Hello everybody I have made a homemade wheel for my sugar gliders since comerical wheels since they are kind of expensive being that they are made out of buket lids. I made mine out of bucket lids, mesh, aluminum and stainless steel. I have attached pictures of it.



I just wanted to share this out to see if this is an acceptable wheel to put in my suggies cage.

No,No, No NO.

PLEASE Don't put that in the cage with any gliders. I can tell you and show you why homemade wheels should not be used. I can tell you right now about 8 things that aren't safe on the one in the pictures just off the top of my head.

However if I did, that would only give you information on how to "fix" it, which still would not render it safe and I will not help or aid in that way and be responsible for your gliders.

Yes wheels are expensive, they are an investment. Wheel vendors work very hard on perfecting their designs and have spent years making them as safe as possible and have suffered great losses while they learned their lessons over the years.

I have worked on multiple medical issues with gliders injured on homemade wheels. I have pictures I can share. They are graphic, sad, expensive vet bills, and completely unnecessary.

There is not much about glider husbandry that I'm hard nosed about, I am diet neutral, cage size neutral, toy neutral, breeding neutral etc...BUT, wheels and kitchen sink diets are the two things I AM hard nosed about.

I can give you all the proof you will ever need to make your own decision about putting that thing in a cage with gliders IF you are up to seeing the reality of what home made wheels do.

Just out of curiosity can you name one of the eight problems with the wheel, because as far as I can tell it looks exactly like my stealth wheel that it was based off of. Thanks in advance.

Honestly, the whole wheel is a problem whether that means the material, or method you used, other safety measures that you don't know about and haven't taken when making this wheel. I drew arrows and or circled issues, but I will not explain why they are issues to aid you in attempting to make it safer. Even if I DID tell you, you'd end up making another one from scratch because there are to many core issues that aren't simple fixes.

I can make a wheel that looks like any one of 5 different wheels, that doesn't mean mine will be as safe as theirs, or that I know what material they used, what safety features were done during assembly, actual dimensions or any thing else knowledgeable wheel makers do to make their wheels safe.

These are just a few and aren't even the graphic ones, if you would like to see more I can post more but they will be worse. These are all injuries from home made wheels, made by inexperienced diy folks. Saved a bunch of money on wheels, but not at the vets, Ultimately the gliders will pay the biggest price for your choices, so please choose wisely.

Tail degloved and amputated





Toe amputation




Two more degloved tails that required amputations.

I admire diy people and think you did a great job. I'm also a firm believer in 'better safe than sorry'. Having said that, I purchased a silent runner wheel from exotic nutrition that was slightly used (since sterilized) and I'd be happy to send it to you for just the charge of shipping. My glider loved it but I decided to invest in a different one. Just let me know.

I agree with Leela, looks can be deceiving when you don't have first-hand experience with such things. Your wheel may look good to one without that experience, but I wouldn't cut corners on your glider's safety.

I have all Fast Track wheels from SpinZone Global I have two Apollos and one 9" wheel, if they still have some available they're more economical than than most of the other wheels.

I also am all for diy stuff on most things. I am a firm believer in learning how to make MOST things myself. I relearned how to sew after 20 some years, I learned how to make glider safe toys etc. There is not a day that goes by that I don't use a power tool of some sort for one thing or another. I wood burn, I fix things and make a ton of stuff from scratch.

For those of you that see me post regularly on here, you know I very much promote self educating and learning to make your own accessories. I have provided links sooo many times to places to obtain safe materials, links to teach yourself to sew bonding bags and cage sets safely, links to learn how to make safe toys.

However, wheels are the one thing that I feel should be left up to the wheel vendors to make.

For as much fuss has been made over the wodent wheels causing injuries and death, they are even better than homemade wheels in my opinion. There have been less incidents with woodent wheels than there has with home made wheels. In my first hand experience with owners that have glider injuries from wheels I have never seen a case from a wodent wheel, I have seen many from home made wheels.

If you want to take the risk with your gliders by using homemade wheels, be my guest. That is your choice, just be prepared for the consequences and take that money you saved from buying a safe wheel and put it in a vet savings fund.

Wow. I used the gutter guard not as a wheel bUT outside there cage so they can climb up the walls and reach there toys. After seeing the degloved tails I took it all down. I feel sick but thank you for sharing these photos leela.

Can you show me pics of the gutterguard things? Those can be safe depending on how it's made. You can pm me pics

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leela

No,No, No NO.

PLEASE Don't put that in the cage with any gliders. I can tell you and show you why homemade wheels should not be used. I can tell you right now about 8 things that aren't safe on the one in the pictures just off the top of my head.

However if I did, that would only give you information on how to "fix" it, which still would not render it safe and I will not help or aid in that way and be responsible for your gliders.

Yes wheels are expensive, they are an investment. Wheel vendors work very hard on perfecting their designs and have spent years making them as safe as possible and have suffered great losses while they learned their lessons over the years.

I have worked on multiple medical issues with gliders injured on homemade wheels. I have pictures I can share. They are graphic, sad, expensive vet bills, and completely unnecessary.

There is not much about glider husbandry that I'm hard nosed about, I am diet neutral, cage size neutral, toy neutral, breeding neutral etc...BUT, wheels and kitchen sink diets are the two things I AM hard nosed about.

I can give you all the proof you will ever need to make your own decision about putting that thing in a cage with gliders IF you are up to seeing the reality of what home made wheels do.

---

I find quite ridiculous to make a drama about this wheel that is quite good.

Some people also die when crossing the road...

Everything we put in a cage has a potential risk, some have a higher risk than others. I find it ridiculous to knowingly take the higher risk to save yourself 10 bucks.

There was no drama on this post, from last year. There are opinions on an unsafe wheel with explanations on why it is unsafe.

A 50.00 SAFE wheel is more affordable than the vet care from a 40.00 unsafe wheel.

Again, I'm all for diy a lot of things, wheels are still not one of them.

quote:

---

Originally posted by ZooVeteran

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leela

No,No, No NO.

PLEASE Don't put that in the cage with any gliders. I can tell you and show you why homemade wheels should not be used. I can tell you right now about 8 things that aren't safe on the one in the pictures just off the top of my head.

However if I did, that would only give you information on how to "fix" it, which still would not render it safe and I will not help or aid in that way and be responsible for your gliders.

Yes wheels are expensive, they are an investment. Wheel vendors work very hard on perfecting their designs and have spent years making them as safe as possible and have suffered great losses while they learned their lessons over the years.

I have worked on multiple medical issues with gliders injured on homemade wheels. I have pictures I can share. They are graphic, sad, expensive vet bills, and completely unnecessary.

There is not much about glider husbandry that I'm hard nosed about, I am diet neutral, cage size neutral, toy neutral, breeding neutral etc...BUT, wheels and kitchen sink diets are the two things I AM hard nosed about.

I can give you all the proof you will ever need to make your own decision about putting that thing in a cage with gliders IF you are up to seeing the reality of what home made wheels do.

---

I find quite ridiculous to make a drama about this wheel that is quite good.

Some people also die when crossing the road...

---

A freedom wheel cost $40. a glider cost $200, a cage cost about $200. vet bills can be a lot more, plus I CARE about my gliders, why would I put an unsafe wheel in for saving a few bucks rather then just pay out the $40.
Found out dogs can play and get their mouths stuck on the another dogs collar, this can cause a freaked out dog and injury. After finding out this information, and my dogs play bite on the neck all the time, I removed their collars while in the backyard playtime.
It just seems the safe way is sometimes the best way, with dogs or gliders.

would you cross the road on an overpass or into traffic, when a overpass walk is available?