[heather]

I have a silent spinner. The poop and pee is ridiculous every morning. Would it be safe to use lysol wipes on it or something similar? What about baby wipes if cleaning chemicals are too strong? I keep the cage upstairs and I just don't have the time every morning to take the wheel apart and clean it in the sink downstairs, and if I leave it til later in the day the whole hedgie room smells like...well....****.

I challenge one of you members to make some kind of disposable silent spinner liner. I'll be your best friend. For real.

 

[PixiesExoticHedgies]

You could buy some puppy pee pads and cut them into strips to fit the inside of the wheel. Attach them with velcro or duct tape (rolled backwards into a circle). Dang! I should have thought about this a long time ago. I should give this a try, myself.....LOL!

:lol: Hey, if it works, I get the patent rights to it.

Pixie

 

[drowsydreamer]

I heard someone say once (I actually think this was posted somewhere in the old forum) that they used Glad press-n-seal saran wrap on their wheel and just threw it away each morning.

 

[heather]

You could buy some puppy pee pads and cut them into strips to fit the inside of the wheel. Attach them with velcro or duct tape (rolled backwards into a circle). Dang! I should have thought about this a long time ago. I should give this a try, myself.....LOL!

:lol: Hey, if it works, I get the patent rights to it.

Pixie

LOL its all yours. You can always contact the invention people from the infomercial thats on at like 4 am. I have trouble sleeping. Hence a lot of as seen on tv items in my house.

 

[PixiesExoticHedgies]

I can see it now! INFOMERCIAL: hedgie pee pads. Camera moves towards wheel with hedgie running inside, and the hedgehog won't poop! :lol: Just like when you have problems with your car, and take it to the shop and they tell you nothing is wrong. :roll:

 

[Nancy]

You can use baby wipes to clean the wheel. Lining the wheel with anything is dangerous and can catch little nails.

 

[lindseyst]

I have a silent spinner as well and the amount of pee and poop on the thing ever morning is RIDICULOUS! Can't these little monsters contain themselves?! haha I just run scalding hot water into the wheel to get the bulk of the mess off and then I wipe it off with Lysol wipes. Then, run in under hot water again to wash away all those chemicals. It probably takes me about 2-3 minutes.

 

[Nancy]

Silent spinners are not a safe wheel to use.

- The drainage slots and the split up the middle is perfect for tiny nails and toes to get caught in.
- The wheel itself extends out past the base so it easily tips over when a larger hedgehog enters or exits. It is especially unstable when used on liners.
- The big yellow nut at the back often unwinds as the hedgehog runs causing the wheel to fall off the frame.
- the knob on the front also comes off during use so the wheel falls off.
- it is brittle plastic and breaks easily

There are many better wheels available. Personally I find comfort wheels are a safer alternative if buying a store bought wheel.

 

[hedgie love]

haha I just run scalding hot water into the wheel to get the bulk of the mess off and then I wipe it off with Lysol wipes. Then, run in under hot water again to wash away all those chemicals. It probably takes me about 2-3 minutes.

That is exactally how I clean my hedgehogs wheel when it needs it!

 

[Kalandra]

I use hot water and a 50% vinegar/water solution. Spray wheel with hot water, spray with vinegar solution (let set if really nasty or use scrub brush), wash off with hot water. Works pretty quickly.

 

[Melissa]

For my bucket wheels I used the 50/50 vinegar/water solution. I cant soak them because the bearings will rust. It comes off pretty quickly!

For my other wheels I just that a long handled scrub brush and scrub with hot water and soap. Super easy and quick!

 

[AllQuills]

For a quick clean, I use baby wipes.

 

[soprano]

For a fast cleaning, I take the wheel outside and scour it with the garden hose. Takes 30 seconds and no chemicals are involved. Then I just let it air dry.

I have a sprayer attachment on the hose similar to this one (except that I got mine for $2 at the local hardware store) and I put it on the "jet" setting.

I strongly prefer washing the wheel outside rather than in the sink, because any time anything with animal feces comes near any of the sinks, I feel the need to disinfect with bleach afterwards, which is a pain.

 

[pricklymom]

I also spray my wheel with a vinegar solution, and then blast away the poo with my hand held shower head. Don't have to do anything but dry it off. I've also done this without detaching the shower head, I just close the shower curtain.

 

[weddinglady]

Since I am a new hedgie mom and have been getting use to the cleaning routine, I thought I would add what has worked for my 9 year old.

We bought a small flat cookie sheet for the end of her cake, we line it with paper towels folded, put the wheel on top of the liner. Each morning we pull out the wheel on the tray, place another clean paper towel to put the wheel on, use baby wipes to remove the poop, wipe out the pee, then we spray and wipe at least three times with the vinegar solution. We have gotten it down to just a few minutes and it's real easy now. The smell is gone away substantially and she only uses the tray for the bathroom. It's been an easy process.

Good luck with it.

 

[padawanslacker]

I just use boring old soap and water, although if the vinegar thing is a safe disinfectant, I'll give that a shot.

For what it's worth, I've had a number of Silent Spinners over the years, and have had fairly good experiences with them. Some of the problems that earlier incarnations of the wheel had (crappy, brittle plastic, too-small, tippy base) have been corrected. I've never had the yellow nut in back unscrew from a cage.

I have had problems with the yellow nut in front when the wheel's being used by a larger hedgehog, and/or the wheel starts to age. That nut in front needs to have a metal core in it so its threads don't get stripped. As it is, it's soft plastic, and the harder your wheel is run, and the chubbier the little guy or gal inside is, the faster the resultant vibrations will strip the nut and make it useless. That's when you have things like the nut popping off completely and the wheel falling off. (To the poor hedgehog, the effect must be like that "runaway mill wheel" scene in the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie.) I've glued a couple of those stupid yellow nuts on, since they're pretty much unnecessary anyway. A dab of glue can double the lifespan of a Silent Spinner.

At any rate, Silent Spinners seem to be okay for hedgies up to about a pound--or at least that's my experience. You still have to watch that central yellow nut when the wheel's seen 6-9 months of continual use, but I haven't found them to be bad overall.

As for the bowl shape that can collect poo, I either spot clean it with a damp paper towel or wash the whole thing out once a day. A full wash takes maybe 5 minutes. If I clean the thing often, I find the mess isn't bad. If I try to wait and only clean it on the weekend or something . . . eew.

 

[Guest]

We made bucket wheels. Daily cleaning with hot water running on it in the sink, and a toothbrush for stubborn spots. Mild bleach solution once a week. Nice and easy.

 

[r_k_chic47]

I also use vinegar/water solution, but I can hardly stand the smell. I mean, a mix of the disgusting vinegar smell, along with hedgie pee and poop...not a very good combination :lol: But it works, so I'm sticking with it

 

[Zalea]

A few people have mentioned baby wipes in this thread. What brands do you use? I just wonder because the only unscented ones I really see at the store have aloe in them, and I wouldn't want to risk using aloe because of the toxic factor.

Right now I've been doing the vinegar solution. It works great.

 

[Kalandra]

I don't use baby wipes. But if I want to use a wipe I just take a nice thick paper towel and spray it with the vinegar solution, or use a wash cloth then toss it in the clothes basket where the dirty liners go. I keep several wash clothes that are for the hedgehog's only (different color than any others in the house).