Am I being mean?

[JinjaMakes]

Harry has been out for a run this evening, he wouldn't come on my hands but he had a run around the room and over my lap then he had 20 mins in his ball.

I put him back in his cage and after watching him for a few minutes he came up to the cage door and started bar chewing. I'm guessing this means he wants to come out again but he'd been out for quite a while.

When he chews I've started to just turn the light off and leave him as he stops as soon as I leave the room. Am I being cruel it do you think eventually he'll learn that bar chewing doesn't equal playtime?

[caro317]

I'm not sure the bar chewing means he wants to come out for playtime, I've never really figured out why they do it! My Popcorn will chew the bars in the middle of the night for a while but not all night, he never seems to do it during the day or when I'm up and about. I'll be interested to see what others think!

[Sparklegirl]

Zhu Zhu chews her bars too, but only after playtime. I think she has the same problem. I hope someone can solve both our problems LOL!

[Lady]

Originally Posted by caro317

I'm not sure the bar chewing means he wants to come out for playtime, I've never really figured out why they do it!

Funny, I was reading about hamster body language and behaviour only a couple of hours ago. And one of the things I read was that bar chewing can be a plea for attention. Which would fit in with the playtime idea.

I have no idea whether or not this is true though!

[JinjaMakes]

Originally Posted by Sparklegirl

Zhu Zhu chews her bars too, but only after playtime. I think she has the same problem. I hope someone can solve both our problems LOL!

Me too! I don't want to just walk away and leave him if he needs something but if he just wants to play more and I let him out everything he chews the bars I'll need to leave my job! He'd play out all say if he could.

[Munchalot]

My Chino used to chew the bars to get attention. I would let her out to play and run around, and when I put her back she would immediately start chewing. I knew it was a plee for attention, because she used to do it constantly when her cage was in my room. She knew I was there in the room, so she would start chewing, like she was trying to get my attention and demand to be let out. After putting her cage up stairs in the spare room, and switching the lights off after she went back in her cage, she would quieten down.

[Nush]

Originally Posted by Munchalot

My Chino used to chew the bars to get attention. I would let her out to play and run around, and when I put her back she would immediately start chewing. I knew it was a plee for attention, because she used to do it constantly when her cage was in my room. She knew I was there in the room, so she would start chewing, like she was trying to get my attention and demand to be let out. After putting her cage up stairs in the spare room, and switching the lights off after she went back in her cage, she would quieten down.

I did that with my Syrian as well and she learnt not to chew the bars for attention. Sometimes when they come out, they are in a hyper mood, and after they are out back in the cage they want to come straight out. So ignoring them is not mean. You're just making sure he calms down before you take him out again.

[Munchalot]

Originally Posted by Nush

I did that with my Syrian as well and she learnt not to chew the bars for attention. Sometimes when they come out, they are in a hyper mood, and after they are out back in the cage they want to come straight out. So ignoring them is not mean. You're just making sure he calms down before you take him out again.

Letting them out just ends up making them extra hyper. As well, when she was really excited after running around the room, I would pick her up and sit her on my lap, and just stroked her and slowly hand-walked her until she calmed down a little, before putting her back.
Fortunately, hamsters are not stupid; with patience you can discourage certain behaviours. It's for their own benefit - sometimes Chino would get so excited she would fully rattle the bars, so hard I wondered how she didn't break her teeth. She had terrible bar rub on her nose, I was always putting stuff on it.

[kay]

My syrian Magnum used to do the same. He would bar chew mainly if I was in the room and would stop when I left. He also used to chew more after I put him back in his cage as he loved being out.
He was in a teeny cage then though and now he is in a bigger cage he has chewed a couple of times but generally he doesn't anymore.

[kyrilliondaemon]

If they are bar chewing for attention and you let them out then you're encouraging them to do it again when they want to come out. I don't know if ignoring the ham will help, but I always do the same with my own bar chewers