you've only just bought the Tamburino and she's happy in it and she's not massive then she should be ok.

https://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Pet-Pr...gateway&sr=8-1

Thank you for all the advice! Sylvie (my hamster) was initially in a pretty small tank at the breeder's house. The cage she is in now is an improvement! I would prefer to keep her in this cage for a while as she is adjusting still. I think the Carolina Storm bucket wheel is the best option for her. I'm not really sure about her size and weight since I don't want to try touching her to find out... She is bigger than the hamsters I saw at my local pet stores, but I think that may be because she is older. She is about 11 weeks old. If I had to guess, I would say she is about 6 inches in length.

Pebbles82 · 02-14-2019, 04:26 AM

It's hard to tell how big they are when they are long haired. Maybe you could get her out of the cage in a tube or a ball (let her walk into the tube or ball in her cage then lift it out. If it's a tube you'd need to put hands over both ends until you can put it down somewhere safe where she can't escape).

I used to put a treat at the end of the tube, let our hammy walk in the tube, lift the tube out with my hands over the end and then put one end of the tube in the hamster ball (close by) and the hammy should walk into the ball - then you pop the lid on the ball and can then carry the ball to a place that's safe to let them out - eg a playpen area or dry bathtub, where they can't escape. You can put the tubein the playpen area and already have the odd toy in there.

That's a good place for starting taming and getting her used to touch gradually (start with stroking her on the back with one finger occasionally).

While she's in there, if you have some of those flat digital weighing scales just have those in the playpen area with a bit of cucumber or apple in the middle. She should just walk onto it to get the food and then you can see the weight

Her weight may determine whether she is large or average. But yes the Carolina Storm wheel would be a big improvement now and it sounds like a good idea to keep her where she is for now if she seems happy, and think about upgrading later.