Forgot one thing.... the wheels are all history.
Why I wanted to get rid of them:
1.) They were a constant pain to deal with.
2.) The were expensive.
3.) Even the good metal chrome covered ones would wear out in less then a year.
4.) The wheels themselves were disgusting. They were caked with pee goop even though I attempted to spray them clean weekly. I noticed that a lot of the smell was coming from the wheel itself, and the glass behind the wheel that was also covered in pee goop.
5.) They got in the way when cleaning
6.) With literally 30 wheels spinning 24 / 7 at any given time at least 3 or 4 were squeaking. I am talking about LOUD squeaking that could be heard in the living room. It was driving everyone (especially my wife, kids, and dog) crazy. I constantly lubricated them but that was constant maintenance as they would always start again soon. Don't know what was worse, the constantly squeaking wheels or my wife pestering me about squeaky wheels.
7.) I wanted to see if they were even necessary.
When I first pulled them out, all hell broke loose. The breeding groups started fighting, babies and weiners were killed, and the males would CONSTANTLY bang their water bottles against the glass in protest. One male actually slammed the glass bottle and metal holder hard enough to put a crack in the tank glass!
The solution was that I fed 100% of them off, and set up all new breeding groups from kids that had never even seen a wheel. Now everyone is happy. I was surprised to see that removal of the wheels had no negative effects on breeding numbers, weight gain or general health. The only real change I noticed is that now the moms spend a lot more time with the babies... but still the baby growth rate is on average the same.
Wheels are obviously the choice of the keeper.... but I have proven to myself that they are NOT needed... and when you produce large numbers, life is much easier and cheaper without them.
So, if you look in my breeder tanks you will only see four things.
1.) Rats (and rat poop)
2.) Pine shavings
3.) Hog kibble on the substrate
4.) water bottle
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