My hamsters arenot using their silent spinner

Gimleyand Meeko · 01-22-2015, 12:39 PM

I purchased two silent spinner's and my hamsters are not using them. Gimley is using it as a toilet even though Gimley has a sand bath (which Gimley uses as a toilet) near it and Meeko just isn't using it at all. I removed their other wheels which were very squeaky should I put the other wheel back in and keep the silent spinner in the cage or remove the silent spinners.

Thank you for any advice

Thin Lizzy · 01-22-2015, 09:37 PM

Do they know how to spin the spinner? Some dwarfs find them a bit heavy at first and may need to be showed.

cypher · 01-23-2015, 01:12 AM

Using the wheel as a toilet is usually a sign that they like it & are marking it as theirs! Sometimes they just can't help themselves & pee as they run so it does sound as though that one if being used.
Don't go overboard cleaning pee out of the wheel btw, a quick wipe with paper daily if need be is enough, then give it a good clean once a week or so, if you clean it too much they tend to pee in it a lot more!
They may well be running when you're not around so try putting a bit of substrate in the wheel & see if it's gone by morning, it usually gets thrown out as they run.
They can sometimes take a little while to get used to a new wheel but they should be fine with silent spinners, which size did you get?

Thin Lizzy · 01-23-2015, 06:17 AM

I agree with cypher that the more you clean their wheel, the more they'll pee and a quick wipe will be enough, they like to be able to smell their smell.

Gimleyand Meeko · 01-23-2015, 01:20 PM

I got the 11" silent spinner wheel because I saw the 8" silent spinner and it was too small. I put a small bit of substrate in both Meeko and Gimley's wheels and it was still there by morning. I then put the old wheels back in and the silent spinners are still in the cage along with the old wheels and they went crazy running in the old wheels.

cypher · 01-24-2015, 01:14 AM

That might be a bit big for them, my dwarfs all do fine on the mid size one which is actually only 6.5", with wooden wheels I go up to 8" & they're fine but your little guys may well be struggling a bit to run in the largest silent spinner!