Bar biting despite tons of enrichment?

[Shannonmcn]

Never seen that site before! Gonna probably waste a good half hour browsing now :P thanks cypher!

[cypher]

lol! I buy loads there, being a bit of a hamster shopaholic!

[FrancescaKate]

Originally Posted by Shannonmcn

You can't actually buy the antos chews online but p@h does them for 89p for the small ones. I personally wouldn't use lemon juice or anything on the bars, I would try to distract her instead. There a lot of cardboard toys you can put food inside which she might show more interest in than normal chews, if you have a look on YouTube you can get tutorials. Making her work for her dinner will keep her occupied and a lot of hams won't chew wooden things. I have heard of smearing just a tiny little bit of peanut butter on wood to encourage them though.

She'll be much happier in the zoozone so you've done the best thing for her already

Thanks for the reply I normally stuff toilet rolls with shredded paper and some treats and I scatter her food but she just goes right back to chewing the bars haha. I do like the idea of trying her with peanut butter on wooden blocks it'd be a nice way to occasionally treat her and get her to chew something else.

[FrancescaKate]

I think she knows we're talking about her. That is the face of a paranoid ham.

[Shannonmcn]

Oh goodness, she's gorgeous!

Scattering food is an easy way out for them, I don't give my girl any food that isn't hidden in something or that has to be chewed out she still chews her bars occasionally but suspiciously only when I leave a lamp on and she knows I'm awake...

Oh another thing I use sometimes is one of the rosewood boredom breaker rollers, you can tie them to the bars where they normally chew so hopefully they nibble on that instead!

[Pebbles82]

Aw heck just lost a long message!

Long story short! Yes small cages can cause bar biting. I wouldn't put anything on the bars - prob doesn't work and not nice for the ham. Some hams are natural chewers though and bar bite anyway, but moving ours to a bigger cage (with bars) worked for us. A Zoozone II would be great and solve the issue anyway! The top needs meshing though as the bar spacing is too wide for a hamster and she might decide to try and escape! If you haven't ordered it already, the Duna Maxi Multy is excellent too and doesn't need meshing as the bar spacing is less than 1cm. The dimensions are the same - maybe about 1cm lower, but base less curved so better floor area maybe.

This is the log roll I think that Shannon mentioned. Charlie chewed all the bark off the outside first and would then spend ages trying to get the carrot out of the middle

Rosewood Boredom Breaker Natural Treat Nibble Woodroll Carrot: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

This is the Duna Maxi Multy

Cage Maxi Duna Multy

I get the antos chews from Viovet - they're cheap and I get the mini toothbrushes in packs of 4. They're £2.87 but there's postage on top so it might be best to add them on if you're ordering anything else.

Antos Cerea Toothbrushes Dog Chews

Chessie is BEAUTIFUL. So gorgeous!

[FrancescaKate]

Thanks for all the advice I ordered the zoozone II as I posted this and I hadn't seen the duna maxi multy before. I do have some mesh for the lid though so I'm ready for that - hoping to secure it with tie wraps if that'll work?

And thank you for the treat/toy links, I'll be sure to check them out.

[herbi7]

My ham bites her bars for attention despite a large cage, loads to do and a lot of time every day free ranging, not in her ball. She only does it when I am there, does yours do it when u r out of the room or just when u r about? I blow on her face as soon as she starts, it makes her stop, I don't know if that's a good way in general but it works as a sort of immediate stopper! Other than that I have to keep her cage in a different room, as nothing else i did worked. I just visit her for out time, and then make it very clear when playing is over by dimming the light right down and leaving the room and closing the door behind me. She usually settles quite quickly

[herbi7]

Ps mine isn't interested in toys at all either , she just wants to climb and run free. It's been hard work working out the best way of fulfilling her needs, the cage was only a small part of that. Ur ham is so sweet by the way!