Impossible Syrian

[M3gan]

Okay guys. Percy is causing me soo much hassle. I he nearly damaged his pouch yesterday chewing his cage. He has a sore on his nose and he will not stop chewing!!! I have admitted defeat and am trying to convince my parents to let me get a tank but because I stupidly dished out £120 on his cage they are reluctant to let me buy another cage. Does anyone have any other options as to prevent his chewing?

[Pebbles82]

Oh dear. What cage is he in now! £120 sounds like an expensive one! Does he seem ok after last night now, or did you need a vet visit?

What have you tried so far? And how do you react when he chews the bars? (This might help with suggestions).

I know you are frustrated with him but there's a lovable little guy in there who is maybe trying to tell you something. Or maybe he's just a very chewy lovable little guy. I think you said his cage and wheel were big enough and he had plenty of toys. Does he have deep enough substrate ( sometimes not enough and they don't feel good), enough nesting material? Somewhere big enough to build a nest? A house or space under a shelf somewhere? Just trying to think of all the things that might make him want to chew out of there. Is it warm enough where his cage is? Sometimes it is some practical reason.

How old is he and how long have you had him, and has he always chewed bars. Sorry! Loads of questions.

[M3gan]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Oh dear. What cage is he in now! £120 sounds like an expensive one! Does he seem ok after last night now, or did you need a vet visit?

What have you tried so far? And how do you react when he chews the bars? (This might help with suggestions).

I know you are frustrated with him but there's a lovable little guy in there who is maybe trying to tell you something. Or maybe he's just a very chewy lovable little guy. I think you said his cage and wheel were big enough and he had plenty of toys. Does he have deep enough substrate ( sometimes not enough and they don't feel good), enough nesting material? Somewhere big enough to build a nest? A house or space under a shelf somewhere? Just trying to think of all the things that might make him want to chew out of there. Is it warm enough where his cage is? Sometimes it is some practical reason.

How old is he and how long have you had him, and has he always chewed bars. Sorry! Loads of questions.

Thank you so much Serendipity. He is a cage which I 'made' at a pet shop. It was one of those customisable cage where i choose the sizes. It is 100x50 with 2 half levels. So cage size should not be the problem. He has the 12" karlie wheel. He has 5" of substrate and in one corner he has bendy bridges so I have around 7". He is given a half used toilet roll to shred every 2 weeks give or take. He has 4 hide aways. The room he is very warm. It has the chimney breast running through it so the temperature doesn't drop below 10'C ever. With an average of 19'C. I have tried olive oil but I think that encouraged him. He started one week ago....? Not too long. I try to ignore him when he does it. When he stops I sometimes give him a peanut in shell. He has various chew toys and yesterday I bought a ton more.

I brought him to the vet this morning even though he seemed fine and i was right, she said he was in perfect health. Although she trimmed his nails. His teeth are fine and so are his pouches thank the lord! He is 4 months old but I've only had him 3 months. He only started last week as I said.

[Pebbles82]

Good news that he is ok and has had a clean bill of health from the vet Hmm I wonder why he's started chewing bars now. Our Syrian was never a bar chewer but started after a change (we went on holiday and took him in his cage somewhere to stay). When he came back he went a little bit bonkers for a couple of weeks and was bar chewing - but he had had a totally different life for two weeks and there had been other hamsters there too. In the end we just ignored him. Started going to bed early and turning the lights off. As soon as we had done this he stopped. Sometimes I'd go down again about midnight and he'd look at me and tentatively start gnawing them and I'd say no. Eventually he got the message. If he did it he got ignored and everyone left the room. But basically he was just wanting to get out all the time. What finally knocked it on the head was a cage clean. Normally this stresses them out, but I think he could still smell the other hamsters on the outside of his cage base or bars, or the other place. I didn't do any cleaning the first couple of weeks he was back as he was so stressed, but then did a full (mostly full) clean and wiped the bars and outside down with a mix of vinegar and water. He seemed to settle down a bit more after that.

Anyway that's probably a totally different situation, but there might be something in there that helps a bit. And it shows that a non bar chewer can become one, and a chewer can stop Working out the reason is the tricky bit. If there's nothing wrong in his cage environment then it must be either stress about something else and wanting to get out, or some attention thing maybe. One last question! Did it start after a cage clean? But then he'll have had cage cleans before.

Anyway - maybe it's a bit like dealing with kids in a classroom - the same sort of tactics worked for Charlie. 1) Ignore and 2) Distract them. So maybe try changing the odd thing in his cage layout around. Just a little bit in case it has the opposite effect

It would be good to stop it before it becomes a habit. Apart from the fact it's bad for them as well. There is a thread on bar chewing on here with suggestions. I think some people suggest weaving cardboard around the bars in the area where they chew.

But it would be good to know why he has just started. Do you have any other hamsters? In heat?!

Try not to let it get you stressed or he'll pick up on your stress and do it more lol. Just ignore it. Another thing people pointed out to me was - I would let him out when he did it and it became him 'training me' to let him out - another reason to turn the lights out and leave the room. Goodness we had some early nights for a week or so lol.

