My russian dwarves will not use their wheel

[Amazing Miss Alice]

Hi everyone,

I am really new to keeping hammies (I've had them just a week now) and I want to make sure I am doing right by them.

When I bought the accessories for my two little lovelies I made sure that among many other enrichments I bought a wheel. However when I moved Hannah and Sophie into their new home last week I noticed that they didn't use their wheel. I mean they weren't even remotely interested in it. I used a sharpie marker to put a little dot on the top of the wheel so that I could see if the wheel had turned in the night but for five nights the wheel stayed in the same position.

I was worried that maybe the wheel was too heavy for them as is is a closed plastic wheel suitable for a regular sized hamster so a couple of days ago I bought them a jogging ball on a stand that is suitable for mice. It is much smaller and lighter. I placed a little bit of food inside and Sophie, being the most curious of the two sisters, hopped in in search of treats. How ever when it started to move she was terrified and darted back inside her little house faster than lightning!

I cannot interest Hannah at all. I was so worried about them last night that I didn't really sleep. I just spent the night sat in the dark listening to their movements. I didn't hear the ball turning at all.

How can I make sure they are getting enough exercise? I have built them tunnels and bridges and they have two levels to their enclosure. But my hamster book says that in the wild they run several miles a night. Although the enclosure is spacious enough for two lively dwarf hammies there is no way that they could burn enough calories from just climbing around their cage at night and not using their jogging ball / wheel.

Please can you offer me any tips to encourage them? I don't want to stress them - Hannah is untamed at the moment (I have only had them a week!) and she is very bitey. She drew blood from my finger yesterday as I was scattering their food...

Thank you!

[kyrilliondaemon]

Er... Firstly, the level might not be the best idea... Levels can cause fights in groups/pairs. Might be ok, but keep an eye on it if you can.

Secondly, and more usefully - it might just be that they're still nervous. Some of ours have been nervous with wheels before, but they never took this long to get used to it.
One (slightly mean) trick we did with our syrian to try and get her paying more attention to her wheel (she wasn't scared of it, just too busy chewing bars to want to use it), was to rub a chocolate drop right around the inside of the wheel and see if that got her attention. She had to turn the wheel fully to get all the chocolate, so thats what I'd do again if hams were unsure I think.
As long as the treat smells and is one they like it should get them braving the wheel eventually...

That said, I have no guarantee it will work as none of ours have ever been that afraid before.

Anyone else have any ideas?

[Lucinda]

Not sure exactly how to encourage wheel usage, but it's worth mentioning that you should have 2 wheels - even if they're not using them yet, when they do you don't want any nasty fights!
I'm not sure what you mean by a jogging ball, but if it helps I used these wheels, as my dwarves found the wheel that came with their cages very difficult:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silent-Spinn...ef=pd_sim_kh_3
(A bonus is that they're really quiet!)

One of my dwarves did have a bit of a struggle getting used to using a wheel - she used to just jump on and off lol. I tried all sorts - putting food in the wheel (although didn't try Sam's suggestion - wish i had thought of it!), but in the end she just gained confidence with it. My other dwarf just jumped straight on hers lol.

[Amazing Miss Alice]

Originally Posted by Lucinda

Not sure exactly how to encourage wheel usage, but it's worth mentioning that you should have 2 wheels - even if they're not using them yet, when they do you don't want any nasty fights!

Thank you for your tips! I do have two wheels well, one wheel and one jogging ball (Exercise Ball With Stand Small Animal: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies), which is the same principle as a wheel, but each one is on a different level.

As Sam said:

Originally Posted by kyrilliondaemon

Er... Firstly, the level might not be the best idea... Levels can cause fights in groups/pairs. Might be ok, but keep an eye on it if you can.

, I am now really worried that they will start to fight! I have not noticed this yet, but it is good to be forewarned. Thank you Sam!

I cannot interest my pair in chocolate or yoghurt drops. Their treat of choice is cucumber, and dried mealworms, (they get those twice a week and they get so excited when they find them mixed into their seed mix!!) They are so funny, they don't even seem to go for those nutty, honey treats either. I guess they are sweet enough my ultra cute little balls of fluff!

