When was the Hamster Wheel invented

[Maz]

This follows on from Socks Mum and @Tulsi 's queries

I think it was around the 1940s. Wikipedia says this

"The earliest dated use of the term "hamster wheel", located by the Oxford English Dictionary, is in a 1949 newspaper advertisement."

Hamster wheel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Wheels had been used for animals prior to this - dogs were used to turn spit wheels in the 1800s. Apparently a certain type of dog was bred to use them.




There are various things come up on Google but not necessarily correct. I decided to ask Chat GPT who invented the Hamster Wheel and initially it came up with the name of a German inventor Herman G Gatgens. Googled that name and nothing at all came up. So I said to chat GPT - I can't find any reference to this person on google. And it said you're correct it was actually Dr J M McClintock. So I googled him as well and couldn't find anything. So I said to Chat GPT. I can't find any reference to him either, do you have a link? So it just goes to show you can't believe everything Chat GPT says! Eventually it came up with this explanation!

"The hamster wheel is estimated to be around 70 to 80 years old, dating back to the 1940s or 1950s. This time period marks when domesticated hamsters first became popular pets in North America and Europe. The concept of the hamster wheel likely developed in tandem with this pet trend, as owners and manufacturers realized that hamsters needed a form of exercise in their enclosures.

The first patent that explicitly mentions a “hamster wheel” dates to 1949, submitted by a man named *W. H. Foltz*. This suggests that the hamster wheel design was becoming recognized as a specific item by the late 1940s, although there may have been similar devices around earlier.

So while we don't know an exact birth date, the hamster wheel has been around for approximately 75 years!"

I can't find any reference to a W H Foltz either so maybe we can ignore that too!

This is the citation from the Wikipedia article "Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 1949, p. B20/4 (advt.), referenced in Oxford English Dictionary, Draft Additions, Sep. 2007, under entry “Hamster.”

This is the advert from the Los Angeles Times on 9 October 1949. So presumably hamster wheels were in existence before 1949

 

[Maz]

However, wheels were probably around much earlier than the 1940s for other pets and someone probably just decided they would be good for hamsters as well. This photo from an antique site is of a "turn of the century" cage with a wheel (still working apparently) from the US. They describe it as a hamster cage but it's very unlikely as hamsters weren't even known pets at the turn of the century. But pet mice were popular in Victorian times. So either it's not as old as turn of the century (ie early 1900s), or it's a mouse cage and wheel more likely.

Antique Architectural Hamster Cage, Turn of the Century at 1stDibs | vintage hamster cage, aesthetic hamster cage, master cage

View this item and discover similar for sale at 1stDibs - Antique architectural hamster cage, turn of the century hand executed. Amazing patina and surface wheel spins perfectly.

www.1stdibs.com

If anyone else has any little snippets of info or photos of early hamster wheels, please add them!

 

[Maz]

Another antiques place had this Victorian cage with a wheel - which again they call a Hamster cage. As Hamsters were classified in the 1830s it's possible it could be a hamster cage, but they weren't commonly kept as pets until the 1930s. So again it's more likely to be a mouse cage.

S/5723 Antique Late Victorian Wire Beech Framed Hamster Cage | BADA

Victorian Wire Beech Framed Hamster Cage. An interesting late Victorian hamster cage, comprising of a beech and wire cage with a sliding door, giving hamsters a recreational area with a separate revolving drum with three circular entrances. The whole sits on an original three ply platform base...

www.bada.org

 

[Maz]

Another antique cage with a wheel here, from 1910. It's described as mouse/hamster cage again, but until the 1930s the only hamsters brought out of Syria appeared to be "specimens" in museums. There was a possible exception though - this is from Wikipedia with a note saying "dubious/discuss" at the end

"In 1880 as British Consul to Syria James Henry Skene was retiring back to Edinburgh, he returned from Syria with Syrian hamsters. He died in 1886. The colony of hamsters remained alive until 1910."

So if that's true it's possible that James Henry Skene might have had a hamster cage and wheel in 1880 - but if he did he probably used a mouse cage IMO!

Edit - apparently James Skene did indeed bring hamsters to the Uk in 1879 and had a colony - more information about that here, from someone who has done research into it.

