Mental Maturity and Wheels?

[Brittany]

After watching Latte use her wheel for the last month I decided to remove it for her safety. It's a nice pink surfer and she was 6 months old and 500g before I gave it to her, so I know she's big enough to use it. However after several weeks she hasn't learned how to slow it down, and still gets thrown from it. Sometimes she gets it going so fast that she could seriously hurt herself, so I don't want to risk an injury.

I'm used to my other chins who are 'pro-wheelers' and never get thrown. I'm starting to wonder if she's just not mentally mature enough to handle it? I'm thinking I'll try it again in another 6 months or so. Has anyone else had this problem with younger chins? Does anyone have adult chins who constantly get thrown from their wheels?

 

[Sesame]

Sesame was about 7 months old when she got her ChinSpin wheel (it was her first one too). She was thrown out of the wheel a few times, but I believe she quickly caught on.

Is the surfer a similar style to the flying saucer? It might be that Latte is just one of those chins that can't get the hang of it.

 

[Whimsy]

We let young kits have supervised play time on the lightweight plastic flying saucer wheels for a short period at a time. This gives them environmental stimulation within the safety of supervision. Gradually we move them up to more mature wheels as they grow. This helps them learn how to operate a wheel and still have fun while someone is there to overlook the process.

 

[Brittany]

No a surfer is most like a chin spin http://www.chinchillas.com/estore/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=63

 

[cindyv3737]

When I first brought Shelly home I gave her a wheel. Her cage came with one of those crappy wire wheels. She would try to stop it but was not quite able to. I pulled it out, then got rid of it once I found out it was junk. Shelly was well over a year old when she got a chin spin and probably 6 - 7 months when I gave her the wire wheel.

 

[RDZCRanch]

She could need a little more time. 6 months is the minimum age they can have a wheel, but as always with animals there are exceptions. Some will just run when they need it, others will run themselves into exhaustion or fling themselves off the wheel. I had one adult chin that constantly flung herself off the wheel because she thought it was great fun to tumble across the cage. For her, I learned to keep obstacles off the bottom of the cage so that she would just tumble.

I think Latte just needs a bit more time before getting her wheel. Sounds like she's still got too much of the terrible twos to handle a wheel properly.

 

[Marie5656]

When I first got Trixie, she was almost 6 months old. I started her with a smaller, hard plastic wheel..with the knowledge that I would change it. She had the wheel fot two or three months before I ordered her the silver surfer. She took right to the Surfer and loves it now.

 

[Airyn]

I've had my sliver surfers for about two months now, and three out of four will still fly off of them occasionally. I'm convinced it's weight related, as Maia (3 years old, 700g), has no issues at all, nor does she have as much of an after-swing when she slows the wheel down. Boji (6y), Buddha (1y) and Nixi (1y) are all hard runners under 600g. Nixi and Boji seem to get thrown the most frequently, but always land on their feet. Buddha's the only one I've seen do a crash landing, but he got spooked by something nonexistent so it was understandable. Regardless, they always get back up and jump right back on, so I left the wheels in with the hope that they'd improve over time. So far, so good.

Hopefully once Latte gets a bit bigger, she'll be fine with it! If Latte is as high-energy as Nixi and Buddha, those playtimes will be LOTS of fun for you! )

 

[Brittany]

I've had my sliver surfers for about two months now, and three out of four will still fly off of them occasionally. I'm convinced it's weight related, as Maia (3 years old, 700g), has no issues at all, nor does she have as much of an after-swing when she slows the wheel down.

Yeah, my other two chins got their wheels when they were adults. They're both pros at either slowing down or just hoping out. For awhile Latte would just stop running and get thrown out like a bullet. Now she's also getting it going so fast that she can't keep up with it. I've been waiting to see if she'd get any better but it's getting to the point where I'm worried about her getting hurt, so thats why I took it out until she's older.

 

[Airyn]

Yeah, my other two chins got their wheels when they were adults. They're both pros at either slowing down or just hoping out. For awhile Latte would just stop running and get thrown out like a bullet. Now she's also getting it going so fast that she can't keep up with it. I've been waiting to see if she'd get any better but it's getting to the point where I'm worried about her getting hurt, so thats why I took it out until she's older.

I definitely would've done the same if my guys couldn't get the hang of it. So frustrating for you though!

 

[Laurie]

I totally think you were right to take it out Brittany. I know Latte is a fattie but 6 months is still so young. I've noticed with my crew not everyone does the wheel the same--Bobo and GiGi run on theirs full speed ahead but have it mastered--they have a chin spin. Bronwyn and baby Lisa do not run on theirs as fast and have to have their head peaking over the side--Leo Braun wheel for them. Abby and Solange have the Ed Wheel and again they can't run as fast on it as they are both on the small side. Wesley has a small chin spin and runs very fast on his when he uses it which isn't all that often.

I know all my gang has the concept of the wheel down pat yet all of them use it differently.

 

[3CsMommy]

It took Crash almost no time at all to figure out the Flying Saucer once I bought it, but I had a homemade vertical wheel in there for them before; it seems the ones that understand one kind of wheel transfer the physics more easily between types. He had more trouble learning to run on tile and hardwood than the wheel, hence the name "Crash Into Me".

I just taught Nova and YouBe to use their new Ed wheel tonight. I'll post video shortly but it took less than 5 min. As for staying on it, we'll have to see, because YouBe is teeny and Nova is, well, not. If I notice one of them losing the battle with centrifugal force, I might take it out too. I think you're right though, Brittany, to give her a little more time if she's having that much trouble staying put. Better an ounce of prevention than a pound of cure.