Wodent Wheel worth it?

[ann]

I have three boys and have never had a wheel. Is it worth it to buy one? Do you have to "teach" them how to use it? What about the big solid ones I've seen at the pet store in the ferret area- how different are they from the wodent wheel?

[jackieann82]

I just bought a wodent wheel for my 2- 7 week old girls. i have had it for a couple days now. i don't have it in the cage as its rather large but i leave it in their play area and so far they haven't touched it so i am also wondering how you get them to notice it. i try to encourage them to go in it but they want nothing to do with it. i even tried putting a treat in there but they wouldn't go after it.

[BJ in WI]

I have a jumbo whell for my girls and one loves it and the other occastionally uses it.  It does take up a bit of room, but if they are getting a good work out, it's worth it.

[sjay]

Roni has a giant wheel and loves it. If it's meant to be used, they'll figure it out. Roni never had one until I gave him one. He jumped in and jogs. Make sure to oil the wheel if its metal. You'll be glad you did!!

[Auskan]

I have never had a rat that DIDN'T like their wheel, even though I've heard of so many others who have had so-so responses.  In the evening, I love to listen to that wheel going round and round.  However I have found that they use it more when they are younger, so depending on how old your guys are, if they're never had one before, they may not adapt to using it.

[Bratratbeds]

I have had both types and love the wodent wheel MUCH better.  The solid one has a plastic part that extends through the center holding it on the base.  the problem is our girls ( Thank you very much Thunderbutt!!) chewed that little tip right off and then the wheel was not longer any good as there was no way to "fix" that end piece tha held the wheel on the peg.  The wodent wheels are great as if the ratties do chew a part you can order that part and replace it.  The solid running part is easier on their little feet too.  So for the money The wodent wheel is a much better deal.  On the oil YES use oil ( I use baby oil) as after a few washings the peg will rust a little then is squeaks like crazy as they run in it    The other thing I really like is you can totally disassemble the wheel to get all the gunk out of every crack.

[Adventure Rats]

The big plastic comfort wheels aren't very stable and I've never had a rat use one. The Wodent Wheels always get used, most of my kids are old now so it's used for leasurely walks these days, but it gets used.

[trubandloki]

The big plastic comfort wheels aren't very stable and I've never had a rat use one. The Wodent Wheels always get used, most of my kids are old now so it's used for leasurely walks these days, but it gets used.

I have both a big comfort wheel and a wodent wheel...and both were very popular. 

They liked the comfort wheel almost more because they could both go in it and run together.

[LoriZubie]

My 3 girls never used their wodent wheel until one of them (Speedy) had babies.  I decided to keep all the babies (7) and they started using the wheel a lot.  Then the 3 older ladies started to use the wheel too.

The funniest thing is... when I hand-wrestle the babies INSIDE the cage, they get hyper and jump in the wheel and start running really, really fast.  If I wrestle more than one at a time, they ALL get into the wheel together and sometimes try to run in different directions.   

They crack me up!

[Auskan]

I think sometimes the wheel is used as a stress-reducer.  With my mice, whenever they are scared or stressed because I am trying to do something horrific like clean out the cage, their response is to run to the wheels and race furiously in them.  Perhaps it is the same for the rats?