People And Their Hamster part One;

Background
When we got our first hamster, Paul, in 1994, we put a wire wheel in his cage. Paul was never very good at running on the wheel; his feet would slip through, and he would lose momentum and bang up his legs. We didn't know how serious the problem was for a few months. Then one day we examined his hind legs and found various bruises and scrapes. We took out the wire wheel and replaced it with a hamster ball mounted on a stand. Paul's legs soon got better.
On the down side, the ball surface seemed to attract dirt, and it was a pain to clean. Further, if Paul did not want to come out, I had to take the ball off the stand, remove the cover, get him out, and put everything back together. It also seemed to me that the inside of the ball -- made of smooth plastic -- was not a very good running surface; the only traction was provided by small slits.

I don't want to run down the ball too much. It's a pretty good idea, and Paul did much better with it than he did with the wire wheel. The ball also has the advantage of doubling as an in-the-cage exercise "wheel" and an out-of-the-cage ball, an important factor for those with small budgets. Still, I like the Wodent Wheel better, as you'll see.

When Paul died and we got our second hamster, Percy, in 1995, we went back to the wire wheel, since we were tired of the always-messy ball. Percy did much better than Paul on the wheel, but later in his life we found the same sores on his legs. This time I threaded cardboard through the rungs of the wheel. Percy's legs didn't fall through the rungs any more, but the wheel became too heavy. The cardboard surface was also rather slippery, offering little traction.

Our third hamster, Buttermilk, adopted in June 1997, got the bare wire wheel again. And again, his feet slipped through the rungs. Buttermilk was able to keep from injuring himself by only walking on the wheel. After his first month or two he never went very fast on the wire wheel. Seeing the problem, I threaded paper through the rungs. Buttermilk was noticeably less happy with things. The paper offered less traction, and his feet still occasionally fell through; every few days I had to patch up a rip in the paper.

Thus, I was interested when I read some comments about the Wodent Wheel from some satisfied customers on alt.pets.hamsters in the fall of 1997. It was described as a hamster exercise wheel with a textured running surface and no holes for feet to fall through. This struck me a something that had been needed for many years. I checked out the web page, and, in late November, I asked for comments from the newsgroup. The consensus was that the Wodent Wheel was a very good product. Of the three sizes -- Junior, Senior, and "Wobust" -- the one recommended for hamsters was the Junior.


The Wodent Wheel
At the end of November 1997, I ordered a Wodent Wheel Junior. Given a choice between wingnut and capnut style, I chose the wingnut, since that sounded easier to remove. The total cost, including shipping, was $11.95 (US).
Three days later, the Wodent Wheel arrived in the mail. It came preassembled, although it's easy to take apart and put back together. The wheel itself is plastic, while the wingnut, washer, and stand/axle are metal. The running surface is 8 inches in diameter, and the entire unit is 8 and 7/8 inches tall when standing up. The general shape of the wheel is rather like a drum. The two sides are made of flat white plastic. They are identical, except that one side has five circular hamster-sized holes, while the other side has no holes.

The running surface, which has no holes, is brown plastic and is rather rough. Visually, it reminds me of a cedar board, but it doesn't feel like one; there are no sharp pieces sticking out, and no splinters break off -- I tested this by running my hand along it. It strikes me as a better running surface than any of those I described above. It seems easier to clean than the ball-on-a-stand. Or maybe Buttermilk is just less messy than Paul -- it's tough to say.

The stand is a painted bent metal rod -- all one piece. On the side of the wheel with no holes, the rod goes through a washer and through the center of the wheel to form an axle. On the side with the holes, the wingnut is on the axle.

When we introduced Buttermilk to the wheel, he sniffed it thoroughly. After a minute or two he hopped inside. A couple of minutes later he was running away like an old pro. He was running, not walking. He would run for 30 to 60 seconds, stop, poke his head out of one of the holes, sniff a few times, then go back to running. He still does this when he's running and I'm around. (Of course, I don't know what he does when I'm not around.)

