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Chewing the bars

M

MilosMummy

Mama Doe
In the last 2 days Milo has started to chew the bars of his cage. He has plenty to play with and the times he is doing it the door isn't even shut so he can get out. Is there anything I can put on the bars to stop the behaviour. I have tried some stuff that I got to deter the hamster from chewing her bars but like her, he seems to like the stuff!
 
How big is his cage and for what proportion of the day is he shut away?

It may be that he is lonely so do you have any plans to get him a lady friend?
 
One of my boys has started doing this recently to, he is only in the cage while my toddler is about the rest of the time he has free range he also has a friend and toys in the cage no idea why he has suddenly started chewing its been about 3 days now
 
Rhian33 said:
How big is his cage and for what proportion of the day is he shut away?

It may be that he is lonely so do you have any plans to get him a lady friend?
Click to expand...

He used to have just the section with the blue bottom but over Christmas I extended it.
photo-72.jpg


He is only stuck in there when I go to sleep and for an hour or 2 during the day when I have to go out. I work from home so I am here the majority of the time.

I have plans to get him neutered in February and then I will work on my OH to let me get him a wifey. So far he is sticking with NO but I will wear him down eventually :) I always do :lol:
 
stranger23 said:
One of my boys has started doing this recently to, he is only in the cage while my toddler is about the rest of the time he has free range he also has a friend and toys in the cage no idea why he has suddenly started chewing its been about 3 days now
Click to expand...

I think the hamster has taught him this bad behaviour :) She has been doing it since we got her 12 months ago.
 
MilosMummy said:
I have plans to get him neutered in February and then I will work on my OH to let me get him a wifey. So far he is sticking with NO but I will wear him down eventually :) I always do :lol:
Click to expand...

I think this is probably a good idea. Get as many opinions as you can and show the OH, tha should help ;)

Is there a reason he can't have the whole room? Other people have bunny proofed rooms for their buns and when I had mine inside for a while I found that they were very well behaved and only chewed a couple of books on the bookshelf as I hadn't bothered to bunny proof it. Did't have any wires there to chew though.
 
Sometimes bunnies can get a bit greedy if their set-up is enlarged. Obviously the more space they have the better, but I did notice that Spenser got very impatient in his pen after he had some free-range time in the snow before Christmas. He's settled down again, and hopefully Milo will too.
 
MilosMummy said:
I think the hamster has taught him this bad behaviour :) She has been doing it since we got her 12 months ago.
Click to expand...

This is actually really bad for hamsters. If you need proof speak to Grin as she has had a very nasty experience with a bar chewing ham. Hope you don't mind me asking but what cage does your hamster have? Sometimes they do it because the cage is too small and the solution is a bigger cage with a big wheel to amuse them or sometimes they are just chewers and the solution is a tank type cage :wave:
 
Rhian33 said:
This is actually really bad for hamsters. If you need proof speak to Grin as she has had a very nasty experience with a bar chewing ham. Hope you don't mind me asking but what cage does your hamster have? Sometimes they do it because the cage is too small and the solution is a bigger cage with a big wheel to amuse them or sometimes they are just chewers and the solution is a tank type cage :wave:
Click to expand...

I know its really bad :( She hasn't done it as much recently.

This is Bubble's cage. Its huge!
http://www.ukpetsupplies.com/Details.aspx?CatId=981&ParentId=0&ProdId=4617
 
My mylo also does this, we use the puppy pen when he is out to block off behind the chair and he really wants to get there but he isnt allowed cos of the wires, he will just sit there chewing the bars for ages! He still does this when i give him attention, toys, food, etc!
 
MilosMummy said:
I know its really bad :( She hasn't done it as much recently.

This is Bubble's cage. Its huge!
http://www.ukpetsupplies.com/Details.aspx?CatId=981&ParentId=0&ProdId=4617
Click to expand...

Absolutely perfect cage. Wasn't trying to be rude about your hamster care it's just that people buy the biggest cage in the pet shop thinking they are being great owners when in reality the pet shop may just have tiny cages. Love the HH though. Does she have a wheel at all? Sometimes they need one to keep them busy :wave:
 
Rhian33 said:
Absolutely perfect cage. Wasn't trying to be rude about your hamster care it's just that people buy the biggest cage in the pet shop thinking they are being great owners when in reality the pet shop may just have tiny cages. Love the HH though. Does she have a wheel at all? Sometimes they need one to keep them busy :wave:
Click to expand...

Didn't think you were being rude at all. Initially with my 1st hamster I had a smaller cage but quickly upgraded to the HH. Its like a palace :)

She actually has 2 wheels :) The one that came with the cage and a silent spinner.
 
She is getting a little older now though (21 months) so is getting up later and later in the evenings but we do hear her running in the wheel in the night.
 
MilosMummy said:
She actually has 2 wheels :) The one that came with the cage and a silent spinner.
Click to expand...

Is it the 6" SS? Could be that she's finding it a bit small as current advice is a wheel of at least 8" diameter. Just a thought though as I've had some small Syrians who have coped really well with a 6" SS. I did notice however when I got a bigger wheel for my last hamster who wasn't that big that she chose to use the big one over the SS. Don't think I ever saw her use her silent spinner after I upgraded.
 
MilosMummy said:
She is getting a little older now though (21 months) so is getting up later and later in the evenings but we do hear her running in the wheel in the night.
Click to expand...

That's good. Has the bar chewing lessened? I would expect it to if she is doing more wheel running :wave:
 
Rhian33 said:
That's good. Has the bar chewing lessened? I would expect it to if she is doing more wheel running :wave:
Click to expand...

She doesn't tend to use the SS anymore but the other one that came with the cage.

She has always had the wheels since day 1 but still chewed the bars.
 
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