# Carolina Storm or Comfort wheel?



## mnoyes1 (Dec 30, 2012)

Hi everyone! I am going to be bringing home my very first hedgehog in a few weeks and I am about to pick out a wheel. I saw the Comfort wheel at Petsmart which is very cheap but I have heard that it is noisy. I have also heard all good things about the Carolina Storm which I would rather purchase due to it being from an independent person but it is kind of pricey. Pros and cons? Which should I purchase?


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## Midevalmiss (Apr 6, 2011)

I have bouth and will be gitting rid of my Comomfort wheel asap!! it is hard to clean, I have had 2 break and they are NOISY!!!! they bang on the side of the cage, and will screatch withthe plastic rubbing up agest the plasti.


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## jholstein11 (Dec 13, 2012)

my hedgie came with a cage and the comfort wheel. He lives up in my son's room and that wheel was SO loud it kept him awake at night. Also, every morning I woke up to it being covered in poop and Mr. Prickles had the dreaded "poopy boots."

I splurged and got the Carolina Storm. BEST. WHEEL. EVER. 

1st- I ordered and got it 2 days later- it comes with extra ties and bearings.
2nd- The poo slides RIGHT off! No poop wheel, no poopy boots!
3rd- it's SILENT! all I can hear is the patter of little feet. My son didn't even realize he was running.
4th- it comes with a litter pan, which is brilliant. I put a teeny bit of litter in there and when the poop slides off, it goes right into it. It makes the cage SO much easier to clean, and if your hedgie is like mine, now he's litter trained. He doesn't go anywhere else!

So trust me- spend the $30 and get the better wheel!!! You'll be glad you did!


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Any bucket wheel or cake topper wheel is the best option. There are several people on the forum who sell and ship wheels, myself included, and LizardGirl as well.  If you're turned off by the price, you can make one DIY style.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

moxieberry said:


> Any bucket wheel or cake topper wheel is the best option. There are several people on the forum who sell and ship wheels, myself included, and LizardGirl as well.  If you're turned off by the price, you can make one DIY style.


Please quit reponding to post about my wheels, it is very rude of you IMO. I've built my reputation with years of great service and have sold over 5,000 with lots of hard work and i've never had to come on a thread asking about someone elses product to try and make a sell of my own.


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## Shell (Aug 23, 2012)

I'm with jholstein11 . I started with the comfort wheel and then got the CSW. Luckily I had a quiet comfort wheel and it was a good starting wheel, but once we got the CSW we never looked back. It wheels so smoothly, not a peep other than the pitter patter of little feet, and cleaning it is a breeze. I would have to soak the comfort wheel for a good half hour to clean it. I just spray the CSW with water/vinegar mix and wipe it. Percy wheels much longer and faster on CSW. I think the little grooves in the comfort wheel can put wear on their little feet, where as the CSW is so smooth. Nothing beats it.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

LarryT said:


> moxieberry said:
> 
> 
> > Any bucket wheel or cake topper wheel is the best option. There are several people on the forum who sell and ship wheels, myself included, and LizardGirl as well.  If you're turned off by the price, you can make one DIY style.
> ...


Larry, no need to be snippy. The OP was just concerned about price and there's no problem with people mentioning that there are other wheel sellers besides yourself, or that you can make them at home. If you have so much business, it should be no problem that other people speak up for themselves anyway because your name is the one people see most anyhow.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

LarryT said:


> Please quit reponding to post about my wheels, it is very rude of you IMO. I've built my reputation with years of great service and have sold over 5,000 with lots of hard work and i've never had to come on a thread asking about someone elses product to try and make a sell of my own.


Hi Larry.  Sorry that you got so upset about what I said. However, I have to disagree - this thread isn't "about [your] wheels", it was the OP asking about two different wheels in comparison to each other. One of them happened to be yours, which I have never (here or elsewhere) said a word against.

Your wheels are incredibly popular, which I can only assume is for a good reason! The result is that people often forget that there are other options, and especially when price comes up (such as in this thread) I think it's important for a person to know _all_ of the options that are available to them. I said, "There are several people on the forum who sell and ship wheels" - not several _other_ people. You were not excluded from this statement, but I saw no reason to mention you by name, since the OP was clearly already aware of you being one such member.  Again, sorry if that offended you! It wasn't intended to cause hurt feelings.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more concerns, about this thread or at any point in the future. No need to interrupt the thread's discussion with that sort of thing.


