Which wheel?

[DragonsFly]

Planning to put a hamster wheel in the crabitat. My two are a large large and a jumbo now; which wheel would those with experience with these recommend?

[DragonsFly]

Chewy has a ton of them:

https://www.chewy.com/s?query=hamster%2 ... it-button=

[Motörcrab]

We use the 8.5" Kaytee Comfort Wheels for our big guys in 1-1/8 and larger shell openings. We line the wheels with mesh and extend it out about 1" past the wheel to make it 4" wide over all to make it easier for them to run!
Depending on how much stuff you are ordering you may be able on shipping if you can find them at locally at Petco or PetSmart!

https://www.chewy.com/kaytee-comfort-sm ... /dp/128989

[Motörcrab]

The both these crabs are in 1-1/4" to 1-3/8 shell openings. That's an 8.5" wheel! Naturally they don't use their toys how they are intended!



Here are two that are in using another 8.5" wheel correctly! At least long enough to get the picture.


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[crabs_lex]

The both these crabs are in 1-1/4" to 1-3/8 shell openings. That's an 8.5" wheel! Naturally they don't use their toys how they are intended!



Here are two that are in using another 8.5" wheel correctly! At least long enough to get the picture.


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i have this kind of wheel in my tank and i was wondering if the base on it is okay to use. i know crabs are sensitive to metal and i know others use this wheel as well, but is it okay to put it on the tank as it comes? i wasn’t sure if the base is metal or not and it the coating on it would protect the crabs

[Motörcrab]

Pretty much every wheel has a metal stand of some sort. We mount ours to egg crate and put the base above the wheel to attach 2nd levels. It helps postpone rust from forming. Eventually it happens due to the humidity.

I do not think there were ever any real studies on rust being dangerous to crabs. Some allow it in the crabitat, others remove it. I will allow small patches on the wheel but if it started to get too bad I will remove it.

[DragonsFly]

THANKS! Perfect. How do you attach the mesh to the wheel?

[Motörcrab]

I drill holes using a 5/16 drill bit then use small 4" zip ties to hold it in place. Every now and then the mesh will get caked with sand. I'll cut the zip ties to clean, then reattach.

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[DragonsFly]

I drill holes using a 5/16 drill bit then use small 4" zip ties to hold it in place. Every now and then the mesh will get caked with sand. I'll cut the zip ties to clean, then reattach.

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THANKS for the very detailed answer, super helpful!!!

[DragonsFly]

Motorcrab, can you show/tell a bit more about how you attach the wheel to the egg crate stuff -- and also how you anchor the egg crate? My wheel got here today (Chewy.com is AMAZING, I only ordered it last night!!!), and I tried just hanging the wheel from the metal stand with zip ties, but that is definitely not going to work (too much "give" in the zip ties, so if any weight gets on the wheel, it sags down to hit the substrate and therefore can't turn--and if I hung it high enough to not do that, the crabs wouldn't be able to reach it).

[DragonsFly]

Motorcrab, is there a thread anywhere that shows how you anchor the egg crate background, and how you attach the wheel to the egg crate?

[Motörcrab]

Oops, I forgot about this post. Our first few tanks we had the egg crate go all the way to the bottom of the tank for support. With more experimenting you can get away with only about 3 to 4 squares deep buried. When cutting the egg crate undersize it for width and height by about 3 squares. If it's too tight you will fight getting it in.

To support the top of the egg crate you can make some 2 Square wide braces that go to the front. You can even make 2nd levels out of egg crate too.

Zip ties are the easiest way to attach the wheel. If you cut the tab off the back of the wheel to attach it to a wire cage, it will sit flatter against the egg crate!

I tried to search for pictures but couldn't find good ones in the topics.

[DragonsFly]

Thanks!

[DragonsFly]

Sorry, another question: I've been looking for plastic grid but so far can only find small sheets (30 x 30 cm the largest I've found; that's only 11 inches). If I'm going to anchor it down into the substrate, I'm going to need it to be at least 20 inches--anybody know of a source for plastic grid ("egg crate") that comes in larger sizes?

[Hermielover121]

I use a gutter guard from Home Depot which is like 7 dollars for a very big roll. It is flexible and works really well in my opinion


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