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Syrian hamster cage gnawing and not using wheel

Just saw all the food in the wheel, that is quite a lot. I wonder why she’s putting it in there… maybe try putting something close to the wheel, another hide or possibly a little dig box or something & move some of the food over to see if she gets the idea of stashing it there.
 
Doro, you say you are not really a pet person but you joined this forum just to make sure Marmalade was happy. You then listened to all the suggestions and changed things for her right away. I think that is just wonderful. It sounds like you care very much and if you think Marmalade is stressed this causes you stress. That is only natural. I currently have my first hamster and I am always worried and stressing over him if I think he is unhappy.

I think Marmalade needs time to adjust to her new set up but you are doing a wonderful job of her care. The cardboard ideas are great and hamsters really enjoy them. There are things known as 'boredom breakers' which just means little home made puzzles that you and your children can make. Things like hiding her seeds in a cardboard roll and then stuffing it will tissue for her to try and work out how to get the seeds out. You are doing a much better job then you realise. :)
 
Thanks so much for all your nice replies that was so heartening and I feel a lot better!! Are whimzees chew sticks? I googled it but only got the dog ones 😁
 
Thanks so much for all your nice replies that was so heartening and I feel a lot better!! Are whimzees chew sticks? I googled it but only got the dog ones 😁
Yes they are. They are for dogs but hamsters love them. Just be sure not to get one containing clove. :)
 
The dog chews shaped like little toothbrushes yes, there are a few different colours/flavours & I have had a few hams who only liked certain ones so maybe worth getting a few to see.
 
Just catching up :) So sorry she is bar chewing. It is early days as others have said. Personally I wouldn't try adding or swapping things out for the next few days at least as that could just stress her more. I'd just leave everything as it is for at least a week. Her cage set up looks fine and busy and full of things.

One thought - is her old cage still in the room? It can make them a bit frantic if they can still smell it and want to go back to familiarity. So it's a good idea to remove it and put it in a different room and maybe even clean around the area where the old cage was? Unless of course the new cage is in the place where the old one was.

She has just had a cage change, so she will be a bit stressed for a few days. Bar chewing can drive you mad, but maybe just let her out as you were doing before so she has the same routine of that. And give it a few days.

Does she have plenty of nesting material? Maybe add a huge new pile of torn up toilet paper strips - it may or may not distract her into wanting to refurbish her nest.

What time of day does the bar chewing go on? IME it is only when they know you are there. If it's dark and no one in the room they stop usually.
 
I mean obviously you can't just keep turning the lights out and leaving the room - but it does sound like it's attention seeking. She is gorgeous by the way! Looks like butter wouldn't melt ha ha.

My current Syrian is not a bar chewer - except - if it's late at night and I'm in the room, he will bar chew (above the shelf as you say) to basically say - let me out. If I turn the lights out and go to bed he stops it. Usually he does it as I'm about to let him out anyway and stops once he's back in the cage.

It is very early days after the cage change. You did all the right things, but it's still a change and she may well be a bit stressy for 2 or 3 days.
 
She's gorgeous and looks like she wants out. How much out of cage time does your hamster get?

My Syrians will chew the bars to tell me they want out but will settle down once they've been out freeroaming for an hour or more.

Hamsters are pets who take up quite a bit of our time unless they are an individual who prefer their own company within their home.

They vary so much in personality.
 
I hope it isn't all too stressful for you. I would see how she goes over the next week. It can be a vicious circle as if we start getting stressed about it, they seem to pick up on it and get stressed too. But there is nothing more stressy than the noise of bar chewing.

If it's driving you mad, then for now you could weave cardboard in the bars (eg strips of cut up cereal packet) in the area she mainly chews. Obviously she could move to any area. I suspect she might not be doing at night though - only when she can see you.

As Beryl says, letting her out as much as possible for now would help as well, while she's settling to the cages. It may have become a habit but she hasn't fully settled in the cage yet and may realise it's better than the previous one and more for her to do.

