They look nice and they're priced decently but it doesn't seem like they come apart to clean. Also, are they noisy? I think the idea with the holes is that it makes it more inviting for the hedgehog to crawl into but it also makes it look like a hedgie crawling into fan blades.
Post edited by: CThogs, at: 2007/10/08 15:33Check out Ham's Blog !
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smhufflepuff
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Posts: 182
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/08 10:52I've read up a lot on those and the general consensus seems to indicate they're not so good for hedgies for the exact reasons you specified - hedgie could hurt him/herself and it's going to be a disaster to clean!
Given that, I've never purchased one, so I can't give you a first-hand account. Sorry!
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jick
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Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/08 11:13I'm just going to try something different, thanks! better safe then sorry.Check out Ham's Blog !
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jick
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Posts: 296
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/10 12:46Although I will not be getting a Wodent Wheel for cleaning and safety issues I have seen Nail Trimmers built for the Wodent Wheel and wondering if something similar could be used for other wheels. I think the idea is that it is a rougher running surface that will wear the nails down over time. I'm just not sure if it would also wear down the bottom of there little feet!
Post edited by: CThogs, at: 2007/10/10 16:56Check out Ham's Blog !
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saabgirl9000
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Posts: 636
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/10 13:10jick wrote: Although I will not be getting a Wodent Wheel for cleaning and safety issues I have seen "Nail Trimmers" built for the Wodent Wheel and wondering if something similar could be used for other wheels. I think the idea is that it is a rougher running surface that will wear the nails down over time. I'm just not sure if it would also wear down the bottom of there little feet!
i wouldn't use anything rough on a hedgehogs wheel. Maybe it would trim their nails... but it would also hurt their feet!
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/10 16:52I do agree... but don't they run on sand in the wild? I mean... nobody is going to clip there nails there, so how do they keep them short naturally? Check out Ham's Blog !
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Boden
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Posts: 77
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/10 16:57Well they walk intermittantly on rocks and soft, cushy, undergrowth in the wild - the rock will keep their nails trim but they don't live walking and running on rocks where as this "nail trimmer" that the wodent wheel is talking about would have them running on this rough surface all the time while they were on the wheel
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sunshine quill
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Posts: 14
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/12 19:38I would never use the sandpaper inserts, if I were you. Hedgehogs run more on the pads of their feet than their nails and these inserts could really harm them. I've known hedgehogs to get bloody feet from running on regular wheels! Sandpaper is definitely a no no!Helen www.sunshinequillhedgehogs.com
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jick
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Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/12 21:53I figured that would hurt. It's sandpaper after all...Check out Ham's Blog !
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clutterbuster
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Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 06:36I purchase the Sandy Trimmer TUNNELS from exotic nutrition and put them in the play area. They will run through them and also lay in them (Pk hates igloos and pvc pipe but likes these ). Dear breeders - I politely ask you not slam me about this, if the hedgies were uncomfortable with the tunnels they would not use them for there is always a second tunnel for use. A week ago I realized it's the slipperiness of the plastic they don't like so I have also made BIG tubes from the sheets of craft foam that they like to lay inside of but when it comes to laps they still run through their sandy tunnels.
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CThogs
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Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 08:08Sandpaper nail trimmers are not recommended for use with hedgehogs as they can irritate the bottom of their feet.Ann Connecticut Hedgehogs
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 09:51clutterbuster wrote: Dear breeders - I politely ask you not slam me about this, if the hedgies were uncomfortable with the tunnels they would not use them for there is always a second tunnel for use.
Joy,
We wouldn't "slam" you if you'd respect the fact that we have a huge amount of experience. The fact that you refuse to respect that, and continue to post harmful advice, is why we are quick to reply and correct the information you have shared. I will try once again to explain to you WHY sandy tunnels are not safe.
Hedgehogs run on the balls of their feet. On their back feet, this means that the nails are up in the air, and will only come in contact with the surface once they are VERY long. (much longer than is reasonable) By running on a sandpaper surface, they are abrading the pads of their feet. This causes them to bleed, and opens wounds that can become very quickly contaminated with fecal matter and cause illness and infection.
White bellied hedgehogs are originally from desert areas - HOWEVER! that is 1)not exactly the animal we have as pets (ours have Algerian too) 2)walking on loose sand, not fixed like on sandpaper. 3)able to be walking over a long area, thus not necessarily through his/her own fecal matter again and again 4)a wild animal who has an average life span of 24 months
As for yours preferring those tunnels...I wonder if perhaps that has something to do with them continuing to be sick?Stasi Terrapin Hedgehogs Joppa, MD www.terrapinhedgehogs.com
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jick
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Posts: 296
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 10:0624 months in the wild! oh thats depressing...
So would keeping a few low flat rocks in his pen be OK? I'd like to give him something safe to climb on/around. I have been looking for a wading pool with a built in slide, but it's cold now and I'm not even sure they make them anymore!Check out Ham's Blog !
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clutterbuster
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Posts: 513
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 12:22the health problems they have had have nothing to do with their feet, Pippi's coccidia is a parasite and Max came with clostridium which is a bacteria in their intestines... if you had as much experience as you claim you'd know those diseases can't come from sandy tunnels. I've emailed you and asked you personally Stasi to please not respond to any of my postings - you come off very harsh and its hard not to misinterpret the amount of animosity you are directing at me. I don't want to think this site advocates 'there is only one way, our way is the only way'... isn't it better to share experiences both good and bad so people can make decisions for themselves?
