# Outhouse or ExerciseWheel? What happened? :(



## ana (Jan 21, 2009)

Soooo...

Eva used to run on her wheel, but only when no one was around/looking. At least, from the poop shoe prints, we were pretty sure she used it.

I read about a lot of people cleaning their wheels with vinegar & water, so I tried this as well... Maybe I didn't rinse it well enough or something, but, ever since that day, she hasn't been running on it. (Unless she's just suddenly learned to poop after her run instead of before...) Of course, after the first day of her not using it, I though "I bet it's probably some lingering vinegar smell" and washed it again (this time with mild soap instead of vinegar) and rinsed it thoroughly... 

It's been a few days now and, well, she obviously knows it's there because she poops in it every night... but that's it. It seems that, ever since the day I tried vinegar and water solution, she's decided that her wheel is nothing more than a potty. It's great that she's decided on one place to poop, but I was kind of more hoping it'd be in the litter corner and not her wheel, lol.

What should I do? Is it time for a new wheel?


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Check and make sure the wheel still spins freely. Also check the angle. If it's changed, she may not like it especially if it tilts too far down. If she's getting in it to poop the smell can't be bothering her too much. I've yet to have one bothered by vinegar rinse but I can't stand the smell of it so would understand if a hedgie decided they didn't either. :lol:


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## ana (Jan 21, 2009)

Nancy said:


> Check and make sure the wheel still spins freely. Also check the angle. If it's changed, she may not like it especially if it tilts too far down. If she's getting in it to poop the smell can't be bothering her too much. I've yet to have one bothered by vinegar rinse but I can't stand the smell of it so would understand if a hedgie decided they didn't either. :lol:


Yep, still works/spins fine... Hrrrmmm... Yeah, I didn't really like the smell either, lol.

I've been thinking about replacing it with a flying saucer, the one she has now is a silent spinner that pretty much came with the cage (a friend of mine had a spare cage and wheel from when she had to separate her chinchillas).

The thing that boggles my mind is the fact that she did run on it before... Maybe the vinegar thing was a coincidence, but it seems odd that she would give up running on it all together so suddenly. It's weird because she really does poop in it, without fail, every night... but clearly doesn't run anywhere.

I would be worried that maybe it's that whole potential-pregnancy thing, but she doesn't seem any more temperamental than usual - in fact, she's even less so. (She's warming up to me more by the day.  ) She'll spend hours sleeping in my lap and doesn't even really mind when I have to move her or take her downstairs with me (she sleeps in a snuggle sack on my lap, so if I need to run downstairs or something, I just connect the straps and bring her with me.)

It does seem like she's gained a little weight, but that may be just because of the change in diet (from pretty pet hedgehog food to a blend of wellness and csftcls)...

It worries me a little because she doesn't seem to be very active w/o her wheel really... She sleeps, comes out to eat, goes in to sleep more, comes out to eat again, sleeps more, etc... When I get her out, she'll do her business & explore a little bit (a very little bit) and then as soon as she sees her snuggle sack, in she goes and more sleeping ensues.


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