They do actually make full height perspex panels for that cage if it doesn't settle down - the problem is it is expensive. And you've only just bought the cage.

The full perspex screens cost more than the cage. Basically all the side bar panels are replaced with perspex panels (still has a door at the front) and only the roof is left as bars. It then becomes a large perspex tank.

I think though, things will settle down. In the next couple of weeks with a regular out of cage routine.
 
She gets out at least once a day and more if there’s someone around and has time - eg when I took the pics yesterday I was about to head out for work. When she’s out we leave her as long as she wants to - from 20min to an hour (though the latter is rare). However she’s going in a play pen and I was wondering whether I need to let her free roam. We did this with our previous dwarf hamster in the living room - she loved going under the wood burner and had her little stack of food there (trouble was how to get her out from there again!). It creates quite a mess and we have a fish tank there which we cannot plug out so one has to be vigilant with danger of wire chewing (everything else is safe) though our dwarf never did. I was hoping to avoid that this time round as it is quite messy and it often coincides with us wanting the living room to watch telly and relax in the evening but maybe this is what I should try next? But I’ll give it a week taking her out as much as possible in the play plan before thinking about moving to free roaming.
 
I would be careful with free roaming if the room isn’t completely safe, better to try & make a larger pley pen or somehow block off a larger area than risk any problems from her getting where she shouldn’t be.
 
Yes, a freeroaming area has to be 100% hamster safe. I use a hall with the doors closed and stairs blocked off with a wooden panel cut to size.
I put a blanket and lots of floor toys down then sit on the floor myself.
A playpen doesn't work for my hamsters because they don't like it in there.
I think for you to create a larger, enclosed and safe area for your hamster with lots of toys (recycling is very useful as they love boxes, tubes etc) within the living room so you can watch her and the TV may be something to consider in future, should the playpen not be enough for her.
 
Actually I could just block off the area with the wires, that's a good idea... Other than that the living room is completely safe.
 
I would give it a bit longer with the playpen maybe and then think about free roaming. Is she tame enough to pick up easily? And will she walk into a tube? I waited for that point before letting our current Syrian free roam. But I think yours is probably a bit tamer than Raffy was - he used to bite so I couldn't pick him up. I wanted to get past that stage before letting him free roam.

It's a good idea though. Another option (if possible as it takes up space). Something I did with a previous Syrian who had never been a bar biter but became a manic bar biter after being left somewhere else when we were on holiday. I set up a playpen around his cage and left the cage door open. This was just until we went to bed. But that only worked because his cage was on the floor. It meant he wasn't bar biting but he still got pretty bored in the playpen and just tried to chew his way out of that.

Probably not an option as I doubt the cage is on the floor and it's not a good idea to move the cage as that will be another change of environment and another stress factor.

So assuming she's fairly hand tame already, then yes it sounds like a good idea to let her free roam, if blocking off the odd area. You still need to supervise to a degree (in case of any attempted cable chewing etc).

Our Syrian is currently free roaming. However, when I put him in his cage afterwards, he will sometimes start chewing at the bars to come out again - if he knows I'm still around! If I go to bed, he stops and just runs in his wheel. So the taste of freedom can leave them wanting more!

What time of evening/night are you normally getting her out for playpen time?
 
Three days now with hardly any bar gnawing!! OMG am so happy! She seems really settled in her cage now and the only time she is gnawing (or so it seems) is if she wants to come out. We let her free roam now and she is very excited about it. That said, the gnawing even stopped before that. Thanks so much guys for all your help and advice!! Fingers crossed it will last.
 
That’s great news, really pleased for you, she sounds so much happier now & you can enjoy her without all the worry.
 
I am so happy to hear this. Look how much you have helped little Marmalade to feel happy and secure. You should be proud of yourself. :)
 
I am so happy to hear that too! I was hoping she’d settle but it’s so stressful isn’t it wondering if nothing will work!
 
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