Chinchilla Wheels-Pros and Cons/Wants and Needs

[ChinnieShop]

Hello Everyone,

I know that there are tons of wheels out on the market that are for small animals. I have a few on my website that vary, but from all the wheels I have seen there have always been pros and cons. I have actually begun to design my own wheel for small animals, but I would love to know what you guys love and hate about your wheels. This can help me in the designing process to know what will work and what will not. Here are a few things that you can consider that would really help me.

Sound?
Free Standing or connected to cage?
Overall circumference of wheel?
Width of where the animal will run?
Powder coat/Paint?
Cost? Is anywhere from 50 to 80 ok?

Also anything else you can add will be helpful. If I am able to keep the costs where I would like it I hopefully should have either a prototype or a finished one to show at the show in PA. I am really excited in this design process, and I know all your feedback will help. Once the first version is built I will also post videos of my chinchillas running on it so that you can begin to see results. Thanks everyone for your help in this!!!:thumbsup:

 

[andreya]

I bought silver surfers because they were supposed to be "quieter" but my chins make a ton of noise with them. I definitely want it attached to the cage; I can't imagine anything free standing being very safe?

I like the size of the surfers, they are 14" and they fit in my cages (Martin's) without any issues.They have a 4" running path which seems adequate for my chins. I do wonder if it was slightly larger if my fat boy would use it..

So far the powder coating is easy to clean and the chins aren't chewing it. I don't know that there is a safe "paint" you could use.

I honestly would like to see a wheel for under $50. There is nothing as far as I can tell between the $12 Petco and $50 Surfers and I think a lot more people would have wheels for their chins if they were more reasonably priced. Yes, we (on the forum) know that if you want to take proper care of your chins you buy them the best products and that you should have the money but not everyone who ends up with chins can afford it or are going to pay that for a rodent wheel. Or say rescues who want all of their cages to have wheels but it simply isn't feasible. I can't say that shelling out over $200 for three wheels was a joyous moment for me, despite how much I love my chins. =)

 

[tcraighenry]

@andreya omg I know. Mine makes a ton of noise.

The expense is massive. I tell people how much I spent on a wheel for a chinchilla and... yeah

As a kind of a pernickety thing, the packaging for my silver surfer was awful. Full of newspaper, nothing protecting the wheel, turned up out of alignment with no instructions. Honestly, if you're spending more than 50 bucks on a wheel it should look more professional!

 

[andreya]

TC - What's up with that? Someone said it was quieter than a chin spin; I would hate to hear that thing for $30 more! I sleep with a noise machine and can still hear them and they are upstairs. lol

Yep, mine were all packed the same way. Although I don't know if they are out of alignment. They looked okay. I thought at first they left the instructions out on accident but after the third box I realized that there just weren't any. Not that it was terribly complicated, but still...

Yeah, I don't tell people who don't have chins the cost of anything. They already think I'm crazy.

 

[ChinnieShop]

Thanks guys, i like this feedback. The reason I was thinking of a free standing one as well was that even if the noise is very minimal from the wheel, the cage usually flexes and causes noise as well. I think the design I am going with will allow for both attachment and free standing though depending on your preference.

 

[Airyn]

Quieter is definitely better, for us and them. I bought a DIY cheapo off of CL a few years ago and found that the noise of the bearings scares them. They would sleep on it, but they wanted nothing to do with running on it.

I would never buy a free-standing wheel. I have 2 incredibly hard-pounding runners, so unless it's attached to the cage, I won't even consider it.

Circumference should be greater than 14".

Width should be 4-6". The Chin Spins are 6.25", but I've had both the Silver Surfer and the Chin Spin in my girls' cage and didn't notice a difference in usage. I like the Chin Spins better because they're quieter.

Powder coat/Paint: Nothing they can chew and nothing that will wear off. The Silver Surfer paint is already coming off of my one wheel and I haven't even had it for a year.

As a pet owner, I'm fine with $50-80. Less would be nice, but with manufacturing costs, that seems to be a pipe dream.

One other thing is construction. I HATE the construction of the Silver Surfers. They don't mount well to cages with narrow bar spacing (Critter Nation) because the "hooks" are too wide for the bars. Bolts and wing nuts are best in my opinion.

Hope that helps!

 

[ChinnieShop]

Thanks Airyn for the feedback, as far as the free standing wheel, I think we are going to go with a feature that you can have it free standing or attached depending on your needs. Either way the weight will be on the bottom and it will be set up so that it will be very difficult to flip over. I am thinking of going with 15" to start off with, but may make smaller wheels if the demand is there as far as other animals that are not chinchillas. Width so far we are looking at about 5 inches, but have not decided. To keep costs down we were thinking of avoiding the powder coating or paint, which is also a hazard for the chinchilla if they chew. The only drawback is that this coating helps to prevent rust, but as long as you maintain the wheel properly there should be no issues. The mounting issue is a great suggestion, maybe we can incorporate some kind of adjustment so that it will fit on all types of cages.

 

[summerdays]

to me price doesn't matter, as long as its 100% chinny safe, and quiet.. quiet is important to me.

cant wait to see it.

 

[ChinnieShop]

Thanks summerdays, that is my main concern as well is to make it as quiet as possible whether it is attached or not, while making it safe.