# Rat Wheel/Flying saucer



## roostarr (Jan 27, 2009)

I'd like your opinions if you use any, i've kept rats for years and never used wheels since i know lots of rats ignore them but after finding a large plastic one (about 9 inches) in a charity shop for £1 i decided to give it a try since my young boys are still quite small and figured if they ignored it i wouldn't have wasted money on a big expensive one - but surprisingly one of them has taken a real shine too it so i'm going to buy a bigger one more suitable for them as they grow larger.

I don't like the silent spinner, all the hamster ones i've seen get very rattly as the 2 halves aren't a perfect fit so i don't want one of them.

I did think the Savic Giant Rolly looked best since it was a nice hard plastic and looked sturdy but reviews suggest its rubbish and the metal rod it spins on breaks the plastic cause its hard but brittle? 

so i looked into getting a larger one like the one i have at the moment and that looks like its a Superpet Comfort Wheel and also goes up to 12" so would be good - cheapest i can find is about £17.50 - anyone know somewhere cheaper or have one for sale?

i also found this one on amazon... anyone used this? 

Tx Small Animal Plastic Rodent Wheel 28cm Degus 61011: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

i love the red and black one, but they don't let you choose the colour unfortunately so unless its great and any of you can recommend it then i might give it a miss.

then i found out the flying saucer comes in a large 12" suitable for rats size and that the design actually gives you a "wheel" with the equivilant usable space of a 20inch standard style wheel... and is much kinder to the rats spine and tail - but it obviously takes up much more floor space so i'm a little reluctant for that reason... anyone have anything to say about this type? is it worth the floor space it needs?


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## ami_j (Jan 6, 2007)

12" is the minimum, Mine have the silent spinner and it has minimal noise and they took to it within half hour of me putting it in the cage.I really stand behind it and would buy another.
The Wobust wodent wheel comes highly recommended also. 
I was looking at the wheel you posted, but have been told its not really any good for adult rats and the extra two inches of the wodent wheel would be needed with your rats being male (mine are does and the 12 inch ss is the perfect size)


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## roostarr (Jan 27, 2009)

Oh i know the wheel i gave them is too small and that 12 inch is the minimum, the small one was just a temporary cheap test wheel to see if they were interested in wheels since they were still small enough to use it. it'll be gone as soon as i get something bigger which will hopefully be this week some time!

couldn't find the Wobust wodent wheel in stock anywhere and if i'm honest, the assembly guides on youtube made me a bit dubious as they have so many parts and in my experience - less parts means less likely for something to go wrong with it! and i thought the one i found on amazon seemed like a cross between the Superpet comfort wheel and the wodent wheel.

still considering the flying saucer though since it looks to be very kind on their body, but i really don't like how much space it takes up and the fact it can't be attached to anything to stop it moving around the cage.


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## roostarr (Jan 27, 2009)

oh and do you not find your silent spinner rattly? i don't mean the mechanism, that has always seemed lovely and smooth but the bit where the coloured plastic front half joins onto the white back half - all the ones i've seen that have been in use for a while are horribly loose and rattly at that joint


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## ami_j (Jan 6, 2007)

roostarr said:


> Oh i know the wheel i gave them is too small and that 12 inch is the minimum, the small one was just a temporary cheap test wheel to see if they were interested in wheels since they were still small enough to use it. it'll be gone as soon as i get something bigger which will hopefully be this week some time!
> 
> couldn't find the Wobust wodent wheel in stock anywhere and if i'm honest, the assembly guides on youtube made me a bit dubious as they have so many parts and in my experience - less parts means less likely for something to go wrong with it! and i thought the one i found on amazon seemed like a cross between the Superpet comfort wheel and the wodent wheel.
> 
> still considering the flying saucer though since it looks to be very kind on their body, but i really don't like how much space it takes up and the fact it can't be attached to anything to stop it moving around the cage.


the one you linked to from amazon is 28cm..so just over 11 inch thats the one i meant was too small

i know pet planet had wodent wheels in but they dont seem to have any now. 

I dont like the look of the flying saucers either but i have never used one.


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## ami_j (Jan 6, 2007)

roostarr said:


> oh and do you not find your silent spinner rattly? i don't mean the mechanism, that has always seemed lovely and smooth but the bit where the coloured plastic front half joins onto the white back half - all the ones i've seen that have been in use for a while are horribly loose and rattly at that joint


well its still pretty new, on checking my blog i got it the 20th jan ( i could of sworn i had it longer than that!) 

they have given it a good lot of use and nothing so far, though if they really hammer it its a little more noisy. my gerbil has had a ss for ages and hers is a little rattly but its tolerable. 