"All the captive Golden Hamsters up to the 1970s were descended from a single litter collected by Israel Aharoni near Aleppo in 1930. That statement is correct but I was surprised when I learnt of a colony of Golden Hamsters being kept in Britain for thirty years until around 1910."

History of the Golden Hamster: 6. Golden Hamsters kept in Scotland at the turn of the 20th Century

All the captive Golden Hamsters up to the 1970s were descended from a single litter collected by Israel Aharoni near Aleppo in 1930. That s...

zoologyweblog.blogspot.com

So the question now is - who decided mice would like wheels?!

Hendryx Industrial metal mouse cage with wheel

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1640592165/antique-1910s-hendryx-industrial-metal

 

[Socks Mum]

This follows on from Socks Mum and Tulsi's queries

I think it was around the 1940s. Wikipedia says this

"The earliest dated use of the term "hamster wheel", located by the Oxford English Dictionary, is in a 1949 newspaper advertisement."

Hamster wheel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Wheels had been used for animals prior to this - dogs were used to turn spit wheels in the 1800s. Apparently a certain type of dog was bred to use them.

Hamster wheel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

View attachment 8924

There are various things come up on Google but not necessarily correct. I decided to ask Chat GPT who invented the Hamster Wheel and initially it came up with the name of a German inventor Herman G Gatgens. Googled that name and nothing at all came up. So I said to chat GPT - I can't find any reference to this person on google. And it said you're correct it was actually Dr J M McClintock. So I googled him as well and couldn't find anything. So I said to Chat GPT. I can't find any reference to him either, do you have a link? So it just goes to show you can't believe everything Chat GPT says! Eventually it came up with this explanation!

"The hamster wheel is estimated to be around 70 to 80 years old, dating back to the 1940s or 1950s. This time period marks when domesticated hamsters first became popular pets in North America and Europe. The concept of the hamster wheel likely developed in tandem with this pet trend, as owners and manufacturers realized that hamsters needed a form of exercise in their enclosures.

The first patent that explicitly mentions a “hamster wheel” dates to 1949, submitted by a man named *W. H. Foltz*. This suggests that the hamster wheel design was becoming recognized as a specific item by the late 1940s, although there may have been similar devices around earlier.

So while we don't know an exact birth date, the hamster wheel has been around for approximately 75 years!"

I can't find any reference to a W H Foltz either so maybe we can ignore that too!

This is the advert from the Los Angeles Times on 9 October 1949. So presumably hamster wheels were in existence before 1949

View attachment 8925

This is quite amazing Thank you

 

[Socks Mum]

This follows on from Socks Mum and Tulsi's queries

I think it was around the 1940s. Wikipedia says this

"The earliest dated use of the term "hamster wheel", located by the Oxford English Dictionary, is in a 1949 newspaper advertisement."

Hamster wheel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Wheels had been used for animals prior to this - dogs were used to turn spit wheels in the 1800s. Apparently a certain type of dog was bred to use them.

Hamster wheel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

View attachment 8924

There are various things come up on Google but not necessarily correct. I decided to ask Chat GPT who invented the Hamster Wheel and initially it came up with the name of a German inventor Herman G Gatgens. Googled that name and nothing at all came up. So I said to chat GPT - I can't find any reference to this person on google. And it said you're correct it was actually Dr J M McClintock. So I googled him as well and couldn't find anything. So I said to Chat GPT. I can't find any reference to him either, do you have a link? So it just goes to show you can't believe everything Chat GPT says! Eventually it came up with this explanation!

"The hamster wheel is estimated to be around 70 to 80 years old, dating back to the 1940s or 1950s. This time period marks when domesticated hamsters first became popular pets in North America and Europe. The concept of the hamster wheel likely developed in tandem with this pet trend, as owners and manufacturers realized that hamsters needed a form of exercise in their enclosures.

The first patent that explicitly mentions a “hamster wheel” dates to 1949, submitted by a man named *W. H. Foltz*. This suggests that the hamster wheel design was becoming recognized as a specific item by the late 1940s, although there may have been similar devices around earlier.

So while we don't know an exact birth date, the hamster wheel has been around for approximately 75 years!"

I can't find any reference to a W H Foltz either so maybe we can ignore that too!

