Is bar climbing bad?

lolguy67 · 02-08-2017, 02:07 PM

I have a hamster named Teddy I think he is a Syrian but i'm not sure. Anyway as soon as I got him (about a week ago) he was ALREADY bar climbing and he was not in a bar cage at the petshop so he did'nt exactly know how to get down without jumping. I just wanted to know if that may have hurt him any? He seems okay but just wanting to make sure.
NOTE: The cage is not very tall

-First time hamster owner

CMB · 02-08-2017, 02:22 PM

Hamsters like climbing up the bars of their cage and can also climb/monkey bar across the top of a barred cage. They often jump or drop down. They can be injured if they land on hard toys etc. They can learn to climb back down, but often don't

It could be a sign of boredom. Try to distract the hamster with tubes, digging area, chewable items and hiding food.

Climbing can occur when the wheel is not turning due to substrate in the way or if the wheel is too small as they aren't able to run off excess energy.

Deep substrate helps cushion falls unless they fall on a hard toy etc.

Levels/platforms can help. Putting them part way up the cage side means the hamster can't climb up to the top of the cage as easily and if they get to the top of the cage they can't fall as far. It is also easier for them to get from the top of the cage back onto the platforms, so they may do that rather than jump or just let go and drop down.

Hamstermommy123 · 02-08-2017, 08:38 PM

Hi!
It seems like the hamster was bored. The good thing was that the cage was not to high, beacause he could have had a nasty fall. Make sure that you give your new hamster lots of toys and things toys yo play with.
Good luck with your hanster!

cypher · 02-08-2017, 09:57 PM

When you first bring them home bars are a novelty to explore so it's quite normal & I wouldn't say it's necessarily a sign of boredom probably just getting to know his new home.
It can be dangerous though so just make sure he can't fall onto anything hard, as CMB said putting ledges or small shelves on the bars can help.

dimes · 02-14-2017, 04:07 AM

When I first got Cotton, I had him in a wire cage which was pretty tall because it accomodated 2 levels (which I had taken out at first). I thought he wouldn't be able to climb up because the bars were vertical instead of the typical horizontal types, but he somehow managed to do it at the corners of the cage! I was so worried because he dropped down once and I didn't think that was good for him, plus he was still new and I didn't think it was a good idea for me to keep handling him before I had even tamed him.

I've heard of hamsters who get concussions after repeated falling from heights. This may not be a problem if your cage isn't that tall, but if you'd still like to prevent anything of that sort happening, I'd recommend getting a bin cage or a tank. It'd be impossible for him to climb to any unsuitable height and to fall from there, so he'd be safe. Plus, bin cages and tanks tend to be a lot bigger than most of the wire cages you can get at pet stores, so he's much less likely to be bored too!

AmityvilleHams · 02-14-2017, 11:32 AM

Bin cages are definitely good,since you can easily make them a larger floor space with direct expansions(not tubes,that just makes it a modular cage and doesn't count towards the floor space)and unless you make it expensive by buying expensive bins it can be very affordable!

Tanks however are very heavy,expensive,and unless you get a massive and impractical tank it won't be anywhere near as spacious as a bin cage system can potentially be.