Forchinate Chins Wheel?

[LaurenMcStay]

I have been looking online for a wheel to use in my chin's cage, and have recently came across the forchinate chins website. The website owner hand-makes her own chinchilla wheels, and they have a very reasonable price tag. Have any of you purchased a wheel from forchinate chins, and if so can you answer the following questions?

1. What is the wheel made of?

2. Is the wheel sturdy and durable?

3. On a scale of 1-5, how noisy is the wheel?

4. What are the shipping costs for the wheel?

5. How does the wheel attach to the cage?

Thanks so much!!
-Lauren

 

[ssalcedo]

I really like the wheel. Its an all metal wheel that measures 16". Its not a silent wheel, but for the price and quality its worth it. It attaches with 4 wing nuts. Here are pictures of my wheel (front and back) on my cage. I made the wheel myself. My boys love it! You do need to spray Pam on the bearings once and a while to keep it moving at a good speed, which is no big deal.

 

[alli713]

I had one, but didn't really like it. Sure, it's cheap, but for the price you're getting one noisy wheel that doesn't turn as easily as a Flying Saucer or Chin spin.

It's made out of a metal feed pan with a lazy susan bearing. It is super noisy. On a scale of 1 to 5 I'd say it's a 5. You'd not want to have it anywhere near your bedroom.

Also, over time, the bearings wear down and get dust and gunk in them and don't turn easily. I stopped using mine because I noticed that the chins could hardly turn the wheel. It could be cleaned and oiled, but for the hassle a Chin Spin is a better bet.

Personally I would not buy another one again. I think it works fine if you need a wheel for lots of chins, are in a separate place in the house from where you sleep or have no other choice for a wheel. But given the choice I'd get a chin spin or flying saucer. I have 4 saucers so I'd recommend those more than this wheel.

 

[Chubi32]

I also had this wheel for my first two chins- I did not like it all that much either. It is very noicey and was too narrow for my one female to run on- they first had the plastic wheels from Petsmart and ran on those all the time- then I got the Forchiante chin ones and they wouldn't run on them near as much. I would just save your money for a bit longer and buy a ChinSpin.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

I have 4 of these wheels. 2 were made by her and 2 were made by my dad.

They are loud and not the best wheel if your chins cage is in your room. My chins have their own room so its not so much a problem. Some of my chins were even afarid of them because of the sound.
Chin Spin is much better, but it depends what you perfer

 

[LittleTrinkets]

I agree with the previous posters, I have that exact same wheel only instead of purchasing it online I made it myself.

The noise level is actually very loud which could scare a nervous chin away from using it and like Alli said you wouldn't want near your bedroom at all since I can hear mine spinning from a room away.
You also need to oil the bearings quite frequently for its best performance and to help the chins push the wheel with more ease.

 

[ssalcedo]

I didnt like the wheel at first because it didnt spin very well, but once I found out I can spray the bearings with Pam it worked so much better. It is loud, but my chins dont sleep in my room, so the noise isnt a problem.

 

[LaurenMcStay]

My chin lives in my bedroom, so I don't think I will purchase this wheel from forchinate chins. I will probably go with the flying saucer instead. Thanks everyone!