Woah... Flying Saucers?

Kiah-Muz said:

HedgieMate-
I believe that there can technically be a danger to anything. Even "safe" wheels- there can always be an accident. So by no means am I calling Kiah's FS "100% safe".

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No, I wasn't saying you stated, "A FS is 100% safe." However, I've read someone else making that claim and I became very concerned about it.

I don't know exactly when bucket wheels were first introduced to hedgehogs, but my guess is that they have been around at least 10 yeas and probably hundreds of hedgehogs (of all sizes, shapes, running styles) and habits have used them without much trouble, or at least I haven't encountered any reports of accidents or injuries directly linked to bucket wheels. This is why I personally recommend a bucket wheel over a FS. Because it's a "sure thing". )

Kiah-Muz said:

Is there any certain I can document his distance or speed?

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Yes, you can install a bike computer to your hedgehog's wheel and record the wheeling distance, average speed, maximum speed, trip time, etc. (there are a few threads about how to install a bike computer both on HHC and here). I highly recommend it. )

Kiah-Muz said:

And also- not to sound lazy- but are there any bucketwheel where you don't have worry about rusting when you clean it?

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We've been using the same bucket wheels for 3+ years and there's absolutely no rust or stains on them, probably because they were all made by Nancy.:thumbs: Plus, our little boy is a fairly clean hog and he doesn't poop or pee a lot in the wheel. Therefore, we hardly ever have to submerge the wheel under water for cleaning - I'm sure it makes a huge difference.

I usually use a pot scraper from a dollar shop to remove flattened poop on the wheel in the morning and wipe it down with a wrung cleaning cloth dampened with a white-vinegar solution in the evening when our hedgie is outside of the cage for his playtime. The wheel gets cleaned daily and it takes less than 10 min in total.

I can easily see the ease of cleaning the wheel is a big issue when you have a hoglet or messy hog who dumps a lot of waste every day on the wheel. I understand a FS is very easy to clean. This is another reason why I'd like it to be proven safe in the future, but I just feel too uncomfortable to draw that conclusion at this point in time. Let's keep our fingers crossed. )

Okay, I'm obviously from the chin side but I just have a question about these. I'm reading the comments about the uneven wear on joints etc. using a flying saucer, but how is a hedgie running on a flying saucer different than a chin running on one? The chin metal flying saucers have been used for a while I think and I have them in my cages and I haven't ever heard of anything mentioned like this for chins.
So I'm just really curious to know if there is any similarities that would come up between chins and hedgies. For instance I'm not sure if the hedgie FS is the same size in ratio to the animal as the chin sized one is? And would that make a difference? They do make smaller sized metal flying saucers that are used for smaller pets.
I was just surprised to read of concern for the running style since I have never seen those thoughts brought up with the chins running on their flying saucers.

Chins jump and leap on the FS rather than running the way hedgehogs do. When a hedgehog runs on it, their legs on the one side have to sort of cross over the legs on the other side becuase of the angle of the saucer and the fact that the legs on the inside of the wheel have a shorter distance to go. It is a weird running style and certainly not as smooth as running on the flat surface of a bucket wheel.

I clean many wheels per day and yes the FS is easy to clean but part of it is because of the shiny new surface. I have bucket wheels that are every bit as easy to clean. Some wheels the poop sticks to more than others so if I compare one of the buckets wheels with an easy to clean surface to a FS, there really is no difference.

Oh interesting, thanks for explaining that Nacy )

I have a flying saucer in Kismet's cage as an experiment. She doesn't seem to use her bucket wheel at all, so I figured maybe she'd enjoy a change of pace. Nope. This one just sits. She's not much for wheeling, it seems. It's gradually tapered off since her spay, but she enjoys play time on the floor.

I'm not sure how safe a FS is, but I do know that I wouldn't trust a hedgehog like Cuda on it. He gets going pretty fast on his bucket wheel and I'm pretty sure he'd go flying off a FS. He's not the most graceful hog I've ever seen, and I've watching him take some pretty nasty tumbles off his wheel. I can't even imagine the ways he could fall off a FS.

Nancy said:

I will soon be getting a couple of Reapers Cake Walk Supreme wheels and I'll be doing an experiment giving hedgehogs the choice of flying saucer, CWS, comfort wheel and standard bucket wheel. I'll be setting the security camera up so I can see exactly what they are doing.

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Interesting. Hopefully you'll be able to get a good enough picture to see exactly what a hedgie's legs/feet are doing when they run on these different wheels. With the Cake Walk, I noticed that it has a non-stick surface. What I was a bit concerned about is whether that applies to hedgie feet too - do they have any trouble keeping traction when they run?

I feel I should add....I have a flying saucer wheel and a bucket wheel in 4 of my cages, and in every cage the hedgies seem to be using the flying saucer wheels exclusively...the first two have had their flying saucers for 6 months now and the other two for 1 month. If they switch back to their bucket wheels I'll be sure to post that as well.

If im thinking of the same one i saw in petsmart while i was in there for crickets it had a chinchilla on the box too. EEK, they are plastic, correct?

I dont think in general they would be bad for hedgies, but as Nancy said, i would be a touch concerned with the way they have to alter how they run for the saucers.

I've not tried one as our wheels are still pretty new & no one seems to have complaints. I do however, know that my chinchillas LOVE theirs! =] (But i dont think this particular wheel would be a good idea for chinchillas AT ALL!)- I dont know if that was already said & i know its a no brainer, but figured i point it out anyways. =]

This is the wheel I use for my hedgie, he loves it and has no issues with it. There are no holes on it so there isnt any chance of him huring himself on it. It does take up more space than a regular wheel, but is easier to clean in my opinion.
http://img34.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0620r.jpg

I personally wouldn't get a flying saucer for Henry only because it would take up a lot more space in his cage and I'd rather he have that for floor space.

I agree with the comfort wheel being hard to clean, though! I just had to clean his last night... We do it every two or three days, and it's always caked with poo. He honestly does not poo anywhere else in that cage. It's always either on the wheel or right by it. Silly little guy...

here are my thoughts. i know this is relating hedgehogs to humans again but i think it somewhat works and you should hear me out. i used to be a swimmer and when you first learn the freestyle you're taught to breathe on one side, but once you get that down you MUST learn to switch off breathing on both sides because if you don't you will gain more muscle on one side of your neck and this can be visible and cause health problems and your head can tilt one way.

now when i think about how a hedgie has to run so oddly on FS it makes me think of that. what if they start to gain uneven muscles in their legs just like swimmers can in their necks. especially since a lot of hegdies choose to run in the same direction every night. more muscle could grow. or maybe not more muscle since hedgies aren't exactly musculine creaters, but wear on the joints maybe.

i can see how this might cause problems over time, if it is possible to grow muscles unevenly in their legs? i cant see why not? wouldnt they then have a hard time walking straight on a flat surface??? idk, i wish i could conduct and experiment myself but i do think that it would take a lot of time to even cause a problem, possibly years, especially since no one has said anything to prove this theory yet.