Syrian hamster cage gnawing and not using wheel

[Doro]

Hello

I'm new to the Forum! About two weeks we got a 4 months female Syrian rescue hamster from a very trusted family-run rescue business. Marmalade (her name) is playful, interactive and displays all signs of normal hamster behaviour (we had a dwarf before; this is our first Syrian). However, a few days ago she started biting her cage bars and can do so for a very long time. She has a really big cage and lots of toys (we took this over when we got her from the rescue and the owner of the rescue who is super knowledgeable said the cage is perfect) and we take her out every evening in the play pen. She seems to like interacting with us and play, and as said, no other signs of stress. I have tried everything - more chewing toys, cardboard (she chews right through it no matter how long it takes, she manages to always get it off in the end), scattered treats, stale bread to chew on, you name it. There are a few possible explanations but I would love to hear people's thoughts on it:
1) She doesn't seem to be using her wheel. She sits on it and pees on it, but she doesn't use it (maybe at night but there are no signs that she does). So maybe there's a link? She has a big trixie wheel which we also took over. Should I maybe buy a new one? Or put this one in a different corner of the cage given the corner seems to be her peeing spot? But the other ones are quite expensive. Ours doesn't seem to have the covered front that most Trixie wheels have, I think the previous owner took it off - could that be a reason she doesn't use it? And putting the wheel somewhere else might disturb her even more.
2) After reading lots on cage cleaning here, I realised that I did a full on cage clean only after 10 days she'd been with us. I realise now that this should not be done - am so glad I came across the posts here. However, the gnawing started the day before the cage clean - but maybe that properly set her off? In which case - should I just wait for her to settle and be patient? I will definitely not do that again.
3) When she comes out during the day for short periods of time, she doesn't gnaw - she eats, digs, plays, and is generally calm. The cage gnawing always starts after she has returned to her cage after outside play time. Could that be a link? We do keep her out as long as we can and as long as she seems to want to. Should we maybe stop taking her out for a bit and see whether that changes anything?
Any other ideas, suggestions, thoughts? I'm running out of ideas of what to do - maybe I just need to wait and see?

 

[elusive]

Hello & welcome.
Female Syrians can be quite a handful & do tend to need lots to do to keep them occupied so you’re not alone with this sort of problem.
Have you seen her use the wheel at all? If it’s one designed to be enclosed & the front has been removed it may not be suitable for use & getting a new wheel might well help.
Do you have a photo of her cage set up? We may be able to make some suggestions that could help if we could see it.
she may just need more out of cage time, even if she seems to want to go back to the cage she may want to come out again later.
How do you react when she begins chewing the bars? Some times it can become an attention seeking behaviour so while you still need to resolve the underlying issue paying too much attention while she’s doing it could make it worse.
Do you feed with a bowl or scatter feed? Scatter feeding & hiding food & treats inside cardboard treat toys (just make things out of toilet roll tubes!) can help a lot.
How deep is her substrate, does she have enough to dig down & burrow in?
There are a lot of things to consider & others here have lots of experience with Syrians so I’m sure you’ll get more advice soon.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Hello Doro and welcome to the forum. I love the name Marmalade. Elusive has given you great advice. It will be very helpful to show a picture of her cage set up.

 

[Maz]

Hello and welcome . So sorry Marmalade is bar chewing. It may settle if it was exacerbated by the cage clean but I agree that maybe the wheel is not quite right without the front on. It may not be spinning properly.

Sometimes set up in the cage can be an issue as well - generally they need a lot of depth of substrate and somewhere dark to retreat to (like a large hide that’s dark inside ). Other things can be if food or water isn’t that easily accessible (eg if it’s accessed via a wobbly ramp).

A photo of your set up would help us suggest the odd change that might help maybe.

Sometimes something has stressed them and it sets it off. I had this once after a hamster was left at another home while we were on holiday. He bar chewed frantically on his return. Like yours he was fine when out. It went on for two weeks and he did seem quite manic. I tried all sorts and even set up a playpen round his cage and left the door open so he could get in and out when he wanted. This helped a bit but didn’t stop the stressed manic behaviour. In the end he kind of got shocked out of it by a full cage clean. The opposite of what you would expect! But in this case his cage still had the scent of the previous home which had other hamsters. Removing that scent seemed to do the trick and he immediately went back to normal and was curious about the clean smells in his cage.

It’s not something I would usually recommend though - that was a particular circumstance.