[hammy2]

you could thread cardboard though the bars or attach chew toys to his favorite chew spots in the meantime perhaps? :-/

[M3gan]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Good news that he is ok and has had a clean bill of health from the vet Hmm I wonder why he's started chewing bars now. Our Syrian was never a bar chewer but started after a change (we went on holiday and took him in his cage somewhere to stay). When he came back he went a little bit bonkers for a couple of weeks and was bar chewing - but he had had a totally different life for two weeks and there had been other hamsters there too. In the end we just ignored him. Started going to bed early and turning the lights off. As soon as we had done this he stopped. Sometimes I'd go down again about midnight and he'd look at me and tentatively start gnawing them and I'd say no. Eventually he got the message. If he did it he got ignored and everyone left the room. But basically he was just wanting to get out all the time. What finally knocked it on the head was a cage clean. Normally this stresses them out, but I think he could still smell the other hamsters on the outside of his cage base or bars, or the other place. I didn't do any cleaning the first couple of weeks he was back as he was so stressed, but then did a full (mostly full) clean and wiped the bars and outside down with a mix of vinegar and water. He seemed to settle down a bit more after that.

Anyway that's probably a totally different situation, but there might be something in there that helps a bit. And it shows that a non bar chewer can become one, and a chewer can stop Working out the reason is the tricky bit. If there's nothing wrong in his cage environment then it must be either stress about something else and wanting to get out, or some attention thing maybe. One last question! Did it start after a cage clean? But then he'll have had cage cleans before.

Anyway - maybe it's a bit like dealing with kids in a classroom - the same sort of tactics worked for Charlie. 1) Ignore and 2) Distract them. So maybe try changing the odd thing in his cage layout around. Just a little bit in case it has the opposite effect

It would be good to stop it before it becomes a habit. Apart from the fact it's bad for them as well. There is a thread on bar chewing on here with suggestions. I think some people suggest weaving cardboard around the bars in the area where they chew.

But it would be good to know why he has just started. Do you have any other hamsters? In heat?!

Try not to let it get you stressed or he'll pick up on your stress and do it more lol. Just ignore it. Another thing people pointed out to me was - I would let him out when he did it and it became him 'training me' to let him out - another reason to turn the lights out and leave the room. Goodness we had some early nights for a week or so lol.

Thank you for all the information. Actually it started after a clean when i moved his cage! It had been on a desk which I actually needed so he was moved onto the floor beside it. Could this have caused it? If so how to I stop him. I do ignore him when he does it an if i do anything i give him a dirty look and tell him to stop it or no treats lol. He is my only hamster.

I have hung kabobs and put kitchen roll tubes in the corners. He usually targets the corners.I have not tried the cardboard yet but i may have to in the morning.

[hammy2]

It doesn't help if you reward him for chewing either. I'd ignore him if he's chewing his bars and only give attention or a treat when he's stopped

[M3gan]

Originally Posted by hammy2

It doesn't help if you reward him for chewing either. I'd ignore him if he's chewing his bars and only give attention or a treat when he's stopped

Yes that is what i am doing. Thank you

[Piebald]

Hopefully you have identified a triggering event in the joint cage move and clean. That seems to me to mean there is a way to address the issue. However chewing can get to be a habit if not stopped regardless of how it started.
So firstly, no more big cleans. Do spot cleaning only. Sounds like your hammy was very upset by both changes at once. In his little world, moving and cleaning changed everything.
Second, playtime! Set up a playpen with toys and chews and let him run around. I wonder if playtime in the old location might be calming? Try to play at the same time every day. This is because hamsters find routine calming, and so you don't end up fighting a chew-play cycle.
Thirdly, more tunnels and chewies. I know you have some, get more. Try some Whimzees chews. Scatter feed instead of bowl feeding to encourage foraging behaviour.
And, ignore chewing this includes any kind of penalty attention too. Any attention is a reward, even a "no" to the attention seeker.
Hang in there, hopefully the behaviour will subside as it did with Charlie. Your fella is not trying to drive you crazy he is only expressing his own frustrations the only way he can.
If you can post some pictures of your set up some of the members might be able to make suggestions to help.

[M3gan]

Originally Posted by Piebald

Hopefully you have identified a triggering event in the joint cage move and clean. That seems to me to mean there is a way to address the issue. However chewing can get to be a habit if not stopped regardless of how it started.
So firstly, no more big cleans. Do spot cleaning only. Sounds like your hammy was very upset by both changes at once. In his little world, moving and cleaning changed everything.
Second, playtime! Set up a playpen with toys and chews and let him run around. I wonder if playtime in the old location might be calming? Try to play at the same time every day. This is because hamsters find routine calming, and so you don't end up fighting a chew-play cycle.
Thirdly, more tunnels and chewies. I know you have some, get more. Try some Whimzees chews. Scatter feed instead of bowl feeding to encourage foraging behaviour.
And, ignore chewing this includes any kind of penalty attention too. Any attention is a reward, even a "no" to the attention seeker.
Hang in there, hopefully the behaviour will subside as it did with Charlie. Your fella is not trying to drive you crazy he is only expressing his own frustrations the only way he can.
If you can post some pictures of your set up some of the members might be able to make suggestions to help.

Yes I do do various types of play time through out the day. If I ever see him up an not chewing he gets a mealworm or a healthy snack. He gets playtime once a day at the same time but he has started chewing the playpen too He nearly damaged his pouch and caused a vet visit. I will stop all cleans and telling him no from now on. He has a million and one chews and tubes. As I said yesterday I bought a load of chews and toys. I am big into diy toys so he has multiple of them such as toilet roll bridges and a cardboard castle. I will try to figure out how to send photos as soon as possible. Thank you so much