please help

[gumball737]

My Syrian hamster will not stop bar chewing. I have tried giving her every possible thing. She has plenty of chews, I made 4 different types of boredom breakers for her, yet she still won't stop. It's really bothering me and I'm concerned for her help. She lives in a big cage

 

[gumball737]

I'm desperate

 

[Riven]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having problems with your hamster bar chewing. Just a few questions:
How old is she and how long have you had her?
What cage is she currently in and can you post a photo of her set up?
How long has this been going on for? Does it happen every night or just some nights?
Does she get any time out of the cage?

 

[elusive]

Hello & welcome to the forum.
This is a fairly common problem with female Syrians but it can usually be resolved to, Riven has covered the things we need to know to offer some help so I don’t have much to add until you can tell us a bit more.

 

[Frida]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
You've come to the right place for help and support

 

[Member ID2]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

You are not alone and we will try our best to help your hamster once you've given more details and hopefully a photo of her cage and set up.

 

[Maz]

Hello and welcome to the forum. As the others say, it would help to know what cage it is and maybe see a photo of your set up? Female Syrians are notorious for being highly energetic and needing a lot of space. Stress can also cause bar chewing, and if there is something she isn't happy with in the cage and can't settle, that could cause her to bar chew - like nowhere dark to hide away or not enough substrate or just feeling a bit exposed from above. Some tweaks to the layout can help sometimes. Another thing that can cause stress leading to bar chewing is if you're doing weekly full clean outs for example. Regular big clean outs can really stress them out. There are ways round this More bedding, spot clean mainly and using a litter tray so the cage stays clean and dry.

It's a really horrible noise if it goes on and can drive you mad, and can also be bad for the hamster's teeth. Hope to hear back from you about which cage it is.

 

[gumball737]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having problems with your hamster bar chewing. Just a few questions:
How old is she and how long have you had her?
What cage is she currently in and can you post a photo of her set up?
How long has this been going on for? Does it happen every night or just some nights?
Does she get any time out of the cage?

Hello. She is around 2-3 months old. I got her 2 weeks ago, so I think it's somewhat normal since she is still adjusting, however she is very aggressive while doing it, and the sounds she makes sound really bad. This happens maybe daily, usually every other day (when I see her). I bring her to my bathtub sometimes to try and bond and tame her. She is a very shy and scared hamster and any sudden movement startles her, therefore I'm trying to doing everything very gently. By the way, I unfortunately cannot at the moment upgrade her cage. Is there anything I can do to make this one better? Measurements are 540 sq inches. Her chews are in her burrows, they are whimsees and Greenies, althought she prefers Greenies. She also has chew sticks which she also hid

 

[gumball737]

Hello. She is around 2-3 months old. I got her 2 weeks ago, so I think it's somewhat normal since she is still adjusting, however she is very aggressive while doing it, and the sounds she makes sound really bad. This happens maybe daily, usually every other day (when I see her). I bring her to my bathtub sometimes to try and bond and tame her. She is a very shy and scared hamster and any sudden movement startles her, therefore I'm trying to doing everything very gently. By the way, I unfortunately cannot at the moment upgrade her cage. Is there anything I can do to make this one better? Measurements are 540 sq inches. Her chews are in her burrows, they are whimsees and Greenies, althought she prefers Greenies. She also has chew sticks which she also hid

I have plans to make her sand bath bigger to a corner, during the next deep clean.

 

[gumball737]

Today I'm going to try getting her more chews, maybe wood and loofah (those were recommended to me) is this a good idea?

 

[Riven]

Thank you for the photo. It's a good start, there are some areas which you can look at to improve over the coming months which should help stop the bar biting.

May I ask what cage that is or the length and width of it. I'm afraid it may be too small which could be a reason for the bar biting. There also isn't a lot of bedding for her to burrow in so you could add more. Ideally for syrians you don't want less than 6' of bedding. This doesn't need to be all over, half the cage would do. The wheel looks a bit on the small size too but may be fine for now as she is a baby. I would look into upgrading to an 11' wheel in the near future though.

Where about in the world are you? We may be able to come up with cage suggestions based on where you are.

 

[elusive]

I agree with Riven that you probably will need to upgrade her cage, female Syrians especially do need quite a bit of space.
If she’s nervous does she have nough cover in her cage to help her feel safe & secure? She needs a good size house, about the size of a shoe box, with no base on deep bedding so she can burrow down. Also extra hides in the cage to there isn’t too much open space, if the cage is too empty it can make them feel exposed & vulnerable.
Also for taming I personally think the bath tub can be a bit intimidating for a hemser, can you set up a play area in the same room as her cage so scents & surroundings are more familiar.
As well as changes to or upgrading the cage you can do things like scatter feeding rather than just using a bowl so she can forage for food which is more natural & will help to distract her from bar chewing. You can also make things out of cardboard to hide treats in or stick seeds to, have a look at this thread for some ideas.