I think if she was happy in that cage before then it will settle down but some positive changes might help. Adding the odd new thing can distract them positively. They don’t like familiar things being taken away - but swapping a wheel out is usually accepted fine - if they like the new wheel! The trixie ones are the cheapest. There is a wood 28cm trixie wheel as well as the plastic one. That is usually popular but it does need painting with plastikote so it’s wipe clean. It’s not a big job - only takes minutes to paint the inside as the plastikote is very runny - and a few hours to dry. But it does add another £4 for the plastikote!

If the cage is about one of the largest and it doesn’t settle down there is the option to put Perspex panels round the inside. That is not cheap though. You can actually put cardboard all round the inside about 6” high. I’ve done that before just to increase the bedding height. It worked with one hamster but our Syrian chewed all the cardboard off! And he is not a bar chewer normally!

Scatter feeding can also help distract them a bit.

 

[Maz]

Actually the trixie wood wheel is more expensive these days. Zooplus still sells it the cheapest but postage is on top of that. And it’s still more expensive than the plastic one. They used to be the same price. I think you’d do better getting another plastic 28cm one. There is also the silent runner 12” wheel (the orange one) - but that costs about £25. It is completely silent though and can also attach to the bars (but the bar attachment costs extra). It does spin very well and large enough for any hamster. Personally though I think the 28cm trixie is fine and quiet enough - unless you want to attach a wheel to the bars so it’s more stable.

Trixie Wooden Exercise Wheel ► Buy now.

Trixie Wooden Exercise Wheel - the wet dog food you've been looking for! Buy from 17.19 £.

www.zooplus.co.uk

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-61011-Rotating-Hamsters-Assortment/dp/B00365P9NY/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=1SFC8TF2RNXZJ&keywords=trixie+wheel+28cm&qid=1674658790&sprefix=28cm+tri%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-2

This is the silent runner. Out of stock but if you email them they tell you when they’re expecting stock

Silent Runner 12″ Wheel – Sugar Glider Shop

sugarglidershop.co.uk

Wheel prices have gone up hugely! Don’t get a silent “spinner” though - they don’t spin well and there are better wheels.

If she’s peeing in the wheel she’s probably using it at night (and maybe scent marking it if it’s been cleaned). You could try putting a smelly treat in it (eg tiny bit of cheddar cheese or cucumber) and see if that tempts her in to start using it. And put a bit of substrate on top of it before you go to bed. If it’s gone in the morning she’s using it at night .

But it’s a good thought - if a wheel isn’t right and they can’t run properly they get pent up energy.

 

[Maz]

Also just to add, although she may be in a really big cage - it may be an 80 x 50 cage? And female Syrians are highly active and need a lot of space and enrichment. If she’s in a 100cm cage (which is about the biggest you can get) then it may settle down - there is a correlation between cage size and bar chewing - it stops once you get to 100cm or larger - usually! But there are exceptions! Then it comes down to working out a solution

 

[Doro]

Thanks for all these super helpful replies! I’ve just measured the cage and it’s 78x38 - so we could get a bigger one. The little rescue I got her from (including cage) did not report any gnawing issues. I think I’ll give it a little while before thinking about a bigger cage as I don’t want to unsettle her even more. She has calmed down considerably over the last few days - yesterday she was in the play pen for 45 minutes and seemed v happy with lots of toys and tunnels and scattered food in. She then went back in and then gnawed a bit but it stopped after 10min or so. It’s definitely no longer as frantic and persistent. I’ll send pics later when she’s up and out and I can get better pics. She doesn’t have a proper hide out, she builds her nest under a huge pile of bedding in the cage. I put more bedding in as suggested and scatter-fed over the last few days -that led to her being busy with digging around rather than gnawing straight away. She chewed through all the cardboard I had put up - actually she seemed to enjoy that! I have ordered a new Trixie wheel. I’ll send pics later!

 

[Maz]

Really glad she has settled down a bit . I bet she enjoyed chewing the cardboard off lol! A challenge! Some female syrians just love destroying cardboard anyway so something like an egg box hide can be a distraction for them as well. Not as a main house but as an extra hide. A cardboard egg box and you can cut a hole in for an entrance. Maybe it's because its destructable or maybe because they are shredding it for nesting material.

Yes if they don't have a dark or suitable hide they will tend to dig a burrow in the substrate, or build a mountain and nest under it, so they're in the dark. It can get a bit messy sometimes if they pee in there as well but maybe she has a separate pee corner?

80cm wide x 50cm deep ish external measurements is usually the minimum size recommended by pet rescues (is the 38cm the height or depth?). However it is a minimum really and female Syrians notoriously need a lot more space than that. I think you are right not to upgrade her too quickly and let her settle and adjust a bit. It's usually best to wait at least 2 or 3 weeks, maybe longer, before upgrading them as a cage change, while good and positive, can also be stressful for them.

