# Pooercise Wheel Maintenance Ideas



## Hedgehogger (Dec 8, 2011)

There has to be a better way! I'm referring to the daily scraping, soaking, and wiping of the pooercise wheel. I don't remember signing up for that!!! :shock: With mice and other small rodents they make rice grain sized products which don't mess things up as much, but the hedgehog sized droppings that get stepped and squished on make cleaning of the wheel a horrible experience. Add in the pee for aroma, and wow it's quite a disturbing morning routine. Plus if you don't get to it soon enough it dries on like plaster so you have to scrape it off.

I was thinking of cutting and taping strips of paper towel onto the wheel's running surface so that at least the mushed poo products get stuck to that instead of the wheel. Has anyone tried that with any success? That way it would be easier to peel off the protective covering and wa la promblemo solved. I wish they made some sort of preformed, precut, pretaped paper product insert for these wheels that you can toss and replace easily. That would make life much more pleasant.


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## GoldenEyes (Nov 4, 2011)

What kind of wheel do you have?


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

I wouldn't attach anything to the wheel because of how fast and far they run, it could hurt their feet.
Just wash it every day.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

If I remember right, it's a Comfort Wheel. They may be the only hedgie-safe wheel that you can buy in pet store, but they are definitely a huge pain to clean!! From my memories of the couple months I used one with Lily, the easiest way to clean it is to let it soak in warm soapy water for awhile (half hour, maybe?) and then scrub it clean. Then it comes off a bit easier without scraping. I think this has been mentioned to you before, but I would definitely suggest spending the money to get one of Larry'T's Carolina Storm Wheels. I know they're expensive, but they are WORTH IT! Silent, safe, and they are very, very easy to clean. I just spray Lily's CSBW (bucket wheel, smaller than the CSW) with a 50/50 vinegar/water solution from a spray bottle, leave it for a couple minutes, then it wipes clean. And that's after letting it all stay on the wheel all day, or even for a couple days.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

If you be sure to clean the wheel every day and not let it build up over multiple days, it isn't too hard of a process. I have a cake style wheel and my routine takes maybe a few minutes, and I do it while working on weighing Inky and feeding him, etc. I just use a piece of toilet paper to chip off any big chunks, then spray the wheel with diluted vinegar, come back to it in a few minutes, wipe it all off (just takes one good sweep over it all), then spray it with chlorhexidine (a disinfectant, he's been having some bacteria issues so I try to keep it extra clean) and do another wipe. It's an easy process and I personally don't mind it. To me, it means Inky is healthy and active, plus then he isn't spreading poop all over the rest of the cage. 

Maybe investing in an easier-to-clean wheel would help you?


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

I was Kashi's wheel daily, but sometimes I wash it every other day (there are times when I am too busy/tired >_<). I usually do it during "pet poopy time" :lol:. That's when I clean the litter box for my cats, and the wheel as well. I take the wheel out with the litter tray (I have one of Larry's CSWs), and throw out the paper towel/loose pieces of poop into a plastic bag, and then I take the wheel and run it under some warm water and let it soak. While it's soaking, I go clean my kitty litter, and then come back to it and use a sponge (kind for washing dishes) and clean the wheel and litter box with dish soap.

The whole process takes around 10 minutes just because I do other things in between, but I like to let it soak a bit because I have to put almost no effort into cleaning the wheel.
I hope that helps


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## TeddysMommy (Apr 24, 2011)

I agree with everyone above, Larry's wheels are great  My daily routine is to take out one of his wheels and put the other inside while i wash the other one and keeps switching everyday so he always has a clean wheel  but if you have one wheel (a comfort wheel i'm assuming?), Take a spray bottle with 50/50 water/vinegar and spray it down and wait, then come back and take a kitchen scrubber thing on a handle, I don't use o-cello dishwands but they are similar to that and just wipe it off and dry  I hope this helped you a little


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## Hedgehogger (Dec 8, 2011)

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice. Yeah it's a "Comfort Wheel," but there's certainly no comfort in trying to clean it! I clean it every day in the morning, and I can't imagine leaving it more than a day since it really looks pretty bad after a hedgehog run. It's not as bad as some of the photos I've seen posted  :shock: :? , but the little raised running ribs get in the way of cleaning it easily. That Carolina Storm wheel is on the top of my to-buy lists. Right now I'm waiting for a Reptitemp and thermometer so we're putting up with the wheel for the moment. I don't think the wifey would appreciate me leaving the wheel to soak anywhere in the house for any length of time.

I was just thinking there has to be a more convenient way to get that wheel clean. I would have thought attaching a little running strip of paper towel might actually cushion their toesies while running and at the same time making my job a bit more pleasant. It looks like with the Carolina wheel there aren't those pesky ribs and the surface is likely smoother/glossier so clean ups are much swifter.


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## txhedgiemomma (Nov 11, 2011)

I have a comfort wheel and I just soak it in the sink for about 20 minutes while I clean the cage, and then as I spray it with the veggie sprayer on my sink, most of it comes right off, I have to wipe some with a paper towel every now and then, but usually soaking is enough and Dash is sometimes pretty nasty.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

If you have a tub, run it under the faucet at the right angle, and it'll spin and clean itself if you use hot water.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Christemo said:


> If you have a tub, run it under the faucet at the right angle, and it'll spin and clean itself if you use hot water.


That wouldn't really work very well for a comfort wheel - the poop gets stuck on the ridges too badly to be able to get away with no scrubbing.



