Naughty Syrian Constantly Chews His Bars

4Taylor20 · 11-20-2014, 07:33 PM

My baby boy constantly chews. I tried olive oil, lightly blowing on him when he does it, putting things in his cage to keep him occupied. EVERYTHING. I don't know what to do now. The hair on his nose is rubbing off and he is so annoying at night. He stops when I stand up and walk towards him because he knows I'm mad. But it's constant. Help

BrainGirl · 11-20-2014, 07:37 PM

He's probably not stopping because he "knows" you're mad, it's more likely he's stopping because he got your attention

How often do you let him out for free roam? How big is his cage? Does he have any toys? What size is his wheel?

Shannonmcn · 11-20-2014, 07:46 PM

I doubt he's doing it to be naughty. Boredom or attention seeking behaviour is more likely. If you've tried everything and he has enough space and activities and time outside his cage then your only real option is to move him to a tank or a bin cage without bars. It's not just annoying for you, it could damage his teeth and it's one of the most obvious signs of stress.

Thin Lizzy · 11-20-2014, 08:15 PM

So agree with Shannon, my eldest would do it constantly, I would ignore until he stopped, but I found that if he caught me watching him he would chew even more.
I actually found myself grinding my own teeth when he chewed the bars and it upset me cause he was stressed and unhappy. I bought him a couple of new toys and give him more attention.
He's much better, he does chew the bar every once in a while but nowhere like before.

NiceCrocs · 11-20-2014, 08:21 PM

My syrian chewed constantly, no matter what I did, no matter how much free roaming time she got; when she went back in the cage, she'd go right back to chewing the bars. I was worrying myself sick over her, afraid she'd break her teeth or cause an injury.

Unfortunately, the only thing that finally stopped her was moving her into a glass tank with no bars.

4Taylor20 · 11-20-2014, 08:35 PM

I let him out out for like an hour or two each night, he is so happy and friendly and loves playing. I do everything in supposed to with him and he has all of my attention every day. He is my baby so I make sure to always get him what he needs. He had a wheel but he didn't touch it and it just got in his way so I took it out. His cage is pretty big. He only chews one certain bar
Ugh. When I first got him when he chewed I would get so annoyed and worried I would just take him out. so now he thinks Chewig=play time. He doesn't like being in his cage. He always wants to be out. He'd stay in his ball all day if I'd let him

Shannonmcn · 11-20-2014, 08:45 PM

I would put a wheel back in. What size was the one you removed? A wheel that's too small can hurt their back and put them off. Generally Syrians need an 11 inch wheel. I'd also check it wasn't too stiff, I'm babysitting a ham at the minute and my friend told me he never used his wheel and not to worry but it was just to stiff for him and now he loves the spare one I gave him. The vast majority of hamsters love their wheels tbh if they're not slightly older and slowing down a little. If he's not out with you he can't burn off any energy without a wheel and 1-2 hours a night is nothing compared to the time all my hams have spent on wheels.

Shana · 11-20-2014, 08:54 PM

How big was the wheel and what kind of hamster is he? Hamsters often ignore wheels if they're too small. They need wheels to burn off energy - they can run miles a night. Finding a wheel that he will use could help immensely.

Shana · 11-20-2014, 08:55 PM

Shannon beat me to it!

NiceCrocs · 11-20-2014, 09:18 PM

Seconding Shannon's advice. A too small wheel can quickly lead to stress and bar chewing. That'd be the first thing to try

Also if he's only chewing one specific spot, you can try blocking it off by tying a wooden chew toy to the bars, or clipping wooden clothespins onto the bars. He may just move to a different spot but you never know