It all depends on how much noise you can stand i guess :lol2: i have heard good things about super stealth wheels and john hopewell wheels but they are pricey


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## roostarr (Jan 27, 2009)

ami_j said:


> the one you linked to from amazon is 28cm..so just over 11 inch thats the one i meant was too small
> 
> i know pet planet had wodent wheels in but they dont seem to have any now.
> 
> I dont like the look of the flying saucers either but i have never used one.


ah yeah sorry, i just knew at a glance that it was the same size as the Savic Giant Rolly and figured it was close enough to the right size but yeah i suppose an inch isn't much to us but to them it makes a lot of difference. 



ami_j said:


> well its still pretty new, on checking my blog i got it the 20th jan ( i could of sworn i had it longer than that!)
> 
> they have given it a good lot of use and nothing so far, though if they really hammer it its a little more noisy. my gerbil has had a ss for ages and hers is a little rattly but its tolerable.
> 
> It all depends on how much noise you can stand i guess :lol2: i have heard good things about super stealth wheels and john hopewell wheels but they are pricey



Its not the noise so much that i'm concerned about its more the fact that they seem to get loose and rattly and that means a gap has opened up between the loose parts and on the rat sized one the gap that will develop could be big enough to catch a little ratty toe in and lead to injury! i honestly don't see why they couldn't just make that one in a single piece instead! seems silly to me


the other alternative is to make my own one, i saw a youtube guide to making a large hedgehog wheel and it seemed simple enough - just need to find a large enough round cake storage box


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## ami_j (Jan 6, 2007)

roostarr said:


> ah yeah sorry, i just knew at a glance that it was the same size as the Savic Giant Rolly and figured it was close enough to the right size but yeah i suppose an inch isn't much to us but to them it makes a lot of difference.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


ahh..i will keep my eye on it openin up and possibly hurting toes but it hasnt happened on my gerbils one , im not sure how common a problem it is, dont think i have heard of it happening before. 

Making your own might be the easiest way tbh wheels are definately a minefield , took me ages to settle on one and they are pretty expensive


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

Never kept rats but I would highly recommend the flying saucer ones for any relevant rodents. Really silent (unless they have pushed it against a wall) and pretty much 100% safe, tail and limb friendly and the large size is probably about right for your needs - they take up a little more space but a rats cage should be nice and big to begin with.


safety before beauty!


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## roostarr (Jan 27, 2009)

morning-star said:


> Never kept rats but I would highly recommend the flying saucer ones for any relevant rodents. Really silent (unless they have pushed it against a wall) and pretty much 100% safe, tail and limb friendly and the large size is probably about right for your needs - they take up a little more space but a rats cage should be nice and big to begin with.
> 
> 
> safety before beauty!


don't suppose you could take a photo of the underside of the base for me... trying to work out if it could be easily attached to something like a shelf or even modified so it could be attached to the side of the cage on some sort of platform like the metal chinchilla flying saucers i found a link for.


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## Kare (Mar 9, 2010)

I have a silent spinner for my hedgehog it is entirely perfect after two years bar a little rust on the stand (but then I live barely 500-600metres from the sea, so there tends to be rust on a fair number of things here) I would always have one of those

The satellite wheels are good, the little white caps the base sits in are a pain for falling out and getting lost if the animal knocks it over, which my syrians do about fortnightly. I did have a group of robo hamsters get stuck under the base and suffocate. Where I had placed it was on the substrate, I think they could dig under it to make a tiny hamster size tunnel in, but then they tidied up in there kicking out the substrate and the base lowered to the cage floor and they were trapped. Not a recommendation against them, but definitely think when you put it in and place it on the base, not on top of substrate.


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## Kelly88 (Apr 17, 2009)

I have a flying saucer for my mice, fantastic wheel but it drives me insane. They push it into things so it makes a really annoying banging noise when they use it, & dig under it & tip it over all the time :bash:

If anyone knows a way to secure them into one place, please share :flrt:

If mice can make that much noise with it, I would imagine rats would make a right racket with one :L


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## Jaina_Organasolo (Jan 7, 2012)

Its a matter of money really. I have Chinchillas and they have metal flying saucers and they love them, the initial purchase price is high but they are safe and will last pretty much forever! There is a smaller size available. To buy in the UK, go to 
http://www.shelfridges.co.uk

If they are going to use it, its a good investment, and if they don't, they are easy to sell on. My 5 year old saucer is still going well despite one previous obsessive owner. lol.


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## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

Saucers could probably be cable tied onto a wire floor ratty cage or you could screw it to a wooden base and then use screws with washers to attach it to the cage? The tops removable for cleaning so you wouldnt have to unscrew it to clean it


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## beckyj (Oct 13, 2011)

I have those Trixie wheels for my Syrians and they are too flimsy for rats. My rats have the SS and I don't find it at all noisy to be honest.


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