Bar chewing

[Alibee]

Thanks for all the replies! She's been in the Barney for a couple of weeks and to be honest the bar chewing as gotten worse, to the point where she has weakened one of the bars nearly to the point of snapping. I'm trying olive oil and clothes pegs at the moment with not much success. The doors of the Barney don't seem very secure at all so I've clipped them shut but she has managed to push it open twice :/. Does anybody have any suggestions for a good sized tank in the UK? I'm really struggling to find one big enough for her.

[worldturns]

I have a similar problem with plastic and my Syrian.

on zooplus they have a skyline Marrakesch take that has two sizes
Skyline Small Pet Terrarium Marrakesh | Free P&P £29+ at zooplus!
I have the larger on of the two and now penny is quite happy.

you could look on prelovedor gumtree and see if there are any 2nd hand tanks in your area. or considering perhaps turning an ikea furniture item in to a habitat for your hammy. if they are a bar chewer I would not recommend the detolf

[AmityvilleHams]

I'd actually try modifying the Barney before jumping into the Detolf or something else.All you'd have to do is get wire cutters and remove a panel from two Barney cages,so it really isn't the most complicated DIY(certainly easier than a double Detolf or other things that would give similar or more space).You'd just need to sand the edges very well and zip tie the two cages together,which if done right would result in an expanded cage.

If that absolutely does not work,then you can look into a bin system.It's an expensive process of elimination,but you could just get several bins instead of bothering with the Barney modification.It doesn't have to be a single bin that is the same size as the Barney,since if you get several bins the floor space adds up if and only if they are directly connected(not connected with tubes).They don't have to be expensive bins as long as the lids are secure.The amount of bins needed depends on how big each bin is,but an example would be that a bin setup with two roughly 80 cm x 48ish cm bins and one 60 cm x 40 cm bin gives around a square meter of floor space if directly connected.

[worldturns]

AmityvilleHams those are much better suggestions then mine lol you can tell I don't have much experience with the diy stuff.

as a new cage the barney, has just been purchased I agree with AmityvilleHams. see if you can make changes to the cage you have first.

[cypher]

Some hams will always chew bars & may need a tank but as you've just got the Barney it may well be worth persevering for a while yet.
Do you have a photo of your set up? If you do we might be able to make some suggestions to help.
Weaving cardboard through the bars if it's in specific places can help, she will still chew the card but that can be replaced, even putting some wood or a bendy bridge over the area can help too.
Have you read through the managing bar chewers thread for other ideas?
Try not to reward bar chewing with attention as that can just encourage them to do it more, best to totally ignore them when they do it & only give them attention when it stops.