I hope they will get used to things soon. I thought I heard one of them using the jogging ball the other night but it was dark and I couldn't see for certain. I will leave it a week or two and then see.

They are always haring around their tunnels and climbing on their bridges and stuff, so maybe they are getting enough exercise. I'll just have to wait and see. I can't force them to use it!

Alice

[Hammie.A]

Put them in an enclosed ball on the floor.

They will learn what to do in that.

My robo hamster millie, didn't really d anything which i though was very unusual for a robo but after about a week and a half she eventually cam out more, started using her wheel and used her house.

You just have to be patient.

If your worried about the exercise side, make and agility course in a playpen or a plastic box using cardboard and tunnels.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Cucumber might smell a bit so maybe try it with that? Might work, might not, but it can't really hurt and might be worth a try. Although if they're using wheels alone they've solved the problem anyway which would be nice if they have

I'm sorry to have got you worried, but its worth knowing the risk of fighting really. We've known it from the start with our group and knew it before we introduced Whizz and Muffin but social species are happiest in pairs/groups so we prefer to give hams a chance to be social anyway and just prepare to keep them alone if its ever needed (our one exception is Skip who has been alone since before we got him and is genuinely happy alone - unlike Whizz, who did need company). Just be aware there is a risk they'll fight and separate them if you ever see someone has drawn blood from someone else (or if one is blatantly bullying the other/making it really miserable e.t.c).
There are loads of ways to minimise the risks anyway, so there are plenty of precautions you can take if you're worried

I wouldn't personally shut them in a ball if they dislike the wheel. Yeah they'll get the idea but they'd probably also be stressed, especially since they'd need to go in the balls alone, and stressing them with balls isn't really fair, neccessary or nice. Try them in balls by all means, but I'd keep it short and watch for signs the hamsters are unhappy. Most of ours love them, but Muffin didn't seem overjoyed with hers so we gave her a few minutes and we took her out again. We'll give her another try soon, but if she doesn't like it she doesn't use it. Simple
Same goes for our other hamsters with balls and run time. Everyone likes balls so they get them, but Scamp hates runs so never uses one, everyone else loves them (again except Muffin) so they get run time. Muffin is going to get a slow introduction to outside cage space and if she stays unhappy with both her ball and the run we'll start finding another alternative for her.

[Amazing Miss Alice]

I have not been able to find a suitable ball yet here in Germany. I am sure that they are available though! I want to get a 5" clear (i.e. colourless, I know they are all clear!) one, but as yet I have only found a clear ball in 7".

I would like to try a ball but any signs of stress from either hamster and I will put them straight back into their cage.

No sign of fighting as yet. In fact, I saw them grooming each other this morning. But I will keep monitoring them.

[kyrilliondaemon]

They might never fight, hopefully they won't

Good luck finding a suitable ball and with trying the hams in it (or them) and yeah, I hope they get along wonderfully forever

[Amazing Miss Alice]

Success!

Last night I came home to find Hannah running like mad in her jogging ball! She was at it all night

Only downside was that I was woken up at 3am by that aggressive chirping (no biting though thankfully) sound and saw that Hannah didn't want to let Sophie have a go on the ball. I couldn't interest either of them in the wheel on the top level but luckily the hamster cage came with a wheel when I bought it. I took it out because it is very loud, and bought them the aforementioned top level wheel instead. I put the old wheel back in the cage and that sorted out the dispute and both hammies happily ran all night. No more disagreements

@Lucinda, I will definitely be buying two silent spinners ASAP! Thank you for the link! Do you think the 6.5" wheel will be too big for my dwarves? Only I noticed that there is also a 4.5" - though maybe that would be too small...

[kyrilliondaemon]

Awesome! I'm glad they're using it now. I'm also glad you had a spare wheel to put in

And I know you asked Lucinda so hopefully she'll answer too, but you want the 6.5" silent spinners. Our four russian hybrids have those and have always been able to use them fine
Our robos have them too, and they're a fair bit smaller but again manage without trouble.

With hamster wheels its always best to risk going "too big" than too small really. Chances are they'll be fine with what looks a bit too big, but too small can really be a problem, and for russian dwarves 4.5" is definetly too small.