No longer using wheel?

[bamafan2112]

Biscuit is no longer using his wheel. Instead, he runs a figure 8 through his cage over and over and over.............is this normal behavior? He used to use it all the time, but suddenly stopped recently. What he used to do is run on the wheel for 5 minutes, run the figure 8s through the cage a couple of times, and then hop back on the wheel. Is it just he decided he liked the non-wheel running better?

Otherwise, he is acting normal, eating normal, and spending time with me as normal. Just wondering what you guys think!

[Lilysmommy]

Has he had any accidents on the wheel, such as a caught toe or nail, or running so much that he cut his foot pads? Sometimes a negative experience with the wheel can cause them to avoid the wheel for awhile.

[bamafan2112]

Nothing that I'm aware of! It makes noise, maybe he grew weary of that?.....sometimes I did

[smhufflepuff]

I'd take a look at him - make sure his nails are nice and short; no cuts on his feet; legs and rest of him looks and feels normal. Has he outgrown his wheel?

I'd take a look at the wheel - is it in a slightly different location than before? same place, but pointed in the opposite direction? tilted? a little more difficult to run on than before (sometimes you need to lubricate the moving parts - depending on the type of wheel you have)?

I'd take a look at the greater environment - is it warmer or cooler than usual? changes to diet? changes to lightness/darkness? changes in noise level?

And if everything checks out fine/the same, I'd keep the wheel in so he can choose to run laps or use the wheel, while considering the option of trying out a different kind of wheel.

What kind of wheel do you have & what size is it?