This is the advert from the Los Angeles Times on 9 October 1949. So presumably hamster wheels were in existence before 1949

View attachment 8925

Chat GPT is so human

 

[Socks Mum]

However, wheels were probably around much earlier than the 1940s for other pets and someone probably just decided they would be good for hamsters as well. This photo from an antique site is of a "turn of the century" cage with a wheel (still working apparently) from the US. They describe it as a hamster cage but it's very unlikely as hamsters weren't even known pets at the turn of the century. But pet mice were popular in Victorian times. So either it's not as old as turn of the century (ie early 1900s), or it's a mouse cage and wheel more likely.

Antique Architectural Hamster Cage, Turn of the Century at 1stDibs | vintage hamster cage, aesthetic hamster cage, master cage

View this item and discover similar for sale at 1stDibs - Antique architectural hamster cage, turn of the century hand executed. Amazing patina and surface wheel spins perfectly.

www.1stdibs.com

If anyone else has any little snippets of info or photos of early hamster wheels, please add them!

View attachment 8926

Mice, of course! They were popular pets and show animals. The used of wheels for mice may have been common in the Victorian age. It might be possible to age the item from what it's made from and the style of the embellishments

 

[Maz]

Please post any interesting photos or titbits or stories you have as well It'll make this thread a piece of hamster history

Conditions for pets weren't good obviously. I hope the spit dogs got taken for a walk and allowed around the house sometimes. And I hope the pet mice had lots of out of cage time.

Has anyone read the book "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins? There's a character in it called Count Fosco - a very large man I think and a bit of a baddie. It was written and published in the Victorian era and he had a couple of pet white mice I seem to remember - that used to be on his body at various times - running in and out of his sleeve or in his pocket. eg "pocket pets". I can't remember all the detail but I think there are descriptions of him putting them in a cage as well. So presumably they were tamed and hopefully let out of their tiny cages regularly.

If you haven't read the book, it's worth reading as it's really easy to read - it's one of those "can't put down" ones as its so well written - like a detective story - that you have to keep reading to find out what happens next!

I can't find any pictures of hamster cages from the 1940s when hamsters as pets took off in the USA. Here is one from the 1950s. Not much better than the Victorian ones but slightly larger by the look of it, and with a shelf. Still with a small wire wheel.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1097541371680840490/

 

[Socks Mum]

They sent too be based on bird cage designs. No nest areas and horribly confined.

 

[Maz]

I think maybe a new thread is needed on the history of the hamster cage now Which starts around the 1930s.

Small wire wheels progressed to mesh wheels and both are still sold today unfortunately. The mesh wheels cause bumblefoot which is a very nasty disease and can lead to amputation or blood poisoning. You can see by the design of the wire and mesh wheels, how dangerous they are with multiple places for a hamster to get a leg caught if jumping off or falling off.



Mesh hamster wheel

I'm not sure when plastic wheels with a solid surface started - possibly the 1980s or 90s (presumably after accidents and injuries with wire wheels - or possibly to fit in with the new plastic "modular" design cages like Rotostaks and Habitrails that were sold c 1980s onwards.

I think any larger wheels (eg 8") were probably made for rats. I'm not sure when it was decided that Syrians needed an 8" wheel but that was the case around 2014 - that 8" was the minimum size for a Syrian and some hamsters might need an 11".

Wodent wheels were the most popular then and they came in 8" and 11" (plus a 12" Wobust wheel for rats) - manufactured in the USA. But it was German sites, such as Rodipet, who promoted the 11" (or 12") wheel for Syrians and the 8" wheel for dwarf hamsters. Rodipet used to sell Wodent wheels and all the spare parts for them.

If anyone is bored this is a very old video I did, reviewing the 27cm and 30cm (11" and 12") wodent and wobust wheels In an era when an 80cm x 50cm cage was considered a large cage for a hamster But I quickly found it wasn't quite large enough (by the time you have an 11" or 12" wheel in it). But the screenshot from the video shows them. I had some safety issues with the stand (unless they were hung upside down) so stopped using them.

