The chewing will not stop!

[Allys Hamsters]

I have a 3 month old syrian who will not stop bar chewing. She lives in a mamble 100 and has a 12 inch silent spinner and plenty of toys and is let out to play outside her cage. She will just chew and chew and chew on the bars. It drives me crazy when I try and sleep. I cannot move the cage out of my room and I am not keen on rubbing things on the bars to stop her. She has things to chew on in her cage. So I'm unsure what to do about this!

[Pebbles82]

Hi. How long has she been in the Mamble? i was just thinking if she recently moved into it, it may settle down, but I think most bar chewers end up being better off in glass tanks or solid sided cages like a Zoozone or Maxi duna multy. She certainly has enough space in her cage and a big enough wheel and I assume you give her plenty of chews, so a tank style cage might be the only solution. Have you tried giving her those Antos chews? Most hams seem to really like those.

[racinghamster]

Hi Allys hamsters. The problem with barred cages is that they offer a focus for this behaviour and climbing too, both of which can cause a hamster injuries. The Mamble is a rat cage but I understand why hamster owners buy them due to the large amount of space they offer.

Ifyou can afford it, I would buy a Zoozone or similar type Perspex cage with plenty of space and sell on the Mamble. It may be the only solution if you want a good night sleep! know how annoying noise can be during the night as I`ve kept many small rodents myself and they can make a right din! Remember though that hamsters are active during the night, so she`s just enjoying what`s around her! x

[Allys Hamsters]

May(hamster) has only been there a couple days, so she could be settling in. I will have a look into getting a Zoozone if she doesn't settle after a couple of weeks.

[Thin Lizzy]

I would give her a bit longer in the cage, since it's new and she's new to it, it could be her marking the cage. Some hams can take up to a couple of weeks to settle in. I found putting cardboard inbetween the bars where they chew helps. I did this with mine and it really helped, my male was doing it daily several times and now he'll chew for a couple of minutes and stop. Don't give your ham attention or treats when she does it, the more attention you give her, the more she'll do it. Hamsters don't like being ignored and mine soon got the message that if they chewed the bars this would happen.