There is one small gap in the brown running surface. It's not a hole, but a strip of white plastic. This makes it easy to count revolutions and see how fast Buttermilk runs. For all you non-mathematical people with Wodent Wheels, count the number of revolutions over a period of time, measured in seconds. Divide the number of revolutions by the number of seconds, then multiply by 1.43 to get miles per hour or 2.30 to get kilometers per hour. (This is for the Wodent Wheel Junior. For the W. W. Senior, the numbers are 1.96 and 3.16. For the Wobust W. W., they are 2.14 and 3.45.) I counted 61 revolutions in 45 seconds. So Buttermilk was running at a bit under 2 mph.

Ever since, Buttermilk runs on the wheel a lot. He used his old wheel a lot, but he didn't run very much. The wheel also makes a nice hamster hidey-hole -- it's almost totally enclosed -- so Buttermilk likes just sitting in it, too.

Now, this last fact is great for Buttermilk, but it worried me slightly. I foresaw two possible problems stemming from Buttermilk liking the wheel too much. First of all, I wondered whether it would be difficult to get him out. It turns out to be about the same difficulty as for the wire wheel, and significantly easier than for the ball-on-a-stand. He will be sitting by one of the five holes. I put my fingers in the holes on either side, and out he comes; or, if he's feeling particularly stubborn, it's easy to push him out. (Note that sticking my fingers in like this might present a problem if Buttermilk were fond of biting; of course, I would have a similar problem with other enclosed exercise wheels.)

A second concern was whether Buttermilk would set up housekeeping using the wheel, using it as bed, pantry, or toilet. He has not done any of these, fortunately. I don't know how common it is for hamsters to treat the wheel like this, and, again, this would be a problem for the ball-on-a-stand and other enclosed exercise wheels, as well.

My wife tells me that Buttermilk has some things to say about the wheel. Unfortunately, I can't understand hamster speech, so I have to rely on her:

Here is Buttermilk's endorsement of the product. "It is great! I can poke my head out the side to look out. My little legs are happy, because they don't keep falling through and getting banged up."
And there you have it.
In conclusion, the Wodent Wheel is a good product. I like it, my hamster likes it, and I recommend it.

One final note: the people who run the Wodent Wheel place (the company is called "Transoniq") apparently keep rodent pets. When I called, I was told that the regular order takers were not there, since they were "taking the rat to the vet".


Summary
The Wodent Wheel a hamster exercise wheel sold by "Transoniq". It is an good product that has been needed for many years. Hamsters can and do injure themselves when their feet slip through the rungs of a wire wheel. Other exercise wheels have other disadvantages, such as poor running surfaces. The Wodent Wheel has none of these disadvantages, and it also makes a nice hamster hidey-hole (which can be both good and bad). I like it, my hamster likes it, and I recommend it.
When ordering, I suggest you get the wingnut style. The proper size for hamsters is the Wodent Wheel Junior. For more information, see the Wodent Wheel Homepage.

Saturday, January 1, 1994

We have a new resident at our happy home, weighing in at 6 ounces (plus postage and handling), a 6-inch-long bundle of curiosity with a passion for sunflower seeds. He's named "Paul", a.k.a. "Tubbo", a.k.a. "Paul the Fat": one rather large hamster.

He lately resided at Ian's place, but when he developed the annoying habit of beating up his compatriots, something had to be done. Conveniently, Ian gave us a hamster cage for Christmas. The original idea was that we would go find some cute little baby hamster at a pet store. But keeping Paul for a while offered sort of a "rent-a-pet" arrangement; we could find out if we liked having a hamster around, while not being committed to keeping him, and Ian's other hamsters could get a little peace of mind.

