Talk:Hamster wheel

History

Anyone know the history of this contraption? I wonder how far back it goes.

I added a 1949 use from the OED. Ecphora (talk) 12:06, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

Power

I changed the reference from hamster wheel power being 'proven impractical' to being 'not feasible' [1]. While hamster wheel power ideas may be fun to joke with and some sad people may have even seriously proposed them, a basic understanding of physics (and perhaps biology) tells you the idea is not feasible. While the bit I added wasn't sourced, the whole section wasn't anyway Nil Einne 09:46, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like a good idea for Google's next April fool's joke :) 130.216.191.182 11:21, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

the problem is the tiny amount of power you get from each hamster.

Actually, there is more to this than meets the eye. See "Converting Biomechanical Energy into Electricity by a Muscle-Movement-Driven Nanogenerator" published in Nano Letters by Z. L. Wang and coworkers. GChriss <always listening><c> 17:56, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

dead mice

Metal wheels can be fatal if used for exercising any rodents.it can cause bumble foot and rip of their limbs AVOID MESH/METAL ALL TIMES) (If their arent gaps in the METAL than these can be used for gerbils, guinea pigs , etc.

Picture

Should the current picture be removed, or at least, moved to a section? Those with bars are very dangerous as they can get their legs stuck in them. I would get a picture of a solid one, use that as the main picture, and put the one with bars down in a section about dangers, of which there are surely tons of sources. 69.182.118.10 08:55, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Other hamster toys

Should there be an article about other sorts of hamster toys? There's one for cats, so why not hamsters? User:Melon247/sig 13:11, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Versions for larger animals -readers what to know

There should be a subsection on "hamster" wheels that are large enough for guniea pigss, and larger animals such as dogs. Are there "hamster" wheels for dogs? Chrisrus (talk) 14:26, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

"Squirrel cage?"

Squirrel-cage rotor links to this article, saying that the name "squirrel cage rotor" refers to the rotor's resemblance to a hamster wheel. I certainly have never heard this term being used to refer to a hamster wheel, or anything other than rotors and blowers, for that matter. I've searched the internet for answers, but to no avail. Does anyone know? — Preceding unsigned comment added by EvJay (talk • contribs) 01:41, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

I was curious about this too and came across your comment while searching. I looked through some 19th century books on Google Books and I found an explanation: old squirrel cages were constructed to include what we describe now as an exercise wheel or hamster wheel. Hamsters weren't widely kept as domesticated pets until the mid 20th century. Therefore terms like "squirrel cage rotor" entered the vernacular first. However with pet squirrels largely falling out of favor for pet hamsters, the idea of an exercise wheel is now more closely associated with hamsters than with squirrels. Atomlage (talk) 00:13, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

Preferences

There was no citation for the part about hamsters' backs being affected by the wheel diameter. The paper cited in the previous section says nothing about back and/or spinal issues stemming from small wheels--it only deals with lesions on hamsters' back feet. In fact, I can't locate a source supporting this sentence at all, so I am removing it unless there is a reliable source located to back up this information. Text of removed sentence: "An arched back is not a natural position for a running hamster, and if a wheel is so small that the animal must arch its back while using it, then the wheel needs to be replaced with a bigger one; however, younger animals can use small wheels while they are still growing."PureMichigan21 (talk) 23:25, 25 June 2015 (UTC)

Actual hamster-powered light

Found this link:

https://www.otherpower.com/hamster.html

It's interesting but not reliable enough, so it can't be added as a ref to the article. CiaPan (talk) 14:23, 2 May 2022 (UTC)