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sushi_78 · 02-24-2020, 06:15 PM

That's an interesting question, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of information about it online.

I did some research and it seems the term "hamster wheel" didn't come into common use until the late 1970s. The earliest reference I could find to a hamster wheel was in 1969. This was a metaphorical usage in a work of fiction, indicating that hamster wheels were at least familiar to the general public.

https://books.google.com/ngrams/grap...0wheel%3B%2Cc0

There were references as far back as 1929 to the invention of an exercise wheel for minks. I couldn't tell whether this was the first invention of such a wheel, or just the adaptation of a previous invention. The earliest mentions of exercise wheels were those used for animals raised for fur, such as foxes and minks.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...jxAn4Q6AEIZzAI

In the 1940s there are references to the use of exercise wheels for laboratory mice, then later in the 1950s mentions of their use for laboratory Syrian and Chinese hamsters.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...eel%22&f=false (contains some images of hamsters restrained for procedures, and details of such procedures)

I also found a reference to the "flying saucer" style of wheel as early as 1955, which surprised me as I thought those were a more modern innovation. A "hamster guide" from 1955 also recommends a wheel no smaller than 10 inches, preferably 12 or 15. The link to the full guide is below, and it makes very interesting reading. It also recommends building hamster cages from asbestos shingles, so...

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?...iew=1up&seq=21

All this makes me think that hamster wheels probably first came into use in laboratories, having already been used for other rodents, then entered the pet trade along with hamsters.

02-24-2020, 06:15 PM
sushi_78 Hamster Overlord Join Date: Jun 2019 Location: London Posts: 763	Re: Who invented the hamster wheel? That's an interesting question, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of information about it online. I did some research and it seems the term "hamster wheel" didn't come into common use until the late 1970s. The earliest reference I could find to a hamster wheel was in 1969. This was a metaphorical usage in a work of fiction, indicating that hamster wheels were at least familiar to the general public. https://books.google.com/ngrams/grap...0wheel%3B%2Cc0 There were references as far back as 1929 to the invention of an exercise wheel for minks. I couldn't tell whether this was the first invention of such a wheel, or just the adaptation of a previous invention. The earliest mentions of exercise wheels were those used for animals raised for fur, such as foxes and minks. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...jxAn4Q6AEIZzAI In the 1940s there are references to the use of exercise wheels for laboratory mice, then later in the 1950s mentions of their use for laboratory Syrian and Chinese hamsters. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...eel%22&f=false (contains some images of hamsters restrained for procedures, and details of such procedures) I also found a reference to the "flying saucer" style of wheel as early as 1955, which surprised me as I thought those were a more modern innovation. A "hamster guide" from 1955 also recommends a wheel no smaller than 10 inches, preferably 12 or 15. The link to the full guide is below, and it makes very interesting reading. It also recommends building hamster cages from asbestos shingles, so... https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?...iew=1up&seq=21 All this makes me think that hamster wheels probably first came into use in laboratories, having already been used for other rodents, then entered the pet trade along with hamsters. Last edited by sushi_78; 02-24-2020 at 06:27 PM.