Squeaky Wheel

[SugarFairy123]

So I recently noticed that Minnie ( my hammy's ) wheel squeaks . Now when I say it squeaks I MEAN IT SQUEAKS . It's a very unpleasant sound and quite noisy . It's an 8 inch Comfort Wheel and Minnie loves it so she constantly runs on it every night . When I bought the wheel it was fine , in fact it was very silent but I took the stand off and attached it onto the bars of our old cage ( I did that a couple of times actually , don't ask me why lol ) Since we got a new cage the stand was more useful so I attached it back onto the wheel and ever since it's been very noisy and squeaky . Do you guys have any methods of making a wheel less squeakier or should I just go to the pet store and get a new one (we actually got the very last one on the shelf when we went to get it so hopefully it's in stock again)
THANKS !

[Pebbles82]

They do tend to be noisy I believe and some people say they don't last very long either. I'd recommend getting either a 27cm wodent wheel or a karlie wonderland wood wheel (if you don't mind light sanding and painting with plastikote). We have the larger 30cm Wobust Wodent wheel as Charlie is huge. The wheel is huge too. The 27cm one is usually fine for most Syrians.

If you want it attached to the cage I'd get the Wodent wheel - I've found they work better hung from the top of the cage, than they do on their stand.

If you want it floorstanding I'd get the Karlie Wonderland one - nice sturdy base.

This is ours attached to the cage and as a comparison, a photo of the 27cm wodent wheel which is more compact and not as chunky as our Wobust wheel. You take the wheel off the stand (keeping the two washers and the closing pin safe). Slot the stand through the bars on top, and then reattach the wheel. I used 3 cable ties in strategic places to keep the stand firm. Too many cable ties and the wheel can sit at a weird angle.





Karlie Wonderland 29cm on the right, 27cm Wodent wheel in the middle, 30cm Wobust wheel on the left



The Wodent wheels are only available from pet planet (out of stock) and the sugarglider site in the uk

11" Wodent Wheel (Senior) & Free Tail Guard

The Karlie wheel is available cheapest from Zooplus. There have been some issues with them having splinters on the struts or running track so you'd need to be prepared to give it a light sanding inside the track and a couple of coats of plastikote. I had one once and liked it but prefer the Wodent ones now - hamsters seem to like them too.

Wonderland Exercise Wheel: Great Small Pet Accessories at zooplus

I find them both virtually silent.

[Miniver]

I fixed my Comfort wheel with string. Wrap some cotton string around the post between the wheel and the stand it connects to. Add some edible oil (olive, canola) to the string. Ta-da! No more squeak. Basically, it's a homemade washer.

There are videos and solutions on-line with pictures that describe it better. Some use rubber bands, some use cardboard. I used string because that's what I had in the house. I've had my wheel for 3 months and no noise or problem.