New cage, still bar chewing?!

Minijellybeans · 08-23-2016, 06:33 AM

I've had my hamster Oliver for about 1 month maybe a little longer. Since day one he has been chewing his bars so I did some research and discovered his cage (large hamster cage from pets at home) was far to small. Since then I've bought more and more toys and after lots of rematch for a good cage my Alaska finally arrived. The second Oliver was in the cage he seemed like a changed little man, he was running round exploring, digging and just seeming very excited. This was short lived as he's now gone back to bar chewing.. I can't understand why? I thought it was the size of his cage but seeing as he's now in the Alaska I can't understand it!

My little boy has been chewing so much he has a bald patch on his nose and a cut, I've seen blood on it a few times too
. I really don't know what I can do to help him. I'll post a picture so you guys can see my cage set up, bare in mind I only set it up about an hour ago so I'm still experimenting but I'm sure he has plenty of toys and things to do, but clearly nothing's as fun as the bars lol. I know a few people get aquariums or modular cages for bar chewers but I really don't want to do that, plus it will be yet another wasted cage.
I've tried olive oil on the bars and that just made him look like he had a really bad 2000's hair style. I feel like there's no way to stop him but I'm very concerned about his teeth and nose. Is his hair going to grow back?

I'm really hoping someone here has the mirical answer!!
Sorry about the long post and thank you in advance!

AmityvilleHams · 08-23-2016, 08:43 AM

The setup does seem fairly bare,but it could also be that the cage size is still too small for your individual ham.

cypher · 08-23-2016, 08:53 AM

Have you tried threading cardboard through some of the bars? That can help especially if they chew in a particular spot.
The cage size should be fine but it does look a bit bare, if you look through this thread at other people's set ups that should give you ideas of things you can do to make it more interesting for him.
Have a look here too for ideas for dealing with bar chewing, some hams just like to chew no matter what cage they're in but there are ways to overcome it so don't be too disheartened just yet.
Does he have things like whimzees/antos dog chews or dog biscuits to chew on? A lot of hams don't really like wooden "chew toys" much so those can help.
Try not to respond to bar chewing if you can help it as that can be seen as a kind of reward & just encourage them to do it even more!

velma · 08-23-2016, 09:13 AM

its true that some hams are bar chewers and do better in tanks but let's eliminate everything else first. The Alaska is a good size cage so I dont think it's that.

If there is one area that your ham is favouring to chew on, you could try threading card between the bars.

Is you hamster a Syrian? What size wheel is the cage? If it's too small, your hamsters back will arch (and his nose and bum will be in the air). This can cause them back problems and be uncomfortable to run in so they don't use it enough and get bored.

You could try giving him more places to explore. You don't always have to buy toys/houses - check out the DIY section of the forum for inspiration for treat feeders made from loo rolls and that sort of thing. Houses can be a shoe box, lidless and upside down with a hole cut for the door. Give plenty of ripped up cheap, white, unscented loo roll for Oliver to build a nest with and chew up if he wants. If the little blue house I can see is the same that came with one of my cages, I find them too small for a Syrian - in fact a lot of things sold for hamsters aren't suitable for Syrian hamsters. Bendy bridges are very versatile though and come in dfferent sizes. Have a look at the "Show us your cages" thread for ideas.

I give my hamsters a bit of dog biscuit once in a while as a treat. I like the Biscrok originals but I've also tried the milk bones. But use sparingly as they are a treat. For my Syrian I only feed half at a time or she tries to pouch the whole thing and it could get stuck.
Whimzees chews are vegetable based dog chews shaped like crocodiles and toothbrushes seem to be popular with most hamsters, they certainly are with mine! You could also try scatter feeding. Make him work a bit! If he's used to a food bowl, introduce the idea to him by half the food in his bowl and half scattered around his cage.

And lastly, is there a pattern to his chewing? When you go in the room or anything? Some hams do it for attention so that might be another line to "investigate".

That's a few things to start tweaking for now! I only use tank style cages but I'm sure you'll get some great tips from someone who's had the same problem as you.

Minijellybeans · 08-23-2016, 09:56 AM

Thanks for the replies, I give him plain dog buscuits regularly and he does seem to love them as they last no time. I think my cage looks bare due to the size of it really, I think it's unlikely it's too small as its one of the best hamster cages out there in most people's eyes. He has over 500sq inches. His wheel is 8inchs and doesn't arch his back though there is a slight curve to it.

Toy wise he has 3tubes, (one large one is hidden under substrate), a hanging loofa, 3 seed chews hanging from different places around the cage, a wooden log which I forgot to put back in his cage but he doesn't pay much interest to it anyway, a wood chew stuffed with fruit flavoured bits, a hamster safe book to rip up, a rope bridge and a little bridge I made of Popsicle sticks. Surly I would of thought that's plent to keep him active for the time being but he doesn't pay much attention to any of it.
I also try to give him a selection of fruit or veg which I vary each day and occasionally hide around the cage

Minijellybeans · 08-23-2016, 09:59 AM

I also forgot to mention I bought a large hideout cabin type thing from zoo plus which is somewhere in a yodal van lol l.
He is a Syrian hamster

CMB · 08-23-2016, 11:01 AM

Maybe a rat Sputnik and a shelf or two. Do you put food in a bowl? You could scatter feed or hide food in the substrate and in toys eat so it takes longer to find/eat.

Deeper substrate will be good if your hamster likes digging. Also if you find out where your hamster does it wee (usually in one corner) you can use a litter tray in that corner. It will mean less cleaning of the whole cage.

Minijellybeans · 08-23-2016, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CMB

Maybe a rat Sputnik and a shelf or two. Do you put food in a bowl? You could scatter feed or hide food in the substrate and in toys eat so it takes longer to find/eat.

Deeper substrate will be good if your hamster likes digging. Also if you find out where your hamster does it wee (usually in one corner) you can use a litter tray in that corner. It will mean less cleaning of the whole cage.

I plan on buying shelves as I'm not keen on the one provided with the cage. Now I have a larger cage I've made the substrates lot deeper and I plan on making a digging/bathing/ litter (whatever he chooses fit) area out of chinchilla sand once I've done some more research. I can't afford anything more until pay day though.
I've noticed a lot of people using sputnicks but I can't see the appeal? I feel like he wouldn't really use it and how do they climb into them? Monkey bar??? Hiding food sounds like a good idea, especially considering its his natural instinct. His bowl is pretty small so I do fill it but it lasts him a couple of days so I think I must be feeding him too much, I've read it's around 10g a day but I don't know how to measure that as I don't have any scales.

I don't know if he chews the bars when I'm not in the room for obvious reasons lol, I did ask my partner ( who stays a fair disintance from him most of the time) if she noticed him chewing while I wasn't around and she said not as far as she remembers. So maybe he is doing it for my attention. He deffinatly get it. I know I shouldn't but I'm so worried about what he must be doing to hisself I keep trying to intervene.
He's been friendly since day one, not had an issue being picked up and he's very confident. I often catch him standing up looking out the cage at us trying to say hello. If it is an attention thing how could I get this out of him?

Minijellybeans · 08-23-2016, 01:42 PM

This is his old cage, must of been one or two days after I brought him home

CMB · 08-23-2016, 11:23 PM

The Sputnik can go on the floor or on the wire at the top of the cage. If it's attached to the roof it is best to have it near a shelf so he hamster climbs on the shelf then into the Sputnik.

Tubes leading from a shelf to a Sputnik also work well. See the cages thread for ideas on positioning a Sputnik.