However there are ways of making the change not very stressful at all and they can settle within 2 or 3 days. It's common sense really - adjustment and familiarity for reassurance, just as we would need if moving house and changing everything. The key is to move everything over from the old cage without cleaning anything first - even if it's smelly - it will be fine for a couple of weeks. The temptation is to have everything super clean in a new cage but that's not good for the hamster.

If a new cage is larger it will need more bedding, so you put new bedding in - but then you take all the old bedding/substrate from the old cage and spread it on top (it will have her scent). Try to salvage her nest and put it in the new cage. Try and keep the wheel and other toys in a similar layout as before (ie wheel back left or whatever). New things are accepted and exciting for them (eg a new house, shelf or tunnel) but they need the old things to still have their scent. If moved into a cage where everything smells strange and new, it will freak the hamster out, set back taming and take 2 or 3 weeks for them to really settle down. If keeping everything smelling familiar they usually settle in straight away and are just maybe slightly skitty for a couple of days.

What really helps I find, is, if you have space to have both cages in the room at the same time - is to let the hamster play in the new cage, the day before moving everything over. So you'd have new substrate in it, a couple of the new items you're going to have in there and maybe one familiar toy from the old cage - and let them have a play and explore in it. They usually enjoy that and find it quite exciting and are actually scent marking the new cage while in there a bit. The temptation is then to just leave them in there if they're enjoying it, but I find it's better to put them back in the old cage overnight and then move everything over the next day. By then they are already familiar with the new cage and actually want to move into it! Rather than suddenly finding they can't go home!

The other thing is - when you've moved everything over and it's all set up - take the old cage out of the room. If it's still there, they can still sense/smell it and it can bother them and them want to keep going back. So it helps them settle in the new one if they can't smell the old one.

With all those things in place, they usually happily settle into the new cage within a day or two and can sometimes be visibly much happier and have more normal behaviours.

If you want to look for some ideas of cage upgrades, there's a whole thread on currently available cages. 100cm cage at least is a good size for a Syrian and our recommended size. (100cm or bigger). There aren't really any commercial barred cages bigger than 100cm. There are wood cages and tank style cages bigger. Or diy cages. I use the Savic Plaza for our Syrians but it needs some extras as it doesn't come with a lot. Getting a good house is a good buy and that can add to the cost. There is a cage that comes with a long built in house at one end that is slightly bigger than the Plaza (the Volta cage). It doesn't have very large doors though. If she is easy to get out of the cage (ie comes to the door to come out) then that might work. The downside is it means you'd need to take the bars off each time to get larger items in and out of the cage when cleaning etc. The Plaza has a large front door so I hardly ever need to take the bars off.

The 100cm Grosvenor cage is a good option as well - for a confident hamster - the whole roof comes off - but no smaller doors. As you can see - some of us, having tried a few cages, think about easy access as well!

Hamster Cages 2025

Here is a list of suitable cages available for hamsters in 2025. Whether you prefer tank style or barred cages, front access or top access, there is, thankfully, plenty of choice in the Uk and Europe. Choice in the US is mainly tanks and tank style or diy. Both tank style and barred cages...

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[Maz]

Incidentally that link takes you to the end of the post, halfway through the list, so you need to scroll back up to see the list from the start. It starts with barred cages, then goes onto tank style. Normally a link is for reading the last post ready to reply!

Ebay sometimes has used 100cm Barney cages - that's a good one if you can find one! They're not made any more. It has a large top door and two smaller front doors. So again no need to take the bars off very often. It can save some money too. You can often find used Savic Plaza cages as well.

 

[Zara]

Hi there and welcome, our Syrian is a male but I’ve heard via the forum that the females can be much more energetic. We just use a simple shoe box for his nest. The lid part is the top, so you can check inside without removing the box, as this is important if they make it their nest as you don’t want to be disturbing it and the bottom you cut out so it can sit on top of your substrate giving extra depth underneath for burrowing. If you wanted to try this, you could place it in your playpen first where marmalade will scent around it etc. so when it arrives in her home it will smell familiar.

I’ve not had much luck with hides as our Syrian is quite big so we also use square tissue boxes filled with substrate which he’s really taken too. I’ll add a photo.

Our first wheel was a Savic which is open fronted however when I replaced it with the larger Savic 28cm size it was just too big for our enclosure where his wheel had always been so I brought the large Trixie 28cm, he didn’t use it with the front clipped on so I removed it (I think this is how yours is too?) it does make it a bit wobbly but he hopped straight back in it with the front off and I’ve not changed it since.

