Need Serious Help!

[SyrianHammie]

A bit of background..
For the past month of so, Spice has been chewing his wooden cage non stop all night. It wakes me up and keeps me awake so I don't get any sleep and am knackered the next day. I try blowing gently on his nose and just tapping him away from chewing, but nothing is helping. I've tried oil and lemon juice on the wood which hasn't helped either. Due to me being tired and stressed because of the constant chewing, I have become quite ill recently. I suffer with lung and chest problems so when I get ill for any reason, I end up getting a minor chest infection after. It has come to the point where I am debating giving Spice up for adoption due to it having a serious affect on me as well as him.

This is my last option. I welcome anyones suggestions about what I can do to prevent him from chewing his cage! Blocking areas doesn't work either because he doesn't stop until he moves them. Or he chews somewhere else.
I know I can get a metal bared cage but this cage is massive, cost a lot of money and I don't have money to spare at the minute. Please help me and Spice! Thank you!

[itswendy]

Sorry to hear ): Bin cages are super cheap and as long as you don't mesh the sides of the bin, it's chew-proof. You could try keeping Spice in a bin cage for a while until he breaks his habit if you don't want your cage to go to waste.
My hammy chews on anything and everything so I don't want to risk buying a huge expensive metal cage for her just in case she does turn out to be a bar-chewer. I only mesh the top of my bin, and the only noise i ever hear from her is the whirring from her wheel at night.
I hope you find a solution soon, good luck

[SyrianHammie]

Originally Posted by itswendy

Sorry to hear ): Bin cages are super cheap and as long as you don't mesh the sides of the bin, it's chew-proof. You could try keeping Spice in a bin cage for a while until he breaks his habit if you don't want your cage to go to waste.
My hammy chews on anything and everything so I don't want to risk buying a huge expensive metal cage for her just in case she does turn out to be a bar-chewer. I only mesh the top of my bin, and the only noise i ever hear from her is the whirring from her wheel at night.
I hope you find a solution soon, good luck

I did have him in a bin cage which didn't work out how I wanted haha. He was always finding ways to escape. I was planning on getting the Ikea Detolf once I have moved rooms but that has been pushed back now so in a bit of a dilemma. I hope I get it sorted as well. Thank you for your help!

[pixiehollow]

Maybe move him to another room? Bar chewing is often attention seeking behaviour and if he realises that nothing comes from it, it may stop. This is how we fixed it in the past xx

[SyrianHammie]

Originally Posted by pixiehollow

Maybe move him to another room? Bar chewing is often attention seeking behaviour and if he realises that nothing comes from it, it may stop. This is how we fixed it in the past xx

If I ignore him rather than going up to him and 'telling him off' do you think it will help him to stop more??

[Bbhami]

Yup, ignoring him would tell him nobody's there or he can't come out if he chews his cage. My syrian does that sometimes when he still want to play but it's his sister's turn on the ball or playpen. He would chew the entrance nearest to my bed to ask for out time. He will only stop once the lights are off. Taht's our signal that he needs to play alone, but if he hears me and my SO talking he will again start the chewing.

[kuba]

Hamsters often chew on the bases or bars of their cage for attention, so this could be a way of him asking to come out of the cage and play?
You could also try putting hanging chew toys along the part of the cage where he is chewing, or generally provide lots of chew toys in the cage for him to gnaw on those instead. If your hamster is quite strictly food motivated, try edible chews like dogtreats or whimzees.
If he continues to chew so excessively maybe pay a visit a vet just to make sure its not anything neurogical, but the only way I could think of to completely eliminate and prevent him from chewing on his cage is to purchase a cage he cant chew on, like a tank or a bin cage.
Hope I could help!

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi Syrian Hammie,
Hamsters hate being ignored!
The more attention you give him when he chews his cage the more he'll do it. By ignoring him, he'll eventually give up realising it's not getting your attention.
With Archie this is what I did, believe me it was hard ignoring him at first but he got the message,

Spice sleeps in your room, is there another room you could put him in?
Whenever Archie started chewing his cage, I would do one of the following;
Tidy Up, Read a book, Listen to music or Switch on the TV.
You could try listening to music on your headphones, that way you won't hear Spice.
Get a good pair of ear plugs,

But, don't switch on the light, the moment you do that he's won and don't call out to him.
Good Luck!

[SyrianHammie]

Originally Posted by Thin Lizzy

Hi Syrian Hammie,
Hamsters hate being ignored!
The more attention you give him when he chews his cage the more he'll do it. By ignoring him, he'll eventually give up realising it's not getting your attention.
With Archie this is what I did, believe me it was hard ignoring him at first but he got the message,

Spice sleeps in your room, is there another room you could put him in?
Whenever Archie started chewing his cage, I would do one of the following;
Tidy Up, Read a book, Listen to music or Switch on the TV.
You could try listening to music on your headphones, that way you won't hear Spice.
Get a good pair of ear plugs,

But, don't switch on the light, the moment you do that he's won and don't call out to him.
Good Luck!

Thank you for your recommendation!
Glad to know that it has worked for other people, at the minute it doesn't seem likes it going to haha.
Although he's showing good signs. I ignored him last night and he only chewed for about half an hour.
I tend to sit in my room and write blogs or just check social media so I can easily do that with the light off to not show him I'm paying any attention to him.
I don't have another room to move him to otherwise my family would get annoyed with him haha.

I shall keep you updated with how he is getting on.
Currently, chewing..

[Thin Lizzy]

Actually, if you're writing blogs or checking social media, keep the light on and the minute he starts chewing the cage, turn your back on him - this way he'll see you and that you're ignoring him, he'll get fed up and stop.
You could try putting cardboard from toilet rolls between the bars that he chews. This worked for me also as mine didn't like pulling the cardboard.
Mine only chewed the bars in a certain area of their cages!