Can they hurt themselves on the wheel?

[sarah]

Our girls have a wheel that looks like the John Hopewell, only the backside is wood. They love it and use it all the time. Sometimes instead of just running, they will leap forward, as high as they can on the wheel and get going so fast they fly off. Or, they both run at the same time and get going so fast that the one on the outside gets knocked off.

Is this normal? It's rather frightening. We're always relieved when they pick themselves up and get right back on, but we're afraid that they could hurt themselves. Other than removing the wheel though, I don't see how we can stop them from playing rough.

Sarah

[Sunshinemeg]

There are three things that will make a wheel dangerous:

1. A wheel that has rungs rather than a solid running base is exceptionally dangerous.
2. A wheel that has a bar at the entrance side of the wheel can be dangerous.
3. A wheel that is the wrong size is dangerous.

If you can ensure that your wheel doesnt meet any of these, then the speed your guys run isnt a concern. They wouldnt go that fast if it hurt them, so dont worry bout it!!!

[diet otaku]

degus are pretty durable, physically. i have the john hopewell wheel also, and my boys will regularly attempt to sit at the top of it, only to swing down to the bottom and sometimes slide off. spaz took awhile to get the hang of the wheel and would often go skittering off and rolling down one of the ramps. they're none the worse for wear afterwards, though. just keep an eye to see if any of them starts limping or otherwise changing their behavior. then you may have an injury on your hands.

[Sunshinemeg]

I dont have a wheel at the mo, but Harry took to sleeping on the top of it, your post reminded me diet. He would get very upset if someone woke him by running in it!

[lita]

Hi Sarah,
Yes, I agree with Meg and Degu's most definately need a solid base wheel or their tail can get caught in any mesh type and rip off.
The only reason I know this is because the first Degu I bought was returned to the pet store 3 times (first 2 times for biting) and then on the last because she lost 3 inches of her tail in a wire/mesh wheel.
Was still freshly raw, but it didn't matter to me as it was "Love" at first sight!!! My lovely Ginger!!!
I handled her in the pet store and she sat on my shoulder and even climed on top of my head. LOL!
All of my rodents (11) have bitten me several times and no longer do this, but needed to "taste" who was handling them.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand and hopefully you have a handy husband or boyfriend who can make your solid wheels like "silent spinners" by removing the inner long center spoke and put apropriate washers and bolts behind to make them more quiet and just as fast.
This question could go off in so many directions for injuries and so happy to report that my 3 Degu's have never had injury, but have had to seperate Gerbils for injury and have treated them myself with wonderful results.
I live in South Eastern Wisconsin (U.S.) and have never heard of the wheel that you have.
Sorry I can't think off hand the exact brand of the wheels that I use, but they have a 3 inch running base and some of my purchased "Silent Spinners" for the gerbils aren't wide enough on the bottom running base and need to get some new one's.
I'll be going to the pet store today for more wheels, food and cellsorb and Chinchilla Dust Bath, so will let you know what the name of the wheel is.
Good Luck and watch those precious babies carefully, as I found that it is best to keep them where you most dwell.
All of them are in my living room and "I LOVE IT!!!!" (Better than T.V.!!!) Funny babies!!! LOL

Sincerely, Lita~ ;D XO My babies are Ginger, Chloe and Cookie. P.S. Just noticed that I have to fix my clock/time on here, as it is now 1:17 P.M. and not 7:17 P.M. "Oops!"

[diet otaku]

the john hopewell wheels are only available online, i think.

i can't believe someone would return a degu because it got injured! T__T

[sarah]

Well, I would post a picture of the wheel if I could figure out how, but the wheel is solid and has no spokes or bars. It mounts to the back of the cage and has a solid wood back and it's perfectly silent, except for the sound of tiny pattering feet!

Here's the website where we bought it -- it's the second one down, called the Chin Spin. www.qualitycage.com/exwheels.htm (I can't even figure out how to insert an e-mail link, sorry!!)

There is nothing to hurt them, except they sometimes get too exuberant with their running and accidentally fall off.

[diet otaku]

the flying saucer wheel is the same thing as the john hopewell wheel. ^__^

[Sunshinemeg]

John Hopewell is the main sponsor of the website linked to this forum, please visit the website www.myhomezone.co.uk/degus and click on his green link at the top of the page. Worth a look, and not only amazing wheels, but fab cages too!