It’s good to hear Marmalade has been a bit more settled, perhaps just make a small change to her set up every now and then to gauge her reactions and hold off on any cleaning other than a bit of spot cleaning here and there.

 

[Zara]

Our Trixie wheel with no front.



Tissue box hide (I need to add more substrate, he’s squished it all over night)

 

[Maz]

That is very helpful info by Zara! A shoebox house makes a very good large hide that is cheap! And if you put a bendy bridge over the door then it makes it dark inside and provides a tunnel entrance which tempts them to want to use it. You could do that now - just pop it over the current nest area. If it fits in the current cage.

Using the lid as a lift off roof works really well as it means you can check inside and empty the litter tray easily. That is my tip - put a litter tray inside it - she will use it. When cutting a door, if you cut it at one end of one of the long sides of the shoe box, the other end will be darker inside - and she will nest at the end away from the door. So a good place to put a corner litter tray is at the back at the door end, with sand inside.

Then the cage stays clean and dry and your substrate will last a very long time. You just empty the litter tray once or twice a week.

The flat roof is also a good place to put a food bowl or other items and the bendy bridge over the door provides a ramp up to the roof as well.

You can buy some nice wood large multiroom hamster houses which are great - but if having to buy a cage as well, it can get expensive and a shoebox house is idea. Our Syrian had one until I eventually got a multiroom house for him. As it's light as well, made of cardboard, it doesn't sink if they try and tunnel under it.

Of course if she decides to chew it all up it might not last long! But is easily and cheaply replaced. I find they tend not to chew their houses!

A house or nesting box needs to be large, so they can build a really big cosy nest. If the house is too small they may just ignore it.

 

[Maz]

Maybe hams got used to an open wheel? It's unusual for a hamster not to like the holes in the front of the trixie wheel - usually they love the front part as they like the holes and feeling more enclosed. Female hamsters can be larger and heavier as well so maybe that makes the wheel without the front less stable.

 

[Maz]

By the way we have a photo competition running, if you happen to take any photos of her in her playpen! It has a vague theme of hamster love (as Valentine's day is coming up) so you could maybe put an interesting "prop" in the playpen Or just something red.

Hamster Photo Competition for January/February

Voting is open (above) :) Voting Rules: 1) You have two votes each on this occasion! A logical vote and an emotional vote . Note: You need to place both votes at the same time - once you've clicked on "cast vote", you can't go back and do the second vote if you only voted for one entry...

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[Zara]

Thanks Maz, this is exactly how Hams shoebox nest came about. After removing the box on top of his hamster heaven cage where he’d been sleeping I needed a replacement quick and saw the shoebox idea. He moved in, made it his nest and other than a few chews here and there it’s become home. Our sand tray is just outside in another corner and he pops out to use it.

I’ve a spare Trixie that goes in the playpen and he’ll use this with the front on but in his enclosure he just likes to jump out of it for some reason? and if I put the front on he chews the plastic. He’s a tinker.

 

[Doro]

Ok here are my cage pics. Already with the new wheel. Putting the new and the old next to each other (the old one was indeed a trixie one with the front off) made me realise how wobbly and unstable the old one was, it didn’t run smoothly at all! So hopefully this will make a difference. She already went in a few times and it started running smoothly almost by itself - she came out quickly again but maybe that’s a start! Sounds like I need to upgrade the cage to a bigger one but I think I’ll give it another few weeks to let her settle more. Is the height v important as well? As it currently snuggly fits under the shelf so not sure where to put it if it’s any higher… I love the idea of the shoebox house, I’ll give this a go as well. Thanks for all your amazing help, it’s really good not be on ones own with this, particularly if not that experienced yet!

 

[Doro]

Ok my pics were too large have to edit them first sigh

 

[RainbowBrite]

Try postimages.org I use that for putting my pictures on here.

 

[Doro]

Ok my pics were too large have to edit them first sigh

 

[RainbowBrite]

It is really nice you added more bedding. I cannot see how high the bedding comes to but if you cover the bars with cardboard you can add more bedding. 6 inches is usually recommended as it gives more burrowing depth. You may have already made it be 6 inches. I am clueless at working out out without a ruler.

It is brilliant you got a new wheel. She will really enjoy using it. Height means you can add more bedding, shelves etc. When it comes to finding a hamster cage of the right size you work out the centimetre or inches squared. So you times the length by the width. Maz has linked a great article were she lists suitable cages.