Holly
06-17-2007, 03:09 AM
There have been lots of posts on here lately about habitual bar chewing Syrians and, having one myself, I'm interested in how common it actually is. A scientific study is out of the question so I thought I'd just ask people here:
1) How many of their hamsters (past and present) are bar chewers and how many aren't? I'm talking about constant habitual chewing on the bars despite ensuring that the hammy has a large cage with lots of out-time and plenty of stimulation (inc chewing items) in the cage.
2) What did you do to attempt to alleviate the problem and did anything work?
3) Did any of the bar chewers develop problems associated with the chewing ie/ fur rubbed off their nose or pulled teeth?
I'll start -
1) I have six hamsters, four Syrians and two winter whites - only one is a bar chewer - Mocha my grey Syrian. (I suppose one out of six isn't bad :roll: )
2)The ww's are in a Gabber Rex and can't reach the bars so they don't chew! Out of the three Syrians who don't bar chew, two have wire cages and one is in a Rex. I've done everything I can think of to deter Mocha including several cage changes, loads of "out-time", putting card over bars, smearing favourite chewing areas with alcohol cleaning gel, putting in apple tree branches and dog biscuits for chewing etc etc. I finally gave up and he now lives in a Gabber Rex connected to a Lux....and he still chews the bars on the roof! :?
So now I keep weighted tiles on the roof part above the shelves - often he is able to knock them out of the way at some point during the night and start chewing. I'm thinking of attaching a row of "roof runs" along the back above the shelf to see if that stops him - he can't reach the bars unless he's standing on the shelf.
3) He has not (yet) managed to damage a tooth but has managed to rub his nose raw when he was in a wire cage :roll:
Anyone else???
1) How many of their hamsters (past and present) are bar chewers and how many aren't? I'm talking about constant habitual chewing on the bars despite ensuring that the hammy has a large cage with lots of out-time and plenty of stimulation (inc chewing items) in the cage.
2) What did you do to attempt to alleviate the problem and did anything work?
3) Did any of the bar chewers develop problems associated with the chewing ie/ fur rubbed off their nose or pulled teeth?
I'll start -
1) I have six hamsters, four Syrians and two winter whites - only one is a bar chewer - Mocha my grey Syrian. (I suppose one out of six isn't bad :roll: )
2)The ww's are in a Gabber Rex and can't reach the bars so they don't chew! Out of the three Syrians who don't bar chew, two have wire cages and one is in a Rex. I've done everything I can think of to deter Mocha including several cage changes, loads of "out-time", putting card over bars, smearing favourite chewing areas with alcohol cleaning gel, putting in apple tree branches and dog biscuits for chewing etc etc. I finally gave up and he now lives in a Gabber Rex connected to a Lux....and he still chews the bars on the roof! :?
So now I keep weighted tiles on the roof part above the shelves - often he is able to knock them out of the way at some point during the night and start chewing. I'm thinking of attaching a row of "roof runs" along the back above the shelf to see if that stops him - he can't reach the bars unless he's standing on the shelf.
3) He has not (yet) managed to damage a tooth but has managed to rub his nose raw when he was in a wire cage :roll:
Anyone else???