[sarah]

They do have some great stuff! I'm beginning to see that degus are a lot more popular in the UK than in the states, especially here on the west coast. We had to really search around to find cages, food and other necessary degu items. I'm so glad we discovered them, they are such great pets!

[lita]

Hi Sarah,
It's just Lita again and wanted to write back to tell you the name of the wheels I use and probably wouldn't work for you.
They are called "Comfort Wheel" by super pet and the largest they carry for a solid type is 11". There might be enough clearance for them with the center spoke, but just a quess on my part.
I've got 8 1/2" for my Degu's, but as I said where modified by my husband.
He also invented his own version of a "flying saucer" out of a metal dog dish, but the girls fight over it all of the time, so took it out of the cage. LOL (Not to mention that it's not all so quiet) or I'd have him make another.
I'll have to check out that site for the John Hopewell and sounds very interesting.
Also interested in looking for an alternative to the ferret cage I have (3 floors) and is 24x24x48", but my husband has to keep cutting new lumber to line the bottom edges and just made a new bottom shelf out of wood, since the girls chewed off two of the end parts that hold it up. Silly girls!
One mistake I made with the wheels (2 in the cage), is that I didn't counter balance at first and that sure was noisy.
Ginger is so big now and think I need to get bigger wheels anyway.
Well good luck and keep loving those special babies and are really such a joy in my life for sure!!!

Sincerely, Lita~ XO

[Hanlou]

dietotaku said:

the flying saucer wheel is the same thing as the john hopewell wheel. ^__^

No it's not. Actually, the John Hopewell wheel is more like the chin spin that you have Sarah, except it's all metal with no wooden parts. The flying saucer wheel is a totally different design - it runs so that the degu / chinchilla is running on an almost flat surface, rather than in an 'upright' wheel which is supposed to be more natural. They are much smaller but give a much larger 'running surface' so to speak than the John Hopewell type wheels.

I have a John Hopewell wheel and it's brilliant, but the flying saucer wheels are said to be even better, they're just not easy to get hold of here. I don't think it's as much of an issue for degus anyway, they being so much smaller than chinchillas, in terms of the running area etc that they have. Mine LOVE their wheel, it was definitely money well spent. Sarah - if you look in the 'my cage' post on here (by me!) you can see my John Hopewell wheel in the cage.

[diet otaku]

oh my bad!! i must have gotten confused back when people were first talking about the flying saucer wheel. :B the saucer is what i have, then. it's EXCELLENT, definitely money well-spent. the only noise i hear from it is the cage walls rattling when one of them is running full-speed!

[sarah]

Yes, Han -- I looked at your cage pictures and our wheel looks just like the John Hopewell, except I think it might be a little bigger -- ours is 11" diameter, I think. We thought about the flying saucer wheel, but it looks like it might take up too much space. Our girls love their wheel and have contests to see who can run the fastest!

Sarah

Sarah

[diet otaku]

i've thought about trading in my saucer for a vertical wheel to save space, but i can't deny my boys the chance for all 4 of them to sit on the wheel at once. XD

[Hanlou]

Lol diet, hope my reply didn't seem a bit telling-off-ish, just thought I'd better point out the differences. I have researched keeping chinchillas in the past, which is why I know so much about the flying saucer wheel. Maybe John will make them in the future!! :-)

Sarah, my wheel is actually 12", the pics of my cage are a bit deceptive. You can just see the degus in the pic of the whole cage which helps to get it 'in perspective' a bit more. I'll try to take some better pics of it at some point.

[ILoveMyDegus!]

Hello everyone, this is so helpful! As I posted in a different thread, I need a quiet-running wheel due to some new roommates! I was thinking of the JH, but with exchange rates and all, was worried about it being too expensive.

Sarah, did you have to counterbalance your's? Was it easy to modify the one you provided the post to?

One little story: my two little ones especially love their wheel. They are very polite sisters; often one will want to go one way, and the other the opposite way. What do they do? They take turns! One will jump on, run a few seconds, the other hops on, the first jumps off...back and forth the game goes. They never get hurt and seem to love it. Ok just wanted to share my story! They really are fun to watch. Although I'm sure other people's degus do that, too.