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## alexvdl (Dec 19, 2012)

We had the saucer wheel, and we didn't like the way that animals look when they're running on the thing. After I saw a YouTube video and talked to Maggie about whether she'd rather have a Storm Bucket Wheel or a Storm Wheel, I ordered one and she had it in hand a few days later. Keep in mind that the thing is Ginormous. We were using a Sterilite bin and even when we stopped using bedding and went to a fleece liner, it still poked out of the top. Also, in order to give Reginald space to sit in front of the wheel and do his business we got one of these.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Square-Plas ... ay+serving

That was plenty of room, but then he kept trying to crawl underneath the stray, so Maggie put holes in the tray and used zipties to secure it to the base of the wheel. You can see it here, right next to Reginald and his anklyosaurus buddy.










Reginald loves running on the wheel, though. I highly recommend both the CSW and Larry's prompt service.

On a side note, the other night while we were Skyping, Reginald came out of his Pigloo, went potty in his tray and snuffled back to sleep. We are VERY proud of our potty trained hedgehog.

Next up, installing the odometer that came in yesterday so we now how much he wheels.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

moxieberry said:


> LarryT said:
> 
> 
> > Please quit reponding to post about my wheels, it is very rude of you IMO. I've built my reputation with years of great service and have sold over 5,000 with lots of hard work and i've never had to come on a thread asking about someone elses product to try and make a sell of my own.
> ...


I understand why Larry was upset. The OP asked about his wheel specifically compared to the Comfort Wheel. For another seller to jump in and say that they make wheels too is in rather poor taste. We've had this happen with sellers multiple times over the years and it only causes hard feelings and makes the seller look rather desperate when they hijack threads pertaining to another seller. JMO


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Nancy said:


> moxieberry said:
> 
> 
> > LarryT said:
> ...


Thanks Nancy, that's exactly what and how I felt.


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## FiaSpice (Jan 16, 2009)

I had a confort wheel for a few years and it wasn't the best choice (only the economical one). They are a pain to clean, but they never where noizy despite having avid runner. I was about to spurgle on a a Carolina Sorm wheel when Litchi passed away.


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## AngelicDarkness (Feb 10, 2012)

My breeder swears by Comfort wheels but the downside she mentions time and time again is that you have to soak them to keep them clean, and even then you have to replace them every once in a while because of the stains. I have two CSBWs and I love 'em. One in blue and one in pink. I switch 'em out when one needs repair (to be honest, the more repair I've done is grease 'em lol).

If cost is an issue, could always try your hand at one of Larry's photo contests on the CS website OR if you have a FB page - the odd CSW/CSBW is advertised on the Hedgehog Happening classified page.


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## mnoyes1 (Dec 30, 2012)

Thanks for all of the help! I definitely think it is worth it to splurge on a more expensive wheel! What is the difference between the two Storm wheels?


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## Shell (Aug 23, 2012)

I have only had the larger CSW but I have heard it lasts longer (doesn't warp for years) and I can see why. It's a very solid wheel. You do have to have a large cage for it because of it's size. Make sure you measure your cage well so that the wheel fits. It doesn't come in all the cool colors such as the smaller CSBW's but it doesn't stain at all. I have a big boy so I chose the larger one, but may consider getting the smaller one also, to try it out and have as a back up.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Comfort wheels are almost impossible to clean. You have to get in there with a toothbrush half of the time to clear out the ridges.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Christemo said:


> Comfort wheels are almost impossible to clean. You have to get in there with a toothbrush half of the time to clear out the ridges.


I agree! I have two that have come in with other hedgehogs and they've been sitting outside in the rain for months because I was never able to get all of the crap and calcium stains out of the ridges. :lol:


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## pickles17 (Feb 18, 2012)

I had comfort wheels for a long time prior to learning about Carolina Storm wheels. And as everyone else said, they sucked. Loud, rackety, annoying. I used to have Pepper in my bedroom (and I had a huge bedroom) at the opposite end and sometimes I'd have to remove her from my room at night she was so annoying. I got the CSBW in Sparkly Green, I love it but if you have the $$ and the room go for the CSW, it's bigger and better


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## Erizo (Jul 25, 2012)

As a generalization, owners tend to loathe Comfort Wheels. I know quite a few breeders that love and recommend them, but they have quite different priorities. Comfort Wheels can be dumped in a wash bin for mass washing. They are very convenient if you regularly wash a number of wheels. The CSW wheels are too much trouble for a lot of breeders, because some care has to be taken in the washing. (Yes, there are breeders that use the CSW wheels. I'm speaking generally, not to the exceptions.)

I use the CSW and am very happy with it. It's not perfect, but it is first-rate.

I have ZERO problems with moxieberry's comments in this thread specifically, or in other threads generally. ZERO.

Larrry is NOT the end-all, be-all of wheels. Great product, fast turnaround, but not the sweetest chocolate in the box.


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