The Truly Silent Hamster Wheel

Me and my sister just went out to Pet Smart and we each got a Robo Dwarf Hamster.  These were our first hamsters we ever bought so we each also bought a "All Living Things Hamster Starter Kit".  It claims to have a "silent" hamster wheel which we both assumed to be true.  That night we were proven wrong.  I am a sound sleeper so the constant squeaking didn't faze me, but my sister on the other hand didn't sleep at all that night.  This happened for the next couple of nights and my sister decided that she needed to take the hamster back to the store because she couldn't get any sleep.  I knew there had to be something that could fix her dilemma but after reading the reviews on every exercise wheel on petsmart.com it seemed as if there was no truly silent wheel.  I decided that if there was no such thing as a silent wheel then i was going to have to build one.

After a few hours of brainstorming it came to me. This design is for any hamster wheel that has an axel running through the center of it.  The finished project will be cage mounted but could easily be made to be independent from the cage by bending a frame from a metal coat hanger.

parts needed:
-crapy hamster wheel (aka any hamster wheel)
-8cm 12v pc fan
-superglue
-plastic cheepo' bic pen
-masking tape -or- duct tape
-twist ties (2-4)

Tools:
-wire snips

the first step is to take this crappy wheel apart.  Once you have the axil out, cut a piece of cheep pen shell to the same length as the entire axil part.

The next step is to glue the new axel onto the fan.  Find the center of the fan and after using some sandpaper or a file to rough the fan use superglue to glue the axel onto the fan blades (pic 1).  Then, wrap the axel with duct tape or masking tape (2) until it snugly fits into the hamster wheel (3).  After all of that is done, you may add some 5 min epoxy for extra strength (4).

Now, its time to fit the parts together.  This step is sorta self explanatory just keep the wheel about 1cm away from the fan so it doesn't rub on the cage.  Now, lower your wheel into the cage and secure it with twist ties on the screw holes.  The tighter it is on the cage the less of a chance there is of vibration.  Also, remember to cut the wires off so your hammy doesn't chew on them (or at least keep them out of the cage)