Flying saucer wheels had become popular as well, but it was fairly quickly found that, although hamsters loved running on them. they didn't always have good posture when running on them, so it was considered an upright wheel was safer as a main wheel. Also some people were using the small 7" saucers for Syrians which were far too small. This was an early plastic flying saucer - still sold today. This is a 30cm one. Some wood ones were made as well that were a bit expensive and tended to break, plus some steel ones in the US.



Trixie Plastic Running Disc 30cm

Around this time also the first Karlie Wonderland wood wheels became very popular (no cork back then). They had wooden struts though and there were some issues with those - splinters and also concerns the struts might be bad for a hamster's feet (although I didn't have issues with that). And they did tend to break after a while. But they were popular for a long time too. They were the only real options, apart from the plastic trixie wheel and the 12" Silent "spinner" - which wasn't silent and had some issues with a gap in the track.

This is the original Karlie Wonderland wood wheel and it's still sold today



Karlie Wonderland wheel

The only 12" wheels available were the Wobust wheel and the 12" Silent "Spinner" - both were huge and deep and the Silent spinner, although popular for quite some time, did have some issues and would also crack and break at the front. The smaller 6.5" silent "spinner" was THE wheel for dwarf hamsters for a long time. But then the manufacturing changed and they became stiff and wouldn't spin - so people started using 8" wheels or larger for dwarf hamsters. Which was, at the time, considered too large for a dwarf hamster by a lot of people, but the Germans had been using 8" wheels for dwarf hamsters for some time. The silent spinners are still sold - I don't know if they've improved at all but they're not so popular any more (and the 12" one takes up a lot of space).



12" Silent "Spinner"

And then the Silent Runner wheel was produced. It wasn't sold for hamsters - it was a sugarglider wheel - because it had no spindle for sugar gliders to get their tails caught on (which the Wobust wheel did). They were only available from Exotic Nutrition in the USA, but then the sugarglider shop started selling them. The average wheel cost about £9 (although the wodent wheels were about £12) but the Silent Runner was expensive at £25! Plus an extra £5 for bar fixings.

After doing my video on the wodent and wobust wheels, I kept both of them and used the Wobust wheel for our first, very large Syrian. @Coco61 has the wodent wheel from that video But as the Wobust wheel was so deep and the new Silent Runner was a better depth at 9cm, I decided to send for one and try it - and it was revolutionary (if you pardon the pun). The wodent wheels weren't silent or as free spinning as the Silent Runner wheels. The Silent runner was wonderful - the right depth for a hamster cage, fixed to the bars, silent and spun really freely. And of course they took off and became one of the most popular wheels - and still are.

But then cork lined wood wheels became more affordable (previously only Rodipet and Getzoo had those) with the Karlie Bogie wheel (almost the same as the Karlie Wonderland wheel but without the struts and a cork lining.

I also reviewed the Silent Runner wheel and the Karlie Bogie wheel - and yes I had a wheel obsession ha ha. The Trixie cork lined wheel came out later and is virtually the same wheel.

So from approx 2016, the Silent Runner was available. It didn't take off at first, with it's large holes, but fairly soon became one of the most popular wheels. I think I had one of the first ones. There was one other youtube video about it at the time and the owner didn't like it. I thought it was great - and still do.

I had upgraded our hamster to a 100cm Barney cage by then because it was clear an 80cm x 50cm cage wasn't big enough for a large hamster with a large wheel.

Silent Runner 12" wheel circa 2016

Not long after that the Karlie Bogie wheel with cork lining came out, but was only available from Germany at the time.

Gradually Rodipet stopped selling Wodent wheels (and they became unavailable and went out of business - but I believe they're available again in the US now under a different company). Rodipet started selling the Silent Runner wheels as a "safe wheel" as it had a sturdy metal stand. They are indeed much safer than the wodent wheels (although most people didn't have any issues with the wodent wheels). Rodipet also sold their own wood wheels and cork lined wood wheels and sadly they have stopped selling those now as they were about the only wood wheels that didn't have a "lip" at the front.

Within the next year or so (2017 maybe) there was a new craze for "bucket wheels" - primarily the Carolina Storm Wheels intended for hedgehogs originally - but they were only available in the US. They were very popular in the US though as they had a height adjustable stand and because they couldn't get hold of our European wood wheels. And many people started making their own bucket wheels as well out of plastic cake pans. There are still tutorials on how to make a bucket wheel on youtube. The Carolina Storm wheels were/are only 10.5" internal diameter, so a bit on the small side, but were ok for the average Syrian.

