Review on Kaytee Comfort Exercise Wheel Colors by Travis Riffey

I got my niece two new baby gerbils for her birthday and chose this wheel over the other smaller, wire mesh or extra large ones. I was worried it might be too big for them to turn or stop when they start working because they are so small, but it works fine. Once they figure out what it is, they probably spend an hour or more a day on it. But it's not without its downsides, here are the pros and cons we've observed. Pros: Gerbils love it and use it, so that's the main point - Although it's big, it spins freely so they can walk it easily. Also, it's not so massive that they can't stop. The whole wheel is solid, so unlike wire mesh, little feet won't get stuck in the mesh and hurt themselves. Because the entire wheel is solid, it also contains all of their urine if they pee while walking on it. This way they will not urinate around their bodies like other species. - The wire stand to which it is attached is removed instantly and the wheel can be removed from the stand on which it spins, making cleaning easier. We just put it in the kitchen sink, spray it with disinfectant and pick it up. Because the wheel just slides off the mount, you can ditch the stand if you have a wire cage and install it on the cage bars. Our tank is a 20 gallon tank so we need a stand. Cons: Since they urinate in while you work, be prepared to clean it every other day as it gets dirty pretty quickly. The advantage is that it contains all the urine and dries on the wheel before being cleaned. And because no urine can get into the tank or litter, the litter and aquarium stay clean much longer. The bike is pretty loud! The gerbils are in their room but you can hear them jumping on it. I cut out a felt circle and mounted it on the shaft that the wheel is attached to and it cut the noise in half, but it's still noisy for several other reasons listed below. The wheel is really unbalanced and you can spin it very fast so that it shakes a lot, which adds to its noise profile. - The wire mount has some spring action which also contributes to vibration and noise. - As the wheel spins, it will start spinning due to gyroscopic progression (look for it). This means it starts rotating 90 degrees on its axis in the direction the wheels are turning and ends up crashing into something like the side of your tank etc. You just have to either drop it or weigh it every day. the price couldn't be better. Gerbils compete for its use, so if you have more than one, you'll probably need a second wheel. As soon as I can expand their enclosure, I will buy them a second balance bike. Several photos and a slow motion video are attached. Remember these are new gerbils, only about 2 months old and quite small. I don't see how they will be comfortable on one of those 6 inch wheels!