Post edited by: clutterbuster, at: 2007/10/13 12:41
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 12:46the health problems they have had have nothing to do with their feet, Pippi's coccidia is a parasite and Max came with clostridium which is a bacteria in their intestines... if you had as much experience as you claim you'd know those diseases can't come from sandy tunnels. I've emailed you and asked you personally Stasi to please not respond to any of my postings - you come off very harsh and its hard not to misinterpret the amount of animosity you are directing at me. I don't want to think this site is advocates 'there is only one way, our way way is the only way'... isn't it better to share experiences both good and bad so people can make decisions for themselves?
Joy-
While we cannot stop you from using inappropriate supplies for your hedgehogs, we can and do recommend that others not use them. We try to give reasons why not to use them or why they are considered inappropriate. We are only trying to fulfill our responsibilites as moderators. Your continued insistence on this issue when a lot of other breeders and owners alike have said they are inappropriate also comes off as harsh. Respect goes both ways.Ann Connecticut Hedgehogs
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 13:29So would keeping a few low flat rocks in his pen be OK? I'd like to give him something safe to climb on/around. I have been looking for a wading pool with a built in slide, but it's cold now and I'm not even sure they make them anymore!
I would go with something lighter and easier to clean like PVC pipes to climb in. Little kids plastic blocks, things like that.
It is probably the wrong time of year to shop for a wading pool unless you can find one on clearance.Ann Connecticut Hedgehogs
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 13:54I often suggest a rock or brick in the cage that they can scrabble on some. It does tend to help with the front claws; though it does nothing for the back ones - at least the back ones tend to be the easiest to clip! Stasi Terrapin Hedgehogs Joppa, MD www.terrapinhedgehogs.com
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Stasi
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Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 14:12clutterbuster wrote: the health problems they have had have nothing to do with their feet, Pippi's coccidia is a parasite and Max came with clostridium which is a bacteria in their intestines... if you had as much experience as you claim you'd know those diseases can't come from sandy tunnels. I've emailed you and asked you personally Stasi to please not respond to any of my postings - you come off very harsh and its hard not to misinterpret the amount of animosity you are directing at me. I don't want to think this site advocates 'there is only one way, our way is the only way'... isn't it better to share experiences both good and bad so people can make decisions for themselves?<br><br>Post edited by: clutterbuster, at: 2007/10/13 12:41
I have emailed you privately about your personal concerns, however, I am going to address the post here too.
I didn't say they GOT the illnesses from sandy tunnels, just possibly it's why you can't seem to get rid of them. Coccidia and Clostridium are very hard to get rid of because the animal keeps being reinfected from EXPOSURE to fecal matter.
Sharing good and bad is perfectly acceptable. However, anything shared that is actually harmful to an animal is going to be responded to quickly.
For anyone who thinks (like Joy) that I am being unreasonable in my terse reply to Joy for once again bringing up how much she likes sandy tunnels, feel free to contact me privately.Stasi Terrapin Hedgehogs Joppa, MD www.terrapinhedgehogs.com
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clutterbuster
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Posts: 513
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 14:40yes those diseases and others are spread through fecal matter, and I made it a practice to dispose of everything and replace with new. It cost me a fortune to buy new bins, wheels, cozy's, igloos, dishes, tunnels, tubes, fleeces. Just look at the set up for your hedgie and picture yourself throwing everything in the trash and starting from scratch for the same two hedgies. It is really bothering me that I have to toss two good wheels but that is where they poop every night.
The sandy tunnels were also disposed of upon reoccurence and they did not get the new ones until their fecal samples came back negative (even though this was not the cross contaminant since everything for the two hedgies was separate. You don't know how much I wish that someone on this site had a smidge of experience with clostridium and could have advised me when Max arrived with it and told me that bleach and hot water was not sufficient to kill this bacteria - I probably would have not laundered the fleeces together.
I can understand not putting sandpaper on the wheels for hedgies to run on, but this is a tube that they choose to run through on occasion. Pk will not go through pvc pipe, but she will go through the sandy tunnel and often lay in it. She doesn't like the plastic. She came with this super large cardboard tube, now that held feces and couldn't be cleaned and had to be tossed pronto! I have just ordered her a custom made cloth flannel tunnel and a week ago I made her a big tube from a sheet of foam. The tunnel I will be able to launder and the foam sheet can be tossed and easily replaced.
Speaking of foam sheets, maybe I could glue that inside Max's wheel for traction... naaah, the duct tape already holds the smell of urine. I need to make a trip to Wally World and try Julie's mini-pad idea.
Post edited by: clutterbuster, at: 2007/10/13 14:43
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CThogs
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Posts: 1575
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 15:04 You don't know how much I wish that someone on this site had a smidge of experience with clostridium Correct me if I an wrong somebody, but I believe that people on this site have encounterd clostridium and I do not believe any have had to take quite the drastic measures that you have taken to keep it under control. I do not think you were advised by anybody on this site to toss everything. I believe you were told that it is usually a stress reaction which causes a gut imbalance which causes bad bacteria to flourish and if you determine the source of the stress and remove that, that is the first step to take.Ann Connecticut Hedgehogs
Re:Wodent Wheels? - 2007/10/13 20:20Ok guys, I'm DONE with this discussion. I would like to extend an apology to Jlick for this topic going horribly off topic and becoming ugly.
Sandy tunnels are dangerous and are a very bad idea. Of course the hedgehogs use them....they live in a cage and don't have very many places to go. Try locking yourself in your bedroom and only living there all your life. Now replace an 8th of the area with a bed of hot coals. Oh ya, and your brain is about the size of a walnut. I'm pretty sure you'd find yourself on those hot coals.
Please do not recommend sandy tunnels again. We've asked this before and explained the reasons why they are not appropriate.
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