I finally bought one of these and had to have it imported from the US and it was a ridiculous price of about £40 including postage (no wheels cost that much at the time!) I wasn't too impressed really - but I still have it and it sometimes gets used as a playpen wheel. It's quite smooth so can be slippery for them to run on and they do run much better and more easily in something larger.

The Carolina Storm wheels are still sold on Etsy



Carolina Storm Wheels

But the Silent Runner - both 12" and 9" remained the go to popular wheel for Syrian and Dwarf hamsters, for a long time - along with the basic and affordable 20cm and 28cm plastic Trixie wheels - which still only cost about £15. Particularly after imports from Germany stopped for a while after Brexit and the pandemic.

Rodipet then, a few years ago, stopped selling Silent Runners and produced their own wheel - the Heureka wheel - I have never had one of these. I like wheels I can attach to bars. It's more suitable for a tank style enclosure, standing on a platform. People who have used them seem to think they are very good though - for either Syrians or Dwarf hamsters. It comes in various colours and is now the only wheel Rodipet in Germany sell. (See below)

 

[Maz]

heureka!® Marathon Wheel ''Oxidized''

large ✔ safe ✔ durable ✔ quiet ✔ The material and composition of every single part of this wheel has been carefully designed, manufactured and ...

www.rodipet.co.uk

A few years ago, and possibly since the pandemic - Niteangel hamster items appeared on the market and they sell various wheels now. They are a US company and very popular in the US (and also now in the Uk but they cost much more due to import taxes).

Getzoo still sell wood wheels with or without a cork lining. As do various other smaller manufacturers and Trixie - and now Pets at home.

Personally I still think the Silent runner and plastic Trixie wheels are the most long lasting and reliable. My favourite wheel however was the 32cm wood wheel with a cork lining from Rodipet. And it's sad they don't make them any more. I still have it but I don't think it'll last as long as a silent runner.

I'm not sure when flying saucer wheels first came out - they became popular around 2015 as well and I have always had one for playpen use. But it quickly became clear that they weren't a good angle for hamsters to run on, as a main wheel.

 

[Maz]

They sent too be based on bird cage designs. No nest areas and horribly confined.

They do seem to be based on bird cages don't they? I only hope hamsters from those early days had plenty of out of cage time. There were, sadly, quite a lot of injuries and broken legs from those wire wheels and mesh wheels (the mesh wheels cause bumblefoot which is a really nasty disease and can lead to blood poisoning). Both wire wheels and mesh wheels are still sold as well

 

[Socks Mum]

Great deep dive, thank you

 

[Maz]

A lot has progressed in the last 20 years But particularly in the past 8 years.

Must do a history of the hamster cage now! I've kept this to wheels.

 

[MuffinTheRobo]

That is sooo! Interesting.

 

[Socks Mum]

Fancy mice were imported from China and Japan, which may have contributed to some of Count Fosco's sinister foreign allure, a reflection of things that were going on at the time. The intrigue of psychoanalysis, the unconscious, opium, spiritualism, imperialism, foreign trade and so on, challenges to the existing order.

 

[Maz]

Just moved that post to this thread where Count Fosco was mentioned

Yes there were some fascinating issues going on at that time. Lots of sinister things. The book does give the idea that people who kept pet mice had something sinister about them ha ha! I suppose it was only wealthy people aa well.

 

[Maz]

So if the hamster wheel was just a mouse wheel and someone decided that hamsters might enjoy a wheel as well as mice, when was the first pet mouse wheel invented?

According to Wikipedia, the breeding of the fancy mouse in Europe became popular in the early 17th century. By 1895, Walter Maxey founded the National Mouse club in Victorian England.

Fancy mouse - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

So it's possible that a pet mouse wheel was in existance during, or even before, during the 1800s. But I can't find any further information. I suspect it was a Victorian invention as the Victorian age was the age of iron and manufacturing.

 

[Socks Mum]

It's fascinating, even pet mice were relying on the manufacture of iron in Britain for their cages

 

[Jain]

What an interesting thread but also quite sad thank goodness we are moving in a better direction albeit slowly with getting information out there.