# Marcel not using his wheel anymore



## silversheep (Jan 24, 2011)

Has anyone else had experience with a hedgie wheeling then stopping for an unknown reason? Marcel used to use his wheel, but from what I've read here, he wheeled less than other hedgehogs. He's never made a mess under his wheel. He does the vast majority of his business inside his pigloo on a paper towel and the most I've had to clean off the wheel is fairly slight poopy tracks. But he hasn't been using his wheel at all recently. His health is unchanged, his nails are clipped and it's the same wheel as before, so I don't understand it. Just tonight, I brought the wheel out and put it on the floor in the living room and made him walk on it a bit, but he wasn't excited about it. (Side note: even when he was wheeling, I never saw it in action. He's a very private hedgie, and even the times I've heard it going and snuck up on him to see him wheeling, he's stopped and stared at me, scandalized that I was intruding.) So I held him and used my hands as a treadmill and let him climb all over me, and he was energetic about it, so I have no idea why he's lost interest in the wheel. 

I guess my question is two-fold: 1) is this ok? and 2) admittedly, I've been using not the best wheel (silent spinner) but he hasn't had problems in the past, and is it worth it to try switching out to a CSW if he doesn't even use the wheel he has? In my defense, I ordered a Cake Walk wheel when I was nesting before I got Marcel, but it didn't arrive before Marcel, so I had to buy what Petco had in stock, and it never came for reasons that are still unclear to me, despite having read the (extensive) threads on the subject. I'm already out $70; do I want to be out $100 on 2 (plus one phantom) wheels that Marcel won't even use?


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

What's the temperature in his cage? Is it completely dark in his cage at night? How old is he?


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Do you know for sure that he hasn't been wheeling? I ask that because my girl Zoey keeps her wheel pretty clean. Sometimes the only way I know that she's even been on it is to look at her odometer. 
You can put a little bit of flour on the wheel & the next morning you will be able to see little footprints in it if he's wheeling. 
Along with Nikki's questions. Sometimes if it's not completely dark, it's too cold, or they are older hedgies, they may slow down on wheeling. So knowing about those will help us help you as well.


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## silversheep (Jan 24, 2011)

Marcel has his own bathroom-sized room, so I keep it quite warm in there, like the high 70s. At night it's pretty dark, but I just closed the blinds further just in case. Also, since he's a T'weed, I have no idea how old he is, not even a ballpark. He was an adult when I got him almost exactly a year ago. As an aside, is the age of a full-grown hedgie something a vet can determine? I will definitely try the flour trick. Last night I put a few pieces of kibble in his wheel to see if it would entice him. They were uneaten, but one was on the floor of his cage today, and if I look really really closely maybe there are a few specks of dirt/poop, but not enough for me to tell if he ran or if dust just accumulated overnight. I'm hopeful that maybe possibly he ran?

Thank you for the responses. It has been helpful. Also, what kind of odometer do you have? How does it work? Are they cheap?


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I usually put a piece of kibble in the wheel for my Cholla as well. I've seen him run on the wheel & it just goes around & around. :lol: Guess he didn't notice it.

Anyway, here are a couple links to threads about the odometer.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7144&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=ODOMETER
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4844&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=80


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

I would put at thermometer on the floor and check it during the night to see just what the temperature is. The floor is usually cooler than the rest of the room. If its at 75 or more then a vet visit is in order.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

I would do as Nikki suggested and get a thermometer so you're sure about temp.

We have a bathroom sized-room that feels SO warm when you walk in but, because I am barefoot all the time, I can feel a draft along the floor and up to mid-calf.

With a thermometer, you can say with all confidence what the temp is, and can safely rule this out as an issue.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Do you know if he was one of the first Tweeds, or a baby born after the seizure? If one of the first, he was probably around 2 months at the time of the seizure Dec 09. My Waylon was just finishing his quilling when he arrived Feb 15 but Willie was finished. I say their birth dates are October 09 which makes them about 16 months now. 

Interestingly, my Waylon has decided in recent weeks to quit wheeling. He is fine in all ways, eats the same, is warm, poops normal, just doesn't wheel. Waylon has a comfort wheel which he loved but I'm going to try him with a different wheel and see if it makes a difference.

Stopping wheeling is not a Tweed unique issue though. Sometimes age is a factor, mobility, illness, temperature and sometimes we have no clue why. My Yuri who is one of my own babies, usually does not wheel but every so often will randomly decide to. I have no clue why. :lol: 

Does he walk normally? Do you follow the HWS list? Tweed issues are often posted on there and I know there has been at least one Tweed with mobility problems.


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## silversheep (Jan 24, 2011)

Thank you Nancy! I am fairly certain that he was born before the seizure as there has been no sign of quilling since I've had him. His mobility is totally fine, he's eating, pooping normally. Everything else is normal, so maybe he's just a bit lazy (like me!) Let me know if replacing the wheel has any effect on Waylon's wheeling, and if you don't mind, I don't know anything about the HWS list. Is it forum within the welfare society website? 

I'm glad to hear that sometimes they just don't feel like it, and it isn't necessarily a health issue. The way this forum makes it sound, they all wheel a million miles a night, and Marcel just isn't like that.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Here is the link to the HWS Yahoo list. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/hedgehogwelfare/ I'm surprised you weren't invited to join when you got your Tweed.

I will get Waylon's wheel changed this weekend. I have to replace the bearings in the wheel he'es going to get which is why he hasn't had it sooner. I'll let you know.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Nancy said:


> I will get Waylon's wheel changed this weekend. I have to replace the bearings in the wheel he'es going to get which is why he hasn't had it sooner. I'll let you know.


I'm curious, too, in January, Snarf averaged at least 5 miles a night with some 8 to 10 miles nights and the occasional 4. The last 2-3 weeks, he's been barely doing a mile most nights, 3 occasionally and 5 one night but no where near his usual running. The only change has been switching from room heat to a CHE system. I turned it down a bit yesterday and will see for the next few days if his wheeling changes.

I was thinking of getting a flying suacer wheel just to see if he wants to try something completely different. I'll be watching for your update to see if a different wheel made a difference.

It's just so strange...seemingly perfectly healthy, no major changes...and yet, completely different :?


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## lmg_319 (Oct 4, 2010)

Nancy and silversheep, can I ask what a Tweed is?


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Lmg,

Take a look at this thread. 

http://hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewt ... texas+raid


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## HedgehogsAnonymous (Dec 30, 2010)

MissC said:


> Nancy said:
> 
> 
> > I will get Waylon's wheel changed this weekend. I have to replace the bearings in the wheel he'es going to get which is why he hasn't had it sooner. I'll let you know.
> ...


I'm starting to wonder if its the weather, cos my boys are not doing much either and they're kept perfectly warm with plenty of light. I'm gonna switch them to CSW's soon.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

lmg_319 said:


> Nancy and silversheep, can I ask what a Tweed is?


As susanaproenca posted a link to, a Tweed is one of the hedgehogs rescued from the Global Exotics seizure in Arlington, Texas in December 2009. The Hedgehog Welfare society got possession of the hedgehogs and adopted them to people all over the US and Canada. They were called the Texas Tumbleweeds shortened to Tweeds and TW's. 

Here's my Tumbleweed boys.


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## lmg_319 (Oct 4, 2010)

susanaproenca said:


> Lmg,
> 
> Take a look at this thread.
> 
> viewtopic.php?f=14&t=4364&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=texas+raid


Thanks susana 

Nancy, how adorable. That is really cool that you and silversheep have some of the rescues.


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