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For those of you who are creative, like to do things for yourself, or simply like to build things, this is one way you can
make your own hedgehog wheel that will be healthy for your hedgehog to use and be quiet when he or she uses it.
Most of you probably already know this; a hedgehog needs a solid rimmed wheel instead of one made with
wire bars. This is because a hedgehog has long fragile legs that arent quite as coordinated as a mouse or
hamster. If the hedgehog gets a leg caught in the wire of the wheel it is very possible the leg will break.
One of the main parts of this hedgehog wheel is In-line Skate Wheel with its bearing. This is the part that keeps
it quiet compared to the standard hamster wheels.
A suggestion you might want to think about is to compare the price of the parts that you are able to get and your
time to put it together versus simply buying a pre-made hedgehog wheel from a store. Having been a model maker for over
twenty years, I would rate building your own wheel as a 4 on a scale of 1-10; 10 being the most difficult. If you are
under 14 you will probably need some adult help. If you are borrowing tools to make the wheel, be sure to ask permission
first.
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Okay, once you have decided to actually build your own wheel you will need to gather your tools and parts. Here is a
list of the tools you will need and then a list of the parts.
Tools:
PVC pipe cutter or hacksaw or similar saw
Drill, can be a drillpress, regular drill, or cordless
Drill bits- 3/32 and 5/16 or 3/8
Paddle Drill bit- Ύ
Open-end adjustable wrench
Tape measure
Sharpie Marker or similar
Side Cutters
200 Grit Sandpaper
Safety glasses
Ear protection (for noise)
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 | Items to obtain:
½ PVC Pipe, Schedule 40, 5 feet long
4- 90 degree connectors for ½ PVC
3- T connectors for ½ PVC
2- 45 degree bend connectors for ½ PVC
1- End cap for ½ PVC
A 5 gallon plastic bucket of at least .08 Mils (Mils is a measure of thickness)
1- Roller blade/Inline Skate Wheel with bearing
1- 3-20 long Ό carriage bolt
6 to 12 Nylon wire ties 6 to 8 long
(how many depends on the spokes of the roller blade wheel)
2- Ό-20 zinc hex nuts
1- Ό split washer
1- Ό tooth washer
3- Ό (SAE) zinc washers
1- Ό-20 Acorn nuts / or capnuts
1- PVC cement; small container
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| Specifics on the things you are gathering to make the hedgehog wheel.
When buying the cement/glue for the PVC pipe look for the correct type for gluing the pipe you are going to be using. If it
isnt available then ask your store clerk or customer service person to point out the correct type to
use.
Check to make sure the bucket is thick enough. Look for the marking as in the picture. The higher the number the
thicker it will be. You will need to make sure it will be thick enough not to warp or bend with the weight of the hedgehog
running in it. You would be surprised how weak the side of the bucket can be with out the reinforcement of the top of the
bucket, which you will be cutting off.
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Here are the instructions you need for building the HEDGEHOG BUCKET WHEEL.
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(1.1) Measure and cut the PVC pipe into the pieces you will need (Figure 4) and set them aside.
| Size | Quantity | Fig Ref # | Part Letter Label
| | 1 ½ | 5 | Fig 13c | B, H, I
| | And | | Fig 13d | M, N
| | 5 | 2 | Fig 13e | A2, C2
| | 5 Ό | 1 | Fig 13c | D
| | 5 ½ | 1 | Fig 13c | E
| | 7 | 2 | Fig 13d | J
| | 11 | 1 | Fig 13e | B2
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(1.2) You may wish to actually label your parts with a piece of tape and a letter. Go ahead and label the PVC pipe pieces
as above. Then label the:
Endcap A
Ts C, K, L
45° Angle F, G
Corners A1, B1, C1, D1 |
| (2) Using safety glasses and ear protection cut bucket to 5 ½ deep (Figure 5). You may need the help of someone more
experienced with this part of the project. Use sandpaper to smooth out sharp edges. |  |
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(3) Using safety glasses drill hole in bottom of bucket using a Ύ Paddle drill bit. Make sure to drill exactly in the middle
of the bottom (Figure 6). Use sandpaper to smooth out sharp edges. |
| (4) Place roller blade wheel over the hole you have drilled in the middle of the bottom of the bucket (Figure 7) and mark
around it in line with the holes between the spokes of the roller blade wheel (Figure 8a) so you end up with what looks like
a dotted line in the shape of a circle. Remove roller blade wheel and draw markings in the directly under the holes of the
spokes of the roller blade wheel (Figure 8b). If it helps imagine a line drawn through the middle hole to the markings you
have already drawn at the outside of the wheel, then drawn the inner markings (Figure 8c).
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| (5) While wearing safety glasses drill holes in the markings you made in instruction #4 using a drill bit of 3/32. Basically
you are drilling in at one end of the mark and gently pulling your drill side ways through the plastic making the hole wide
enough for the wire ties to go through (Figure 9). Make sure to pull gently, as sideways pressure could break the drill bit. |
| (6) Place at least 6 wire ties through the spokes of the roller blade wheel. {For reasons of speed we only used
4 wire ties in our model. You will want to use at least 6 for durability.} In (Figure 10b), it is easier to see the receiving
end of the wire tie is bulkier. This is where the locking mechanism is for the wire tie. Make sure to have the bulkier side
of the wire tie facing towards the middle of the wheel as in Figure 10b).
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| (7) Place the bucket upside down on a flat surface. With one hand hole the roller blade wheel over the bucket. Use the other
hand to help guide the wire ties into the middle ring of holes in the bucket (Figure 10c). Slide the wire ties all the way
into the bucket, letting the roller blade wheel sit on top of the bucket (Figure 10d).
