My hamster bar chews and her barney cage is flimsy

[newtohammys]

So one of the bars is half broke (hasn't fully broken off yet but probably will) she's been back to bar chewing for the first time today which annoys me because I literally took her out in her ball for the first time in like a week and she repays me by chewing her cage its so insane to me.

Like for a first time hamster owner to have gone through all the bar chewing in her first cage then save up buy her a bigger cage more toys a play pen lots of bedding. Everything a hamster could possibly want and then I worry about her itching take her to the vet and scrub and clean her entire cage for hours to have this happen again is so upsetting.

I love her and don't want to see her go but I dunno what to do she's just so difficult it makes me want to cry.

[CMB]

Having the cage cleaned could have caused her to get a bit stressed and bar chew. When a cage is cleaned it removes the hamsters scent, which is important to them.

It's best to remove some/most of the pee soaked substrate/bedding and add fresh. Then wait a week before cleaning any houses, hides, wheel and toys. This keeps the hamsters scent strong on either substrate/bedding of houses, hides, wheel and toys.

[newtohammys]

I had to do all that cleaning out because the vet told me to incase she had mites with her last bedding so I switched her bedding to hemp and she seems unhappy with the bedding I mean its better at holding tunnels but its bad in that it doesn't seem soft enough for her I used to have tissue in her cage for her but I worry shed end up swallowing hemp if she put the tissue in her cheeks or that maybe the tissue was the cause of the possible mites idk.

[CMB]

Tissue is good for the nest. A paper based substrate would be softer than hemp. Is the hemp you use like a pellet?

Once she has re-scent marked her cage the bar bitting may stop again. Try lots of distraction, time out of her cage, hidden food/treats, a digging area.

[newtohammys]

So you think tissue would be safe after all? I worry the itching might be ammonia burns from peeing and sleeping in her nest although her nest never feels wet. Its the time out in the ball that seemed to have started this chewing again

[CMB]

Do you think she likes using the ball?

She could be chewing because she likes using the ball and wants to come out of her cage to use the ball.

Or she may have been stressed whilst using the ball.

It's hard to work out what the want sometimes. I'm having trouble with my dwarf hamster. I had hamsters before. Then had a long break from having a hamster, before getting another. So I'm kind of relearning.

The tissue would be safe, best used for the nest rather than the whole cage. The tissue must be unscented and if you put a piece in water it should dissolve. That way you know if your hamster pouches or eats it, it will break down inside the hamster and not cause blockages/illness.

[Pebbles82]

And breathe I know these things can get stressful but your hammy will probably settle down again. They don't cope with change well at all so a cage clean and a new substrate will be adding to stress probably as CMB says. And yes maybe she needs to burn off some of that stress by being out a bit more at the moment. Until she settles down again, try and avoid any cleaning or moving or changing anything in the cage - for at least a couple of weeks. I should think the vet visit stressed her as well.

As for the bar on the Barney - that is a total pain! How long have you had the cage? Zooplus are quite good over issues and damage, if you haven't had it long. Send them a photo of the broken bar and they might sort something out for you.

Our last hamster went through something like this after we'd been on holiday and taken his cage to someone else's house, then back to our house. It was quite stressful and he also started bar chewing and wanting to come out all the time. I did give him extra out of cage time and ended up setting up the playpen round the cage (which was on the floor) and leaving the cage door open all evening so he could go in and out (but still needed observing in case of escapes so it took up a bit of time), but as soon as we closed the cage door again he started going crazy and bar chewing again. But if we put the lights out and left the room he stopped - so it was an attention thing.

In the end as soon as he started, we put the lights out and went to bed early. I would pop down about midnight in the dark and he wasn't bar chewing. But it took about two weeks of extra out of cage time, and early lights out before he settled down and stopped. Maybe she doesn't like hemp! I think that's unlikely though.

You can't get mites from plain toilet paper. I don't know about the itching but they do groom and scratch quite a lot, and that's quite normal. It's only if you see sores and it's really excessive scratching you suspect mites.

She probably doesn't know what's hit her after the vet visit and then her whole cage smelling totally strange as if it's someone else's cage. And on top of that she's female! They come on heat every four days.

Is her cage in your room? And the bar biting driving you crazy? Maybe try ignoring her a bit, and giving the out of cage time at a regular time each night so she gets into a pattern of when to expect to be out and when to expect to be ignored.

[Princess Pixie]

Ok this may be wrong but why not get her a tank cage?

[newtohammys]

I honestly dunno if she does like using the ball. I've tried the play pen idea but she escapes from it every time. I'll try leave her alone as I think it might be an attention thing as the more attention I give her the more she bar chews and stops after she realizes I'm not running over to try talk her out of the chewing xP

The vet visit was quite long and stressful she tried to escape a lot but didn't bite anyone luckily but I could tell it was traumatic especially the injection.

Yeah I'm starting to think the amount she scratches is normal because I get itches almost every hour but I'm perfectly healthy so maybe the vet was an overreaction but I like to be overprotective since shes such a small bean.

Yes her cage is in my room and I barely hear it tbh compared to how loud it was in her last cage so maybe she stops when I'm not giving her attention. Its possible she just wants me to leave her alone although someone said she might be in heat which would add to her stress even more idk.

Because most people have had issues with their hamster chewing even in a tank cage they'll find something else to chew not to mention I've spent a LOT of money on her previous cage and new cage and i can barely afford food since im constantly buying her new things trying to keep her from getting bored. I'm just going to leave her alone for a while and let her get it out of her system.

I've messaged zooplus because a cage of this price should NOT be that flimsy bar wise especially when its for a hamster

[Pebbles82]

I hope Zooplus help you out there. How long have you had the cage. Yes they are great escape artists! I had to be there all the time with our last playpen to stop escapes.