New Male Hamster & Bar Chewing Advice

[Boris]

Hello all, it has been a little while since I posted and that was to introduce my new Syrian boy Teddy who I got at the end of December, he is about 3 months old.

Anyway, I am hoping for a little bit of advice and below is a little bit of background information to assist:

I already have another hamster Polly, who is also a Syrian and about 6 months old. Both hamsters are rescue hamsters and both are in separate Hamster Heaven cages with about a 6ft gap between them.

Every evening and depending on who wakes up first, they will have at least an hour’s playtime (freedom to run around the lounge).

So the first one out and it is usually Polly will be the first one back in their cage. Polly is fairly chilled about Teddy, although she has lost a bit of weight, but her appetite does remain good and she is pouching loads of food!!

I have a routine that when a hamster has its playtime, I will be getting rid of the old hamster food and putting new food in the cage, refreshing the water bottle and putting a bit of fresh bedding down and the odd treat buried into the substrate. So that when they go back into the cage they have something to look forward to.

Polly has been pretty good when she goes back in as she usually has a nose about for her treat and food and then goes to her bed area and that is it for the evening

Teddy however is a bit different and unless he has a couple of hours free-time (weekend only) he is not ready to settle and has been bar-chewing obsessively.

About a week ago he must have been chewing so much he rubbed away the fur near his nose and then on Friday evening I went to bed early because of a bad headache and when I saw him on Saturday morning the fur around his right eye had been rubbed away and his eye was closed and a bit crusty – he usually has a closed eye when he wakes up as did my previous hamster and I didn’t think too much about it. Last night however, I think he may have done some permanent damage to his eye as in lost his eyesight. He doesn’t respond when I wave on his right side near his head and his eye has now got a grey cloudiness. I am really upset about this and for his own safety have moved him into non-barred housing after his playtime and he now sleeps in my bedroom for the time being.

I am aware that it is still early days and hope that he will eventually settle down. I hope that they will get used to each others scent as well.

I did feel very guilty about taking on Teddy as he was male, but then thought of other homes that have male and female hamsters and also rescue centre that have both sexes that live in the same room.

I hope the above makes sense and any little bit of advice/assurance is welcome.
I have already read the sticky re bar-chewing and will follow some of those suggestions also.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Could you keep him in the non-barred caging? We have males and females in the same room with no problems so it does look like you're unlucky with Teddy (if the reason he's chewing is even that theres a female nearby - it might be he just wants more playtime)

[bbbarker]

Today I picked up my new hammy who is a female, and straight away started with the bar chewing. I adopted her and the old cage she was in had chew marks everywhere it was a mess, so I can already see her being a chewer. I too have a male Hamster and they are both going to be kept in the same room but obviously different cages, I didn't think much of it until I've seen this post, fingers crossed being in the same room wont affect them. Back to the bar chewing, my male did this a few week back so I did some research and came to conclusion he was getting bored so straight away I went out and bought him a couple of new toys, as soon as they went into his cage hes not chewed his bars since. I'm going to go out tomorrow and buy my female some new toys and hope she will stop with the bar chewing too. All I can suggest is try buying him some new toys and take him out of his cage at night as long as you can to tire him out. Good luck

[Boris]

Hi kyrilliondaemon and bbbarker, thank you for your replies. I have now put Teddy back into his non-barred cage and he sleeps in my bedroom at night times.

He does have lots of playtime - Saturday he was out for 3 hours running around the room - it is something that I make sure that they both have - even if I have to stay up later than usual.

He also has lots of toys in his cage - ledges, chews, sandbath, wheel, hammock and I introduce new toys now and again for stimulation - if not just to smell something new.

I do think he has damaged his eyesight though and unfortunately the vet said there was not much they could do about it.

I now have a weight issue with Polly, who has recently lost a lot of weight so we are off to the vet this evening. She seems to be eating/hoarding loads and also peeing more than before and it is also very smelly. Please wish her luck.

[Boris]

Hi kyrilliondaemon, re my post above re Polly, I have been reading your thread about Chronic Kidney Disease / Chronic Renal Failure: diagnosis, "treatment" options with a lot of interest. When I made the appointment this morning for Polly I have asked if they can test her urine - just to check.
Really useful article.

[Thin Lizzy]

I have a male and a female syrian and I keep them in the same room, opposite ends.
I see you've put Teddy into a non bar cage which will be a relief to you.
Hope all goes well with Polly at the vet.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Originally Posted by Boris

Hi kyrilliondaemon, re my post above re Polly, I have been reading your thread about Chronic Kidney Disease / Chronic Renal Failure: diagnosis, "treatment" options with a lot of interest. When I made the appointment this morning for Polly I have asked if they can test her urine - just to check.
Really useful article.

It wasn't my thread I'm afraid, I just commented relatively recently because I was using the same thread with my hamster. I'm glad others are finding the thread as helpful as I did though

[Boris]

I always try and do some research on here first, which this forum has some great articles on and also there is a great community who will support you.
Thanks again and will keep you posted.