A hedgehog wheel is one of the most crucial parts of your hedgie’s cage set up. Some owners have installed bike speedometers on their wheels to keep track of how far their hogs run; some hedgehogs cover 10-12 miles a night! Having a great wheel is an important part of keeping your hedgehog healthy.
Here’s what to look for in a hedgehog wheel:
- Solid construction with zero seams, slits, or holes
- Smooth surface
- 10-12″ Inch Diameter
- Absolutely no wire wheels or sandpaper covers!
You’ll be cleaning your hedgehog’s wheel constantly so it’s very important that it’s easy to clean! Hedgehogs are rarely bothered to hop off of their wheel before doing their business and will just keep happily trundling along through their mess. When picking a hedgehog wheel it absolutely must be made of one solid piece. Hedgehog toes and nails can get stuck in any joints or seams; many owners have woken up to a bloody mess from a nail getting snagged in seemingly microscopic seams.
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What’s the best hedgehog wheel?
Most hedgehogs will fit most comfortably on a 12″ wheel and the most readily available brand is the Kaytee Comfort Small Animal Exercise Wheel. It’s sold at all big pet stores and checks all the necessary boxes. This is also the wheel I currently use with our hogs.
Carolina Storm Wheels are also raved about in almost every hedgehog community for a reason! These are the amazing hedgehog wheels because they’re quiet, easy to clean, and extremely safe which is the most important part!
If you’re located in the United States you can find them for purchase on Etsy, and for UK owners you can get more information on purchasing a wheel here.
Hedgehog Precision also has a sturdy and safe bucket wheel for sale. This is a 13″ setup that will comfortably fit your prickly friend during their nightly romps. These are $40 and currently come in gray, white, and blue.
Here’s what kind of hedgehog wheels to avoid
Partially covered wheels like the one below can be tough to thoroughly clean since you have to break it down to access the interior. These can also be difficult for hedgehogs to safely enter and exit. Always pick a wheel with open construction.
These wheels can also be alluring to some because you can buy a sandpaper-liner that claims to trim your pet’s nails as they run. There is no way to get around clipping your hedgehog’s nails; these abrasive liners will literally tear up their feet and are quite painful. Some wheels have slightly raised plastic grips which are perfectly safe but you never want to use something gritty or abrasive!
Wire and mesh wheels are extremely dangerous and should never be used with hedgehogs. They may be tempting because droppings will fall through the holes and make for easier cleanup but these wire holes are actually a major risk for hedgehogs.
There are quite a few dangers with wire mesh setups like this. The hedgehog’s quills can easily get stuck in the wire openings which will cause the pet to panic and injure itself while trying to get unstuck.
Their nails and feet can also get stuck in the openings which can result in an injured or broken leg or torn-off nails. It’s very important that the running surface is completely smooth without any gaps or holes where they could get stuck.
What size wheel is best for a hedgehog?
Most hedgehogs require a 10-12″ inch diameter wheel. This might seem large if you have just brought home a young hedgehog, but I promise you that they will grow into it!
When I adopted my first hedgehog she was only 2 months old and she quickly outgrew the modestly sized wheel that I had bought. I ended up having to buy a larger 12-inch wheel.
Are saucer wheels safe for hedgehogs?
I’ve only bought one flying saucer wheel over the many years I’ve owned hedgehogs and will not buy a plastic one again. I got one for the first hedgehog I owned and the wheel snapped off the base within a few months of use. These are great for smaller pets like mice and hamsters because they have very little resistance and spin easily, but unfortunately, these break very easily under the average weight of a hedgehog.
When my saucer style wheel snapped, I brushed it off as a freak accident because my hedgie was not overweight in any shape or form and the wheel was perfectly sized for her. A few years later I was doing research into new wheels and discovered that countless hedgehog owners had their wheels snap in the exact same manner! If the wheel were to break, the broken plastic could pose a potential danger to your hedgehog if they were to fall on sharp plastic pieces of a broken wheel. For these reasons, I advise that you stick with normal bucket wheels.
What about metal treadmill wheels?
Treadmill wheels are almost identical to the plastic flying saucer variety but these are made of metal and are far less prone to having the base snap off. The metal variety is more expensive than plastic, the wheel shown above comes in at $52.99.
If your hedgehog enclosure has a low ceiling these saucers will fit easily, as it can sometimes be difficult to maneuver an upright wheel into short cages.
There is very little published research on the long-term health effects of these angled wheels compared to a standard upright wheel. A veterinarian hypothesized “That this kind of angled momentum definitely would have some kind of effect – although impossible to say how significant – on joints, muscles, etc.” (source)
I personally think the unnatural angle of the wheel can’t possibly be healthy for a hedgehog’s joints so I steer clear of these wheels. You wouldn’t want to run on a treadmill slanted to one side, would you? But this is just an opinion, I have had hedgies use saucers with no ill effects in the past. I stopped purchasing them because my hedgehog snapped the base off of the plastic saucer wheel.