Cardboard creations

This is a thread to show how many things you can make for your hamster or enclosure, out of cardboard :-) Cardboard is your friend.

www.thehamsterforum.com

I wouldn’t give greenies they aren’t really good for them & whimzees are a much better option.
You can use things like dandelion root or apple wood which may be more likely to interest her than just wood or loofah chews. You can also get sprays of millet & flax (linseed) which they enjoy striping.
She is still young & everything is still new for her so give her time to settle & give her more things to do in the cage for now.

 

[gumball737]

Thank you for the photo. It's a good start, there are some areas which you can look at to improve over the coming months which should help stop the bar biting.

May I ask what cage that is or the length and width of it. I'm afraid it may be too small which could be a reason for the bar biting. There also isn't a lot of bedding for her to burrow in so you could add more. Ideally for syrians you don't want less than 6' of bedding. This doesn't need to be all over, half the cage would do. The wheel looks a bit on the small size too but may be fine for now as she is a baby. I would look into upgrading to an 11' wheel in the near future though.

Where about in the world are you? We may be able to come up with cage suggestions based on where you are.

Hello, I am in Canada. Upgrading to a 11 inch wheel sounds good. Currently she has a 10 inch. I definetly will put more bedding. I ran out so I will buy more to use. I sprinkle her food mix around the cage. I am at the pet store at the moment. What do you think is a good chew to buy? This is PetValu by the way. I can send you the measurements when I go back home

 

[gumball737]

I agree with Riven that you probably will need to upgrade her cage, female Syrians especially do need quite a bit of space.
If she’s nervous does she have nough cover in her cage to help her feel safe & secure? She needs a good size house, about the size of a shoe box, with no base on deep bedding so she can burrow down. Also extra hides in the cage to there isn’t too much open space, if the cage is too empty it can make them feel exposed & vulnerable.
Also for taming I personally think the bath tub can be a bit intimidating for a hemser, can you set up a play area in the same room as her cage so scents & surroundings are more familiar.
As well as changes to or upgrading the cage you can do things like scatter feeding rather than just using a bowl so she can forage for food which is more natural & will help to distract her from bar chewing. You can also make things out of cardboard to hide treats in or stick seeds to, have a look at this thread for some ideas.

Cardboard creations

This is a thread to show how many things you can make for your hamster or enclosure, out of cardboard :-) Cardboard is your friend.

www.thehamsterforum.com

I wouldn’t give greenies they aren’t really good for them & whimzees are a much better option.
You can use things like dandelion root or apple wood which may be more likely to interest her than just wood or loofah chews. You can also get sprays of millet & flax (linseed) which they enjoy striping.
She is still young & everything is still new for her so give her time to settle & give her more things to do in the cage for now.

Thank you a lot. I am definitely looking into upgrading her cage, perhaps into an Ikea or a bin cage. I am currently trying to buy chews, what do you think is a good idea?

 

[elusive]

I’m not sure what’s actually there in the photo, I would stick with the things I mentioned before & try making her some chews & treats out of cardboard then she can happily destroy them while finding her treats.

 

[gumball737]

Hello I've made her differently types of cardboard boredom breakers, such as with corroborated cardboard and with toilet paper rolls. She chews them up pretty fast and then continues to pace around and bar bite.

 

[elusive]

They do get through them quite quickly but they should keep her occupied for a little while.
Making the cage more fun for her as well as making her feel more secure will help too, adding the estra hides & some tunnels or tubes if you have any space in the cage will provid more places to hide things which will help.
I would think about setting up a safe area for her playpen too so she can have time out of the cage exploring more things.
With your current cage I’m not sure how much you can do to alleviate the problem but some of the things mentioned should help.

 

[Hamster Haven]

It's hard to say with the chews because every hamster is different. I've bought a few from stores and they've been largely ignored by my hamster, but he's a male and doesn't seem to chew a lot in general. You could purchase one or two that look interesting and see. I agree with Elusive though- if your hamster years through your cardboard boredom breakers build that stash up and maybe try adding some tunnels- like a cork log, which can be a guide and chewed on. I've purchased the Applewood sticks that it looks like your pet store has, but they've barely been touched! Again though, it could be because my timid male is barely a chewer.

Have you tried feeding an unsalted shelled peanut? It wouldn't lay long she might enjoy chewing through the shell to get the treat. Keep us posted!

 

[gumball737]

It's hard to say with the chews because every hamster is different. I've bought a few from stores and they've been largely ignored by my hamster, but he's a male and doesn't seem to chew a lot in general. You could purchase one or two that look interesting and see. I agree with Elusive though- if your hamster years through your cardboard boredom breakers build that stash up and maybe try adding some tunnels- like a cork log, which can be a guide and chewed on. I've purchased the Applewood sticks that it looks like your pet store has, but they've barely been touched! Again though, it could be because my timid male is barely a chewer.

Have you tried feeding an unsalted shelled peanut? It wouldn't lay long she might enjoy chewing through the shell to get the treat. Keep us posted!

That's a great idea. Currently I don't have peanuts, but she likes pistachios. I'll try to get peanuts soon

 

[gumball737]

Got her these chews, and she absolutely loves them. Hope it stops the bar biting at least for a bit