Dwarf Hamster Wheel

Why The Dwarf Hamster Wheel Is So Important
If you don’t already know, running is a HUGE part of a dwarf hamster’s life.  In the wild, these guys needed to run constantly.  They needed to run in order to find food as well as to escape from predators.  Birds fly, fish swim, and hamsters run.  In fact, hamsters are known to run as much as five miles in one night!  I don’t know about you, but I struggle to get myself to run one mile every morning, and I’m probably a hundred times bigger than a dwarf hamster! 

A dwarf hamster that doesn’t have the opportunity to run will definitely be at a loss in terms of health.  This doesn’t just affect physical health, but mentally health as well.  Imagine being cooped up in a little box all day long.  In fact, many people who work in an office cubicle suffer through this exact same thing.  Do these cubicle workers seem very mentally healthy to you?  Exactly! And unless you want your dwarf hamster to suffer the same stress and risk of insanity of a cubicle worker, you will need to provide your hamster with opportunities to exercise with a dwarf hamster wheel.

Now that you understand the scope of running in a hamster’s life, you probably realize now just how important a dwarf hamster wheel is.

Examples
Here are a few points that illustrate the role of a dwarf hamster wheel in a dwarf hamster’s life.

One illustration of how this little piece of equipment will be such a big part of your hamster’s life is its role in recovering escaped hamsters.  The hamster wheel has been known to attract hamsters that have escaped from their cage.  By just putting out the wheel, lost hamsters have been known to return in order to exercise on it.

Another display of the wheels importance is when two dwarf hamsters are housed together and there’s only one wheel available to run on.  There will often be disputes over who gets to use the wheel!  It looks like this:

Now this was just a harmless situation and sometimes hamsters will get into serious, injury-resulting fights over using a wheel!  So remember, always get a wheel for each one of your dwarf hamsters, far too many people don’t do this.

The Dwarf Hamster Wheel vs. A Regular Hamster Wheel
Finally, one of the major mistakes that can be made with a dwarf hamster wheel is buying one that’s not fit for a dwarf hamster.  There many wheels available out there in many different shapes and sizes, but not all of them are good for dwarf hamsters.  In fact, a lot of them will cause injuries.  The first thing you need to look for is to buy one that is the right size.  If you by one that’s too large, it will be difficult to spin and awkward for your hamster to run in it.  The second thing is to make sure you get a dwarf hamster wheel that doesn’t have rungs.  By getting your dwarf hamster a wheel with rungs, you are only risking ankle injuries.  You need to get a wheel that has flat panels for your hamster to run on and no gaps in between so your hamster can safely and happily get in his many miles of running a day!

One More Consideration When Buying
Considering how much time your hamster will be running on that wheel of his, you’ll want to be aware of the noise potential.  Your dwarf hamster will be running on the wheel A LOT and if the wheel is a squeaky one, it could potentially be very distracting and annoying.  If this is something that would bother you, make sure to get a wheel that doesn’t make a sound.  If you don’t mind squeaky noises or if the cage is far enough that it won’t bother you, then you have nothing to worry about.

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