We're reinventing the wheel.
Your hamster runs miles every night. We're building something that lets her do it flat, not bent around a curve. It's not done yet. That's the point.
Follow the buildFirst units go to this list.
The behavior
Built to run. Not built to run in circles.
Wild hamsters cover serious ground every night. Yours has the same legs and the same drive, so she runs on the one surface her enclosure gives her: a curved one.
A wheel that's too small arches her spine on every stride. The fix everyone agrees on is a bigger wheel, and it works. But a wheel big enough for a Syrian stands taller than a can of tennis balls, and that vertical space comes out of the same enclosure that needs deep substrate for burrowing. You end up trading one natural behavior for another.
We think she should get both.
The mechanism
A flat run, powered by her.
A treadmill for hamsters. Flat belt, full stride, no curve in her back and no tower in her enclosure.
No motor. No cords. Nothing to plug in. The belt moves because she moves, and it stops when she stops. If she sprints, it sprints. If she hops off, it's just a quiet flat surface again.
It sits low, so your substrate stays deep and your burrows stay yours. Well, hers.
CAD model, version 1. This is where we are today.
The honesty block
What we don't know yet
An honest product page tells you what might worry you before you ask. This one doesn't exist yet, so here's what worries us. We're answering these by building, on camera, with our own hamsters.
Will hamsters actually use it?
We think a flat run is more natural than a curved one. Thinking isn't knowing. Marzipan and Ninja are the test pilots, and we'll publish the footage either way, including the version where she ignores it and sleeps in it instead.
Can we make it quieter than a wheel?
You know the 3am wheel sound. A flat belt has no reason to squeak or wobble, but bearings are bearings. We're testing for the quietest possible night shift and we'll post real audio.
How do we make it truly cleanable?
Hamsters pee where they run. The target: a belt that lifts out with no tools, wipes down or goes in the sink, made from non-porous material that doesn't hold funk. If cleaning it is annoying, we've failed, so this one gets iterated until it isn't.
When we answer one, it moves out of this section and into the spec. Watch it happen.
Not everything is an open question
Some things aren't up for testing, voting, or iteration. These are the standing rules every prototype has to clear before it goes anywhere near your hamster.
No pinch points. Zero.
Anywhere her feet, fur, or whiskers could catch gets covered or closed before any hamster besides ours goes near a prototype. This is not a phase goal or a feature. It's the price of admission, and we'll show the testing that proves it.
Nothing electrical in the enclosure. Ever.
No motor, no cords, no batteries. The belt is powered by her and nothing else.
The safety pass moves the ship date, not the other way around.
If Phase 3 finds a problem, the date slips and the problem gets fixed. In that order, every time.
Where the build is
Phase 1. CAD and cardboard You are here
First CAD model, cardboard mock to check enclosure fit.
Phase 2. Working prototypes
3D printed parts, belt tracking, first test runs on camera.
Phase 3. Safety and cleaning passes
Covering every pinch point, tool-free belt removal, the sink test.
Phase 4. Pilot batch
A small first run for the waitlist, feedback, fixes.
Phase 5. First units ship
Target: late 2026, waitlist first.
No hard dates on purpose. We'd rather ship it right than ship it Friday. The waitlist hears about every phase first.
The Designer (and Hamsters) Behind It
Habitat Homies is a one-founder, behavior-first enrichment brand in Minneapolis. We already design and 3D print Critter Cubes here, hides built from how hamsters behave instead of how a shelf looks, in the same PETG this treadmill will use. The treadmill is designed from slow-motion footage of real running gait, and every prototype gets tested by Marzipan and Ninja before it gets near your hamster.
Get the first run
The first batch will be small because we're printing it ourselves. This list gets first access to purchase before anything goes public, and build updates about once a month in between, so you'll see every phase before anyone else does.
Build updates roughly monthly. No spam, no daily drip. Unsubscribe whenever.
Questions we'd ask too
Is there a motor?
No. It's fully hamster-powered. The belt moves when she runs and stops when she stops. Nothing electrical goes in the enclosure. That's a non-negotiable.
What if she sprints and then stops suddenly?
The belt has nowhere to go without her. No motor means no momentum flinging anyone anywhere. When she stops, it stops.
Won't her feet or fur get caught?
This is the non-negotiable at the top of our list, not a feature. Anywhere her feet, fur, or whiskers could catch gets covered or closed before any hamster besides ours touches a prototype. Phase 3 exists specifically to prove it, on camera, and nothing ships until it does.
Doesn't a big wheel already fix the back-arch problem?
A properly sized wheel does help her spine, and if you have one, keep it. What it can't fix is the space problem: that wheel stands taller than your substrate is deep. Flat means her run stops competing with her burrows.
How much floor space does it take?
Exact footprint comes out of Phase 2. The design goal is a footprint similar to a large wheel, using floor area instead of the vertical column a big wheel needs.
What will it cost?
Honestly, we don't know yet, and we won't guess in public. Waitlist members see the price first, before launch.
When can I buy one?
Target is late 2026, first units to the waitlist. If we're faster, the list finds out first.