Hedgehogger said:


> Thanks everyone for the tips and advice. Yeah it's a "Comfort Wheel," but there's certainly no comfort in trying to clean it! I clean it every day in the morning, and I can't imagine leaving it more than a day since it really looks pretty bad after a hedgehog run. It's not as bad as some of the photos I've seen posted  :shock: :? , but the little raised running ribs get in the way of cleaning it easily. That Carolina Storm wheel is on the top of my to-buy lists. Right now I'm waiting for a Reptitemp and thermometer so we're putting up with the wheel for the moment. I don't think the wifey would appreciate me leaving the wheel to soak anywhere in the house for any length of time.
> 
> I was just thinking there has to be a more convenient way to get that wheel clean. I would have thought attaching a little running strip of paper towel might actually cushion their toesies while running and at the same time making my job a bit more pleasant. It looks like with the Carolina wheel there aren't those pesky ribs and the surface is likely smoother/glossier so clean ups are much swifter.


I'm not sure putting paper towel or anything down would work well unless you did multiple layers (like 3-5 layers) and even then I'm not sure...They'd get soaked with pee and then easily tear and bunch up and possibly trip the hedgie up. It might end up being an even bigger mess, really. :lol: About all you can do is hang in there until you can get the CSW, I know it's really a pain. Could you even just get a completely separate container that's big enough to fit the wheel, fill it with hot water and leave the wheel to soak in that, set near her cage? Perhaps your wife wouldn't mind that, since it's not in a tub or sink around people areas.


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## *buffy* (Dec 5, 2011)

I rinse it out in the tub and use one of those dish scrubbers that you can fill the handle with soap. Works very well. I also have a comfort wheel and hope to order one of Larrys after Xmas.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

I have a Comfort wheel and that's how I clean it... it's worked for the past few months. Get hot enough water and just a little bit of scrubbing for stubborn spots and squeeky clean.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Welcome to the world of hedgehogs :lol: It's gross, but it's just one of the things we have to do for our little ones.

I suggest not using solely hot water to clean you wheel, by the way. You want to use something that's killing at least some of the bacteria.  

Also, you really don't need to let it soak if you spray it with a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar. I literally spray my wheel, turn the sink on to let the water warm up, take the wheel off the base, and by that point, I'm able to use a green kitchen scrubby to wipe the poo off in less than a minute. Vinegar cuts through the poop pretty quickly!

Are you cleaning the wheel in the morning or at night? You'll have more luck in the morning when it's still "fresh" haha


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Haha, duh, I use a scent free dish soap and give it a quick scrub.


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## Hedgehogger (Dec 8, 2011)

I have a few minutes to spare before going to work or dropping the kid off in the morning so I try to get at the wheel when "it's fresh" urp :shock: Yes I definitely agree it's much easier to clean when it hasn't gotten glued down to the wheel. (All you potential hedgehog owners to be welcome to our world!)

That's probably true about the paper towel getting soaked through making it a bit hazardous to run on... Er, to briskly walk on... Good point. I wonder if parchment paper would be too slippery when wet. I would worry about the lil gal chewing on Saran wrap so that's out.

Soaking in the morning isn't really an option as then I would have sanitize the bathtub with chlorox scrub free spray and clean all that as well. The wifey wasn't really keen on getting the "vermin" as she likes to call Buttercup in the first place so soaking anything remotely pee or poo covered is quite frowned upon. I guess I could try to use a plastic mini-tub or something for the time being. Basically my routine is dry paper towel wipe/scrape then wet paper towel soak/scrape, then repeat, repeat, until the towel isn't so stained any more.

I haven't gone through so much paper towel ever in my life before! This wheel is the worst part of hedge hogging for sure. Well besides the panic poo/pee in the poo station and on my clothing, but otherwise our little house mate is actually quite easy going and quiet.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Pick up one of those Sterilite storage boxes from Target for like, $6. That can be the designated poop box.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

You should really really try the vinegar and water in a spray bottle. You need something to help you loosen the poo. Spray bottles are like $2 and vinegar is cheap too. Spraying my wheel with the vinegar and water solution helped me a lot - I went from scrubbing at my wheel for 10 minutes to get it clean to literally running a scrubby over it twice to get it clean. It works. 

If you did it this way, you could just use a wet rag to wipe up the wheel after you scrub the poo off. Then you can just rinse the rag out and throw it in the wash.


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## Hedgehogger (Dec 8, 2011)

I had a hard enough time convincing the little fertilizer machine to use the wheel - I'm just a little afraid that any lingering scent of vinegar on the wheel might turn off that sensitive, constantly sniffing nose of hers so I've been just wiping with water so far. I plan to take it out at the end of the week for a good soaking/soaping as the water only goes so far.

But you know what? I did a quick clean at about 2:30 am yesterday (...zzzzz) right after Buttercup was finished with her late night jog.... er speed walk to get to it "fresh" and avoid the daily early morning pooexperiece when my gag reflex is not quite as strong, and I noticed this morning she had another little "session" on the wheel just to spite my efforts.

I was late getting to work so I went oh to heck with it and left it to clean it later on afterwards. I was quite surprised to discover that the little droppings had dried up a fair bit and were much easier to chip off. :? So in conclusion, rather than being very anal about cleaning the wheel as soon as possible, I think it's easier to do it about 24 hours later. I think I'm becoming a poo-ologist in this regard as I don't think I have scientifically studied the adhesive qualities of poo so intently. My theory is that the CHE dehydrates the fecal matter to a point where it's adhesion is compromised sufficiently to allow easier and more convenient removal. I believe this almost merits a published study in some well-respected hegehog world journal somewhere.

Now if I could only get my pesky 12 year old to take over these duties, she could graduate to become a worthy hedgehog owner!


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