Looking for a wheel for my new Chin

[BaxterJoy]

Ok so, we've had Baxter for a month and we've given him time outside his cage everyday so far. He's made really positive adjustments based on what I can tell and what I've learned. Life at the petstore was just not something we wanted to leave him in. Now that he gets a play time- he LOVES it and never wants it to end. Usually we let him out for anywhere between 1 and 2 hours, and still, he begs by the door when we return him to his cage. We've gotten a lot of things to keep him entertained in there, and to make it more interesting for him to explore, but I know for a fact that he needs, and wants to be more active. He was pretty overweight when we got him and had not been given proper food, nutrition, or excercise. We REALLY want to add a wheel to his cage, but I'm having trouble settling on one. I know I need a 14'' or 15'' and there is definitely room for that diameter in his cage. But every wheel I can find that has the right diameter and a solid running surface, is like, 8'' deep. Am I wrong for thinking that's huge? I just don't want it to take up so much room that he doesn't get a lot of space for anything else. Any wheel suggestions?

 

[starleomach]

try the flying saucer. you can get it at chinchillas.com it is great

 

[CerLynn]

We had a 15" chin spin in a 30Lx18Wx28H cage, and it was perfectly fine - plenty of room if you have other levels/shelves.

 

[BaxterJoy]

I would love to get the flying saucer, and I've looked at it, but it's super expensive and everything I've read about it says that it takes up more room than a regular wheel. True? I think that's about the size of our cage at the moment. Good to know that the Chin Spin was fine... that's what I've been looking at. It wasn't too wide huh?

 

[Essentia]

To give you an idea, here is a FN with a saucer on the top and a chin spin on the bottom.

The CS dose come out 8 inches, but it isn't excessive. I am actually thinking of selling my saucer and getting a second CS. Chula does run on the saucer, but not half as much as he did on his CS. Because of having more running area, the chins tend to use it a ton more. Plus, I think (just from watching my own) they are able to go faster on the CS as well.

 

[Chinmama]

If you have a small cage, I would save up and upgrade the cage to give him more room and then save up and get him a wheel.

And, just a note...don't buy a crappy wheel from the pet store. They are poorly constructed and will not last long, or may hurt your chinchilla.

 

[BaxterJoy]

Thank you Chinmama! Yeah, I would NEVER get a plastic wheel. As we were getting him out of the petstore as quickly as we could, the employees were like, "Don't forget to get a wheel! We're almost out!" I took one look at them, and even in my relatively un-chin-educated mind, I thought, "That looks like it would last about a week and I can't imagine that plastic is a good option if chinchillas like to chew..." Sooo glad I didn't get talked into it, and never will! We would love to get him a bigger cage eventually (especially if we ever get him a buddy - although, as far as we know, he's never lived with another chinchilla and we'd have to consider what it would take to introduce him to one) but from what I've heard, the cage size we have is fine for one chinchilla. I'm thinking that a quality wheel is better to get sooner than later? CerLynn mentioned having a cage around the size we do and that a Chinspin was fine... We're going away for a couple of nights next week and although someone will be checking on him, I don't want her to let him out just in case something happens. But I really don't want him to be bored and restless. UHHhh! I just want to make sure he's got what he needs!

 

[BaxterJoy]

To give you an idea, here is a FN with a saucer on the top and a chin spin on the bottom.

Thank you!! That was extremely helpful, and really sweet of you to actually take the time to give me a clear example. awesome!

 

[Essentia]

If you need a better picture just let me know. I took that picture for another thread so I wasn't really focusing on the wheels.

 

[BaxterJoy]

The picture's just fine. The only other question I would have is how heavy the chinspin is...

 

[Essentia]

It's pretty heavy in terms of wheels. I would say it does weigh a bit more than the saucer. I don't have a scale that would work for that (my chin scale only goes to 5 lbs.), but I am guessing it is about 7-8lbs?

If you're looking for something more reasonable, Forchinate Chins makes a homemade wheel. It's not quiet, but reasonable and will last you just as long as a Chin Spin. If your chin is in your bedroom I would say no to the homemade wheel, but if he is in another room the wheel noise shouldn't be a problem.

http://www.geocities.com/forchinatechins/chincessories.htm

You can also very easily make your own wheel like the one in the link above. Get a feed pan from your local feed store or hardware store ($4-$6). Then get a lazy susan bearing, which is about $5-$7 (like the one pictured in the link). Attach and bam, wheel!

 

[BaxterJoy]

THANK YOU! We may end up doing one of those two options this week if we can't work something else out - just so he has one when we're gone! Then maybe we can upgrade later. Thank you so much! You've been extremely helpful!

 

[chinchas4life888]

Here is the actual link I think to make it! http://spoiledchins.net/wheelinstructions.htm

 

[TammyC]

Any suggestions on where to get the chin spins from?

 

[Sandi]

Any suggestions on where to get the chin spins from?

qualitycage.com

 

[Dappleganger]

Just another vote for the Chin Spin here--we have a 15" size in each of our cages and they are very heavily used. The last boy we adopted didn't have a wheel in his cage w/two other chinnies and he mastered it within an hour, probably. It's great for those very active chins as they can pretend to run away from each other, hehe. Although we've not had any problems with noisy bearings, the company is now sending out an extra set just in case the original goes bad. They are a bit more expensive but since they get heavy use, very much worth the $$.