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| (8) Holding the roller blade wheel in place, flip the bucket over to sit on the roller blade wheel so you can see the inside
of the bucket and the front ends of the wire ties (Figure 11a). Now bend each wire tie and push them back through the bottom
of the buckets outer ring of holes you drilled (Figure 11b). You may need to do this in your lap where you have the
flexibility to move it around more easily, pushing and pulling the wire ties as necessary. Again, flip the bucket over and
push the fronts of the wire ties through the receiving ends of the wire ties as in (Figure 11c). You will want to allow the
receiving ends to lean over the top of the wheel as in (Figure 11c). The reason for this is: once the wire ties are tight
and the wheel is mounted on the frame, the tie ends need to be far enough away from the frame to allow the finished wheel
to spin. | 
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(9) Set the wheel on a flat surface and using both hands grab opposite wire ties and pull them tight (Figure 12a). NOTE: It
is important to pull on opposing wire ties at the same time in order to keep the wheel properly centered on the bucket. If
the wheel is not centered the hedgehog will have a difficult time running on the wheel and may avoid using it. Repeat with
next pair of opposing wire ties until all wire ties have been pulled tight. Using a pair of diagonal wire cutter
s cut off the ends of the wire ties as close to the receiving ends as possible (Figure 12c) with finished materials looking
like (Figure 12d). You are now done with the bucket segment. | 
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(10) Returning to the PVC pipe parts you have cut, lay these out and open the can of PVC cement. Make sure to do this section
in a well-ventilated area. The fumes from the cement can be harmful. You will notice on the underside of the cap to the can
of cement is a wire connected to a small ball of fuzz, which should be covered in glue at this time. The cap is the handle
for the ball of fuzz, which you use as a brush to apply the glue. Usually you will need to pull the brush out of the glue
and lightly rub some of the excess glue off, on the inside edge of the can. Rubbing the excess glue off is how you avoid
dripping the glue where you do not want it.
 | (11) While holding one 1 ½ long PVC pipe piece (Labeled B) use the glue brush and smear some glue all the way around the
outside edge of the pipe as in (Figure 13a). Put the brush away and grab the PVC endcap (Labeled A). Push the PVC endcap on
while giving it a slight twist (Figure 13b). |
| (12) Now spread glue on outside edge of pipe piece Labeled B and put on PVC T Labeled C as in (Figure 13c).
(13) Next are gluing on pipe pieces D and E (Figure 13c).
(*) NOTE: The next steps are ones to be careful with as to alignment of the pieces (how straight they are). This cement being
used tends to dry quickly and not allow the PVC to be rearranged or moved. When going through the next few steps you will
want to go through the process quickly and lay them on a flat surface and make sure the pieces are in alignment and lay flat.
This is necessary so they will connect to the next set of pieces later in the instructions. I will designate the
instructions to move quickly with a (*).
(14)* Glue Angle connectors F and G to pipes D and E (Figure 13c).
(15) Glue pipe pieces H and I to Angle connectors F and G (Figure 13c). |  |
 | (16) Glue together Pipe J to T connector K (Figure 13d).
(17)* Glue T connector L to pipe J and lay flat (Figure 13d).
(18) Glue pipe pieces M and N to T connectors K and L (Figure 13d).
(19) Glue corner connector A1 to pipe A2 to create what we will now call Assembly A. Glue corner B1 to pipe B2 to create
Assembly B. Glue corner C1 to C2 to create Assembly C.
(20)* Glue Assembly A to Assembly B and Assembly B to Assembly C. Glue Corner D1 to Assembly C. |
| (21) While wearing safety glasses take assembled parts as viewed in (Figure 13d) and use 5/16 or 3/8 drill bit and drill
hole through both sides of T part C as in (Figure 14a) to look like finished product in (Figure 14b).
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(22) Push carriage bolt through hole (Figure 15). After putting carriage bolt through T, slide onto carriage bolt one
washer and one split washer. Put on one nut and tighten until square part of carriage bolt sinks into hole. Do not tighten
further than this as it will damage assembly and you will need to rebuild this section. |
| (23) Slide onto carriage bolt one washer and put carriage bolt through back of roller blade wheel as in (Figure 16). |
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(24) Onto carriage bolt put on tooth washer as in (Figure 17). Now put on a washer as in (Figure 18). Put on and make finger
tight one nut as in (Figure 19). Now use open end adjustable wrench and tighten nut between a quarter to half a turn. Use
endcap nut and put on carriage bolt, make finger tight. Use same wrench and tighten half a turn as in (Figure 20). |
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NOTE: Read next instruction all the way through first.
 | (25)* Apply glue to ends of pipes M and N on upper assembly, spread corner connectors on lower assembly and attach to upper
assembly (Figure 21). Once this is done put lower assembly on flat surface and slightly tilt upper assembly back as in
(Figure 22a). The reason for this is even with as thick as the plastic material of the bucket is, it will flex some with
the weight of the hedgehog in it and be slightly lower. Another reason; the sides of the buckets are angled a bit, so to
make a flat surface for the hedgehog to run on, the upper assembly needs to be tilted back. This will create a finished
product as in (Figure 22b), which should look like (Figure 23) when you are done and looking at it from the front. |
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Now you should let the whole kit sit for an hour to let all the glue completely dry and set in place. Once the hour is done
you can place the Hedgehog Bucket Wheel into the cage to let the hedgehog explore and get used to it. It may help to place
your hedgehog into the bucket area so he or she will realize it is an area that can be gotten to. Good luck and I hope you
and your hedgehog enjoy your finished project.
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