The Importance of Wheel Sizes!

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

When I got Fatty at a nearly fully grown 5 months the cage he lived in had a 5.5", plastic, flimsy, rung wheel and the owner couldn't understand why he would not ever use it. I gave him an 8" wheel temporarily but could see straight away that it would be no good for him long term, he was almost too big and soon out grew it.

I ordered him an 11" rodent wheel at the beginning of this week and it arrived today! I encouraged him onto it this evening and he will not get off! He just walked on it at first but now he is having a 'brisk stroll' as it looks to me. It might be classed as running to others, Im not sure but as a robo dwarf owner I can't even see it as working up a sweat

Anyway for the sake of some people outside of HC saying that I am "spoiling" him by getting an "oversized" wheel and that it's a waist of money etc. I took some photos of him on the 11" wheel and some on a standard 5.5" wheel. I also thought that these photos could be very educational to those in a debate about whether to upgrade their hamster's wheel.

I must make it very clear Fatty was not forced on to the 5.5" wheel nor was he allowed to run on it for more than a few seconds. I do not condone the use of tiny wheels for Syrians.
The photos are for educational purposes only.



Here are the comparison shots -
First the two wheels next to each other




Fat Face (Medium sized adult male Syrian) on a 5.5" (14cm) wheel - the standard size that comes with most cages. Note the severely arched spine.






And Fat Face on the 11" (28cm) wheel, his spine is now aligned correctly.





He also wanted to show off just how much stretching space he has


^ That's him Hi-5-ing the use of correct wheels

[Gibbs&JackBlack]

Nice comparison! Great post-esp for newbies to see the difference!

[StarlightSerenity]

Great post I don't think people realise just what damage a too small wheel can do to a hamster.

The size difference between the two is amazing

[cathface]

haha his stretching pictures are so cute! this is a great post. I'd bought my new ham a wheel I thought was quite large, but when I brought him home and he hopped on, I immediately realised that he would outgrow this very quickly - it looked like the middle spindle thing was going into his back! didn't look comfortable at all. so I've now ordered the 20cm Karlie wheel and he'll be getting that as soon as it arrives. if I'd seen this post before I got Hamburglar, I wouldn't have bought the smaller wheel at all!

[Mona's Humans]

Bilbo outgrew his 8" wheel by 8 weeks, his 11" seems small compared to him

[Keflan]

How much was your 11"? Your hammy looks a little like my Izzy.

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

I got it for £10 including delivery (and a 10% new member discount) from the German Zooplus That is the cheapest you will get an 11" rodent wheel for but it arrived really quickly and was undamaged It is well worth the money but Fatty only just fits safely. Any bigger and I would have needed to buy the 12" silent spinner from ECF and that one is expensive!

[gutterglitterxx]

Cutest model ever. ;D My Cheeto had a 6.5" for about 3 days when she first came home, then she had a 8" for a couple weeks, and she has now been on an 11" Wodent Wheel ever since and she loves it. So glad I upgraded because she looks so much more comfortable.

[Kissa]

Just Fatty standing next to the 5.5" wheel is ridiculous, he's so big in comparison to the wheel!

[Cathii]

What a useful post!
I'm glad this got posted, as you can really see the difference.

I saw a Netflix advert on TV the other day and I'm afraid to say they had Syrian hamsters on wheels that were too small as they had to bend their necks up.