Birthday Goodies!
I had a birthday! Happy birthday to me!
Honestly, I kind of don’t care that much about my birthday. HOWEVER… it is a great excuse to get some new and exciting ham-accessories!
This year my parents gave me two of the Niteangel pedometers (one for Thorfinn, one for Maurice), in addition to an adorable little star bridge from Bucatstate!
The Niteangel pedometers were quite exciting, I’ve wanted one for a while but just couldn’t find a reason I NEEDED one (particularly since I already have Wyze cams watching over my hams, I already know what they are up to at night).
Overall, they are not too tricky to operate. You just unscrew the cap on the wheel using a little wrench (included with the pedometer) and then apply the pedometer. The only bummer is that the 2032 coin-batteries are NOT included. And these aren’t the kind of batteries one tends to have laying around! So I had to actually order these from Amazon and wait until I had a moment to open them up and get them in the pedometers. Kind of annoying and delayed the excitement of a new hamster toy, wah wah.
The first one went in beautifully. So easy, worked well. I put it in Moe’s cork & wooden wheel.
The second one I decided to apply to a small, purple Dark Clouds wheel for Thor. This one was trickier - I couldn’t get it to screw in quite right, and then when I did, the pedometer wasn’t turning on.
I read the reviews on Amazon and noticed that I wasn’t alone in having this issue - a few others complained that the battery cavity didn’t seem to work correctly so the pedometer wasn’t turning on when you put the battery in. I almost asked Niteangel for a return, but then I noticed if I gave the pedometer a little squeeze it seemed to help revive it.
I guess the question is- is the pedometer actually turning on every time Thor is on the wheel? Or is it only working half the time? I’m not really sure.
After the night is over, if you want to calculate how far your hamster ran, Niteangel has a nifty chart for each of their wheels on the Amazon listing here —> https://amzn.to/3QlLt0H
The Verdict:
Overall, I think this is a fun, fairly inexpensive hamster accessory. Is it necessary? Not if you have hamster cams (and you really should have a hamster cam! Learn more about them here). But is it fun? YES! :D
Pls note it only works with Niteangel wheels (hoping Bucatstate comes out with one soon so I can update my Buca-Wheels too!).
If you are purchasing a Niteangel wheel for the first time, they now sell the wheel WITH the pedometer! Link below!
The second hamster gift I got was this adorbs Bucatstate star-bridge!
I’m increasingly a fan of these static, non-bendy bridges because there are no gaps in the wooden rods so a much reduced opportunity for a tiny toe or tiny nail to get caught in a tiny crevice as they scurry across the bridge.
Personally, I have not had an issue with a hamster injuring themselves on any bendy bridges (thankfully!) but I know those who have - it’s not wildly uncommon! Recently, I witnessed little Thor get a toenail caught on the fleece blanket I use as the flooring of my hamster playpens. Thankfully, I was there (a great reason to not let hamsters be on fleece unsupervised), but he went WILD trying to free his little foot. It was scary and I could see how it could escalate quickly if I hadn’t been there to free him and his tiny nail.
Also, a great reminder to get your hamster’s nails trimmed on a regular basis. About every 6 weeks I find works for my hams, but really depends on the hamster. Some are more active and don’t seem to need it as much. My vet charges about $15 for a hamster nail trim and they do it so quickly my hams hardly have a moment to be scared!
Have you tried the Niteangel Pedometer or Bucastate star bridge? What did you think?
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