Suggestions for escapee

Drago · 01-23-2017, 04:13 PM

My hamster Duncan has decided that he isn't content in his current cage (a very spacious bin cage) he's expressed this through pacing and chewing on the holes we made in the lid until we could add mesh for better ventilation. Now he has decided to climb on top of his wheel, and chew open the hole and squeeze out! We found him chewing open a bag of his favorite treats (classic Duncan). Now I will be upgrading his cage to a much larger one shortly, but I'm ordering bins online and have to wait about a week until they're in. Throughout this period of waiting, Duncan continues to chew this hole more and more and it's becoming frustrating for many reasons. For one it's so loud it's waking everyone in the house! Second, and more importantly, his lid is plastic so he is chewing plastic and I'm worried that he might accidentally ingest some which can be toxic to him. I've tried everything to deter him but nothing works. I put tape there which he promptly ripped off and stuck to his wheel, and I tried mesh which he managed to rip off somehow. I even tried putting a seagrass mat over the hole and he chewed through it! I'm all out of ideas on how to stop him until his new bins arrive, does anybody have suggestions? Thank you!

Hamsterita · 01-24-2017, 03:33 AM

It's hard to suggest anything... If he needs to climb the wheel to reach the hole, could you move the wheel to other place? If blocking the hole doesn't work try to block the access to the hole. But i wouldn't use anything that he can chew.

flowerfairy · 01-24-2017, 03:40 AM

Weld mesh would be good if you can get hold of some.

Drago · 01-24-2017, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hamsterita

It's hard to suggest anything... If he needs to climb the wheel to reach the hole, could you move the wheel to other place? If blocking the hole doesn't work try to block the access to the hole. But i wouldn't use anything that he can chew.

I wish I could move the wheel, but his bin is very oddly built in that it's too short to hold his 12 inch wheel on its stand, so we've attached it by drilling a hole through the bin and getting a makeshift jig to hold it in place. Blocking the access is a good idea, I'll maybe try taping cardboard to the edge of the bin in hopes it will make it more difficult for him to move! Thank you

Drago · 01-24-2017, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flowerfairy

Weld mesh would be good if you can get hold of some.

That's a good idea, I'll add that to the cardboard stop contraption! Thank you

Pebbles82 · 01-25-2017, 07:17 AM

Hope the new bin arrives soon! If you're going to go bigger I would go as big as you can get to avoid having to upgrade again

You can always block off part of a much larger bin as a deep digging area if he doesn't like that much space, but it can take 2 or 3 weeks to know if they like it as it can take that long for them to settle or stop being nervous. Some hams adapt straight away (he might, he sounds pretty gung ho), some are very nervy and reclusive for a couple of weeks. Ours would sit and shake which was very upsetting and we very nearly moved him back, but stuck it out a bit and within 10 days he was climbing bars being jolly and having great fun!

As a short term measure it could be an idea to have a 12" flying saucer instead of his wheel so he can't get up to the top. I'd worry a bit about him injuring himself chewing at mesh and plastic like that. You should be able to get one there next day from Amazon maybe if you can't get one locally. Then when he has the bigger bin you might be able to fit both in

I had this one and our hammy really liked it (it was a temporary thing while waiting for a new wheel after his broke). Looks like it's a Uk one though so wouldn't get there quick. There's probably an equivalent in the US.

https://www.amazon.com/Running-disc-...=flying+saucer

They try and run up it to get to the top and climb up and just slide back down again and then find that is fun and start running on it

I wouldn't use it full time in place of a standard wheel though as they don't always run straight on it so long term, running a bit curved isn't good. Having both could be good though when you upgrade him.

Meanwhile you could try and distract him maybe by adding more substrate at one end and scatter feeding and treat parcels to try and get open, or hiding treats around the place.