A loving owner seeks to create the most comfortable conditions for his four-legged pet. Animals not only need to eat and drink, but also to move, and the possibilities for this the inhabitants of the cage are very limited. "Sports equipment" can help - all kinds of ladders, rungs and wheels. You can do a lot with your own hands.
Wheels are different
The diameter of the wheel depends mainly on the size of the animal and the length of its stride. Of course, the wheel for a Dzungarian hamster will be smaller than for a squirrel or chipmunk. Too large a wheel will be difficult for the animal to rotate, and too wide gaps between the crossbars can lead to injury. Therefore, even before choosing a material, consider what size wheel you need. For a squirrel or chipmunk, its diameter will be about 40 cm, for a Syrian hamster, 20 cm will be enough.
Choosing materials
For a homemade wheel, natural materials are most suitable - thick plywood or chipboard. True, it is possible that after some time you will have to alter the "sports equipment", because rodents tend to sharpen their teeth on everything that surrounds them. You will need:
- plywood with a thickness of 6-10 mm or chipboard;
- thin sticks of the same length - 40-60 pcs.;
- thick wire for the axle;
- small nails;
- a hammer;
- saw or jigsaw;
- template paper;
- drawing tools.
Make blanks
The rodent wheel consists of the following parts:
- 2 circles:
- axis;
- 2 racks;
- base.
Draw a circle on the paper. Draw another circle from the same center, 3-5 cm smaller in diameter. You should have a ring. Draw a diameter, perpendicular to it - another one. From the first diameter, set aside 1 cm in both directions, draw 2 lines parallel to it. Do the same with the second diameter. You will get 4 identical windows. Cut out the template and make 2 identical plywood blanks from it. Cutting out is best done with a jigsaw, but if you don't have one, you can use a regular jigsaw or a small garden saw. Sand the cuts with sandpaper.
Drill holes for the axis in the center of one and the other. For the base, you can make 2 identical racks, which at the bottom will be attached to a wide board. Racks can be triangular, rectangular or trapezoidal. They can be glued or nailed to the board. In the upper parts of the posts, drill holes into which the axle will be attached. The holes do not have to be made through. Thick aluminum or steel wire is suitable for the axle. It is glued into the sidewalls. The wheel moves freely along the axis, no fastening is needed. Align the length of the bar. For a squirrel you need 60 bars, for a chipmunk - about 80. Mark the places for the four bars - they should connect to the circles where on the template the diameters you drew intersect with the circles. You can step back from the circle by 0, 3-0, 5 cm (but this distance must be observed when attaching all the crossbars).
Assembling the wheel
Use small nails to nail the bars to the circles. Spread the rest of the sticks evenly over all four sectors so that the distances between the rungs are the same, and also nail. Connect the base elements. Place the wheel on the axle. Insert the ends of the axle into the sides of the base. The squirrel or chipmunk wheel is ready.