So we brought him over Tuesday night, shortly after we got back from K.C. When we put him in his new cage, his first priority was, predictably, exploration; his second was escape. It didn't take him long to find the weak point in our set-up. Ian found his hamsters liked sleeping in a 2-liter bottle attached to his (rather complex) hamster condo. So he included the attached bottle in ours as well. It has a hole in the side for easy cleaning and hamster removal. This hole is covered by another partial 2-liter that fits over the whole thing. But that hole in the side gives the hamster the initial tooth-hold he needs. When he started, I got out my stopwatch. After 12 minutes, he had gnawed a hole in the bottle big enough for him to get half his body out. Unfortunately, he couldn't get all of it out. He was high enough that his back legs weren't touching anything, but not far enough out to be able to grip anything with his front legs. In short, he was quite stuck. For two whole minutes he struggled valiantly, while we watched and giggled. At the end of this monumental effort, he was completely exhausted, so he slumped down and panted for a while. We took pity on him and, hoping he hadn't had a massive heart attack, extricated him from his predicament. Like the cruel, tyrannical overlords we truly are, we put him back in the cage and duct-taped the opening he had made.

His third priority was setting up housekeeping. Ian's hamster book has been wrong about a few things (like "Hamsters never overeat.") but it seems to have been quite correct in describing the way hamsters set up their living arrangements. They always have a particular place where they sleep, a place where they keep their food hoard, and a toilet. When Paul started getting violent, Ian put him in a part of the condo where he couldn't get to the others. He also couldn't get to his bed. Of course, he could have just made a new bed, but he didn't want to do that. Paul spent almost every waking moment for 3 days trying, with a surprising amount of success, to gnaw a hole through an inch of wood so he could get back home.

Thus, we were a bit concerned that Paul wouldn't like his new cage. But, after the initial flurry of escape efforts, he decided to go about the business of making the place livable. However, his choices weren't quite to my liking. He put his bed in a corner of the main box, which was fine, but he let the attached 2-liter be his toilet. The result was rather disgusting to look at, so I decided to do some rearranging for him. Among other things, I moved his bed, which he'd made out of paper strips, into the bottle. He's been sleeping there ever since.

... and that's about enough for now. We have a plan of making a leash and taking him on walks. We'll let y'all known how that turns out.

Copyright 1994, 1997 Glenn G. Chappell. "The Hamster Chronicles, Part 1" may be freely copied and distributed provided that the text is unchanged, this notice is retained, and no fee is charged for said distribution. Distribution for a fee may only be done with express written permission of the author. While it is not strictly required, the author would also appreciate being notified if The Hamster Chronicles are made available to the public free of charge

gooeythehamster said:

AWWW you make me want to buy a hamster,but don't they die in like a week?

Hmmm...

Sweeny79 said:

Not these Tarzan variety hamsters. They last a bit longer.

KeithyT said:

Cool where does on accquire one of those?

Sweeny79 said:

Not just anywhere...

You have to earn a hamster like me...

Cloudbuster said:

I have the feeling that lame-ass mofo's are not worthy.

gooeythehamster said:

I bet one does

So how are you today Gooey?

Sweeny79 said:

Well, besides busy at work (this is my lunch hour...) I am really happy with my newborn nephew Daan and looking forward to seeing one of my best friends in the world this evening.

And I am on a Rufus Wainwright and David Bowie concerts afterglow.

gooeythehamster said:

Congrats about the baby! I have to start work now Have a good day!

gooeythehamster said:

Hey Gooey, I'm going to be in Amsterdam tonight.

hihihi gooo

gooeythehamster said:

Natsume said:

am i glad to see you and your drunken self...

Christopher said:

So not drunken at the moment... but no guarantee any other time!!

It blows my mind I can go get drunk if I want right now, there's a bar in my college building... I can go to Augustan Satire trashed... will make it more interesting, at least...

Natsume said:

lol your gonna wake up one day in someone else house with your panties on backward and one sock missing...

kinda like our dear friend posh eheh...


are you all fiona'ed out now?

minneapolisgenius said:

You say AFTER my internet collapsed.

Natsume said:

Hey sexy.

Saw you on friendster!