212 replies to this topic

[Tunah Catfish]

Wow, great info. Yeah, Mr Nibblets has a two story cage and he's got a wheel lots of room both on top and the bottom of the cage. He's got a little wooden bridge thing and I've given him tissues and bits of toilet paper roll to play with and he still chews. I take him out at least four times a day since I got him and I let him run around and explore. I'm just really worried about his teeth. I don't want him to break them if he continues to chew on the bars. The weird thing is I've had him since Wednesday and he only started chewing the bars last night. The woman who had given him to me said he hasn't chewed on the bars as far as she had him.

I'll have to try the milk bones and get him special hammie treats and a ball.

[Katrina]

Wow! Plushie, thank you so much for this! I'll fix the problem of boredom for all of my hamsters now that I know that's why they chew on the bars.

[Azayles]

When my hamster was in her cage on the shelf in my bedroom and she'd chew the bars, it used to make quite an impressive racket, quite out of proportion to the diminutive size of the creature. I hit upon the idea of droppering lemon juice onto the bars in an effort to quell this chewing, but at the first taste of citrus she'd draw back, look at me accusingly while frantically licking her lips... then she'd carry on chewing! Crazy rodent.
I just leave her to it now. The bars are tensile steel so it's rather unlikely she'll make so much as a scratch in her life time, and well if she does, maybe hamster teeth will replace carbon nano tubes as the next space-age "stronger than steel" material.

[Jellybaby86]

Tynchie chews when she can see or smell me in the room. Because I usually take her out while she is awake she expects it, but all I have to do to get her to stop is turn off my lights and be quiet. I think she has learnt that in the dark, I sleep and won't come for her. She will carry on chewing for a few moments then stop.

I was once told to wedge a piece of onion in the bars as hamsters avoid it. It worked well in the post till hammy pulled it through the bars and ate it. She had horrific tummy pains and digestive problems. I thought she would die and it be my fault. I have never done it since. I felt absoloutly awful.

[Mellisatron]

Good point about the boredom, but I think it also depends on the hamster. My first hammy, Mr. Balls, only very occasionally chewed on the bars. After his passing, I got another hamster, same type - a syrian - named Gwen, and she obsessively chews on the bars all the time. Its the same exact cage, and if anything, she has more toys than Mr. Balls did and definitely more play time outside the cage. But she still just chewed and chewed and chewed! There's just something about those bars that made her go crazy for them i guess.. She's just so much more energetic than he was, and that was not a good outlet.
What I found works: tie sticks to the bars of her favorite chewing spots. I used natural hemp cord. I glazed a very thin layer of honey on the sticks, which Gwen found to be quite tasty. She's been ignoring the bars so far.

[ilyrinn]

my hammy, poppy chews HORRIBLY. i bought him a starter size hamster cage but he's grown since i bought him, so i'm hoping when he gets his larger cage he'll cut down on the chewing. he has plenty of things inside to chew on, however. he had a coconut hut that he merely sits on, he has a wooden bridge that again, he sits on and doesn't really seem to think it's good enough to chew. i bought him nibble sticks (from walmart) and he chews on those sometimes. reading that they do it from boredom makes perfect sense to me!

[Christmas_hamster]

Yep once he's moved to a proper sized cage he should feel less of a need to chew.

[ilyrinn]

he settled so comfortably into his new home! he doesn't chew anything except what he's supposed to (:

[Nikki]

What if you provide the most stimulating habitat possible, but they still chew? My sister had one hamster, she chewed the bars so much, she actually would break her teeth. She had a giant home that was as natural as possible with everything a hammie could dream of. But she still chewed

[Plushie]

What if you provide the most stimulating habitat possible, but they still chew? My sister had one hamster, she chewed the bars so much, she actually would break her teeth. She had a giant home that was as natural as possible with everything a hammie could dream of. But she still chewed

Define "giant home that was as natural as possible with everything a hammie could dream of".
Remember that we are not hamsters so sometimes it can be hard to put ourselves in their shoes. Anthropomorphizing animals is sometimes incorrect, too--what we'd perceive as awesome might be boring and drab for our furry friends.

Otherwise, other members have noted that some hamsters just like to chew bars. So that may have been the case :P

[Nikki]

Well it was a 3 story cage, about 30 inches tall, and the bottom was a 32"x32" base. there was tubes that went beneath the bedding to simulate their natural tunnels, and all sorts of toys. several different sections were connected by tubes and led to different excersize areas. there were 2 wheels, 2 nesting sites, 1 dust bath, and a hammie litterbox. there was all sorts of things to chew, pretty much everything people say to use to keep the hammie entertained. A hamster mansion

[timmylover54]

Well I have a wheel in my cage for my Timmy but all he does is move his bedding inside of it and sleeps inside it. So is it okay to put Lemon Juice or Vinegar on the bars? or what I want Timmy to live as possible as he can and how did you guys get the banners up on your things?

[Christmas_hamster]

How big is your wheel? If it's too small then your hamster may not enjoy running on it as it will hurt their back. And then it becomes a good spot for a nest. What kind of cage do you have by the way?

As for the banners it's part of your signature. If you go to your profile, click 'edit my profile' (top right side of your profile). Then on the left click 'change signature'. There you can change your signature which will appear under each of your posts. For an actual banner you can make a request for one here: http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=62774

[Luci]

Usually if your wheel isn't proper, a ham will choose not to use it because it's too painful to run on. Roborovskis need a wheel with diameter of 5+ inches, other dwarves and Chinese need 6.5+ inches, and Syrians need a wheel with an 8+ inch diameter (some giant Syrians might need bigger). Also, wire wheels are painful for hams to run on as it hurts their feet.

[pandaBEArsRcooL]

yes i agree with u guys 2 my hamster was a bar chewer and i thought the metal was going to hurt him so i scolded him and he continued to do t...well after a few days of me putting special treats and more chews and his bowl OMG after i put his bowl in the whole chewing mess stopped i agree it is also boredom. or maybe there teeth are going over grown and is frustrated with it hamsters r naturally chewers. nothing u could do to stop it so put some dog biscuits and stop by the pet shop to get some harder hamster treats my sister (not mine he does not like carrots) likes carrots with slphalfa u could get it from wal* mart. but they work as excellant chews so try putting those in there.