Sudden aggressive/desperate bar chewing and biting.

[cypher]

Must admit I prefer whimzees but greenies are fine

[AmityvilleHams]

Actually Greenies contain "natural flavors",which is really just a blanket term for things that can include horns,feathers,hooves,teeth,etc.Nothing beneficial actually,where Whimzees do not include this.This would also come in the form of gelatin too though,so unfortunately it is unavoidable to not be completely honest and say that Greenies do in fact contain things which aren't necessarily all that great.

To be completely honest,Whimzees are far superior in quality.You can also sometimes find them cheaper in some pet stores for example I found a pack of three extremely cheaply in the US for my dog a lot less than Petco charged,and buying them in bulk is also cheaper in the end.

In the US you can even order a 24 pack of small Whimzees for around $11 if you order from a different website than Petco,and that would probably last hamsters more than 2 months.

[souffle]

It sounds like she has a case of cage aggression to me. This is not uncommon in dwarf hamsters in particular. These hamsters don't like things in or near their cage and tend to defend their territory. They are normally just fine once you get them away from the cage.
Biting at the door in particular means she is probably either defending it as it smells of human hands or she knows that is the way out and hamsters always think the grass is greener on the other side.
I'd start with a new way of removing her from the cage. Get a decent length of kitchen roll tube and only use that to get her out. Maybe block one end with card and tape and pop a treat in it. Offer it too her and hopefully she will climb in then take her out and far away from the cage to a safe area and slide her out or let her walk out and start handling her.
Never try and hand lift her out the cage - always use a tube or box. Dwarf hams do not tend to like running balls as they feel to exposed and it sets off stress hormones. They are prey animals and they do not know that there is not a predator nearby as you do so feel vulnerable and exposed so often freeze. We never use balls ourselves.
I'd try and block off the door so she cannot chew it. You could try a thick plastic folder cover, cut to size and cable tie that on to the door so she cannot get her nose through to chew. Bendy log bridges can sometimes work as well to stop access. You can work something out I'm sure
I don't personally like any of the dog chews. Dogs have big digestive systems however a hamster gorging on one of those can soon fill up the bowel with gloop which isn't good. There are other better options out there for them I'm sure!

[cypher]

While I'm happy enough to give mine dog chews I do agree they can sometimes gorge on them so you do need to keep an eye on them to see how mad they go with them!
It pays to experiment a bit if they do, my newest went crazy over an Antos chew & I had to remove it but he's much better with a little whimzee chew so I can leave those in the cage without worrying.
I only use Greenies with one Chinese who doesn't like the other chews but one tiny toothbrush lasts him weeks or months even.

Sorry if this is getting a bit OT from the OP now, enough about chews!

[Thin Lizzy]

None of my hams have taken to dog biscuits. I tried Bonios with Archie & Twinkle and I would find it in their toilet corner and peed on. I offered Harvey one and he turned his face away and wouldn't turn back till I took it away. As for the whimzees, they seem to prefer the toothbrush.

[cypher]

Mine have never liked Bonios either, they do like Biscrok though, maybe a little too much so they only get a small piece every few weeks!

[chesca_27]

With Greenies, I put it in the cage for a night so he can have a little chew, then I take it out for a couple days and then I repeat. This way he can have a little nibble ever now and again but not too much. Also I can keep an eye on how much he's eating.

[Winterjay]

Thank you everyone for all the info and ideas. Like I said before she is healthy, there's nothing wrong with her. I did move stuff away from her area (picture frame, lava lamp).

We were at the store yesterday and I bought a playpen that's rated for dwarf hamsters. She ran around in it and explored the things I placed in there (glass jar, a lid to climb on, cardboard tube, sticks, a peanut. But it wasn't crowded) for a short time then proceeded to chew on the bars of the pen

I also rubbed lemon juice on her chew spot. But it didn't help any. I'll have to try the olive oil or blocking it. Although now my family believes i'm becoming unnecessarily obsessed (but hey, my pets ARE my hobby after all).

Her wheel is a comfort wheel that connects on the outside of her cage. Its in the 6-8in range. She does go into one of the attachments to use as a potty. She doesn't go anywhere else for that purpose. And I also started building my first bin cage this weekend (for my gerbil) and if it goes well I'll make one for each of the hamsters.

My other hamster (Thistle, which is the same breed) loves both her wheel and ball (especially so) and the dog is always shut up when we let them out (which is somewhat sad because Thistle loves to follow her around). The hamster in question (Rose) did use and like her ball when we first got her. So I'm not sure what the change was.

Thank you for your input!

[Thin Lizzy]

Aww! Sounds like she got spoilt and enjoyed her new playpen.