Accept the noise has a pattern, then find its loudest part
Small nocturnal pets are supposed to be active at night; the goal is not a silent animal but a quieter setup. For most light sleepers the wheel dominates, followed by the rattle of a water bottle against bars and the thump of a pet rearranging a house or digging against a cage base. Listen for one night and rank the sounds before spending anything, because owners often insulate a whole room when the actual culprit is a loose wheel stand rocking on a hard floor. Note also whether the noise travels through the cage itself; a cage on bare floorboards above a bedroom can amplify every scuffle.
The wheel: bigger, solid, and standing still
A solid-surfaced wheel of the right size runs far more quietly than a barred or mesh one, and size matters because an animal running with an arched back on a small wheel shifts its weight unevenly and makes the wheel knock. Choose the largest wheel the enclosure fits, with your pet running flat-backed, and stand it on a rubber mat, a piece of fleece, or a stable stand so the base cannot drum on the cage floor. Keep the axle clean, since bedding and hair wound around it cause the wobble that turns a smooth spin into a rhythmic rattle, and check weekly that fixings are tight. Position the wheel away from the bars so it cannot clip them at speed.
Bottles, bowls, and the rattle against the bars
A bottle hung loosely will tap its bracket and the bars all night. Fit it snugly with its holder tight, add a small pad of fleece or rubber where metal meets metal, and confirm the spout is not dripping onto bedding, which prompts repeated licking visits. Many owners find a heavy ceramic water bowl on a mat quieter overnight, either alongside the bottle or instead of it, as long as it is refreshed daily and placed where bedding is not kicked into it. Test a bowl for a few nights; some pets splash, and some sleepers prefer bottle clicks to splashing.
Room placement and softer landings
If any room swap is possible, moving the enclosure out of the light sleeper's bedroom is the single most effective change, ideally behind a closed door but never into a garage or a room with big temperature swings. Within the same room, a mat under the whole cage, deeper soft bedding, and houses made of fleece or cardboard rather than hollow plastic all deaden the incidental noises of digging, landing, and house-moving. A digging box filled with bedding or safe substrate gives night energy a quieter outlet than excavating the cage base. Keep the pet's day-night light pattern steady, because shifting light to tire an animal out earlier usually just shifts the noisy hours.
Agree the compromise as a household
The light sleeper, the pet's owner, and anyone who cleans the cage need the same version of the new setup, or the wheel drifts back against the bars and the bottle ends up loose again within a week. Write down what changed and where the enclosure now lives, and review after a week of real sleep rather than one hopeful night. After lights-out, relatives you choose can be granted profile access by way of KinsLe Family Sharing.