I Drew My Nekkid Ham!

[Amaranth]

My fiance challenged me to draw a picture of Hamilton, so I did! It's just a quick sketch, and he was running on his wheel, so it's not the best, but it sure looks like him!

[mangoandmimi]

Looks good, it does look like him :)

Just a note that the wheel looks much too small, his running position isnt right as he’s having to bend to fit on the wheel. Best try and get a 11-12 inch wheel if you can as running like that long term will be painful and cause problems.

[cypher]

That is a really good likeness, well done! :)

I do agree that the wheel is much too small though, apart from the back problems they get from running in a small wheel you need to make sure he's not actually touching the sides, spindle or anything other than his feet on the track in case he hurts his skin.

[Amaranth]

I checked his wheel and called the local pet store asking if the silent spinner I bought is the right size, and they said it was the correct size. His tail and nose aren't touching the insides of the wheel, the wheel is concave.

[mangoandmimi]

Pet shops aren’t the best source for hamster info, it is frustrating when you are told the wrong info I know. Sorry but it is true he needs a larger one - 11/12 inches in diameter is a general guideline. His back reaches the spindle which is shouldn’t and he is having to bend to fit in the wheel. They need to be able to run with their back entirely flat. It’ll be uncomfortable running like that and will cause back problems regardless of whether his nose and tail are touching the sides.

[dreamtree1234]

Wow, that is an awesome picture of your cutie! It totally looks like him; you have lots of artistic talent. :)

I also have to agree that your ham's wheel is not large enough. Sadly, many pet stores and their employees are not aware of this and give misinformed advice as a result.

[Amaranth]

I put Hamilton's old wheel back in his cage. Guess he's gonna have to be a bit noisy until payday 🤷🏻*♀️

[alpacassei]

Thats a bit better but you can still see that his back is curved, ideally he needs a 28cm wheel so he can run with his back totally straight. I’ll try to get a photo of one of my syrians running tonight as an example.

[Pebbles82]

It's a lovely drawing :-) I agree with the others about the wheel. 8 to 10" diameter is the absolute minimum size for a Syrian and most people get 11" because they run better in an 11" wheel. In the Us the best wheels for a Syrian are the Carolina Storm wheel which is a 10" diameter bucket wheel (that is fine unless you have a large hamster) or the 12" SilentRunner (that's "Runner" not "Spinner" which is sold by exotic nutrition. 12" is bigger than you need but it's a slim wheel and not bulky. It's also totally silent (as is the Carolina Storm Wheel). There is also the 27cm (11") wodent wheel which is the most compact of the three wheels if space is an issue.

The Silent Runner and Wodent Wheels are both sold by Exotic Nutrition at reasonable prices. The Carolina Storm wheels from their own website.

He would love running in a bigger wheel :-) The run so much better and more easily.

This photo shows the difference between a hamster running in an 8" wheel and an 11" wheel - to show the "running with a straight back" thing. The 11" wheel is on the left - it is more normal running - as if in the wild.

47979