New little guy doesn't like to chew things.

teamlamont · 01-22-2019, 05:44 PM

Hi everyone! First time hamster owner here. My little dwarf hybrid is super cute and friendly but I am concerned he is not chewing much and I don't want his teeth to get overgrown.

Some background: He came home with me just over two weeks ago and seems to be adjusting nicely. Very friendly to me and lets me handle him after some bonding time and doesn't bite now that he knows my hands are not food. When I got him I was told he was just 3 months old.

I have used stick type chews, the pumice-type triangles, raw wood, cardboard, etc and cannot get him to chew things. I even tried putting a little natural penutbutter on some and he just licked it off. I tried a walnut in the shell, slightly cracked but he didn't seem to have the motivation so want to chew it open.

Any thoughts here or suggestions?

Finally, he does not use anything for nesting (EG, toilet paper, tissue, etc) other than his bedding (care fresh substrate).

Are these things he might grow out of as he is still adjusting to his new home or just something some little fur balls don't do?

Thanks in advance for all your help and for bing so kind and welcoming in this forum.

AxisOkami · 01-22-2019, 10:11 PM

I've come to notice that hamsters all have different habits.
I have 2 dwarf hamsters. One absolutely loves chewing on all her wooden blocks, while the other one doesn't care for it, and both their teeth are in perfect condition.

Their teeth growing shouldn't be a problem as long as they eat their pellet food which is usually hard enough to keep their teeth in good condition.

My boyfriend is a zoologist and they were taught that rodents don't need to chew on items to file their teeth down. The front of their teeth is rough and they will scrape their teeth over each other to file it down. This is why sometimes it sounds like they are chewing when they aren't eating anything.
Naturally many sources contradict one another so I'm not sure whether the above is true or if the hamsters needing to chew on things is true.

But I wouldn't worry if I was you, you just have a furbaby who doesn't like chewing.

cypher · 01-22-2019, 11:20 PM

I wouldn't worry, none of my Russian hams have ever been interested in chewing wooden chews or other chew toys, they might have a nibble on an apple stick, hazel stick or dandelion root occasionally but about the only chew they enjoy is the whimzee dog chews, you should be able to get them where you are, the little toothbrush ones are about the best for them.
As long as he has a good food mix that should be enough to keep his teeth trim so extra chews are by no means essential.
I wouldn't worry about him not using nest material either, as long as he's happy it doesn't matter! Sometimes if it gets cold they will want extra toilet tissue even if they don't use it much normally so it's best to just leave some in the cage.

teamlamont · 01-22-2019, 11:29 PM

Thank you AxisOkami and cypher! This makes me feel better. Just a new hamster dad worried about his little guy. The only thing I had to compare him to was my lady friends two boys who are both furious chewers and love toilet paper. Strangely enough, I picked up some whimzee chews today but he's had little interest. Thank you again for all the help and for making me feel at ease.

cypher · 01-22-2019, 11:56 PM

Not likely whimzees is unusual for a little Russian! I'm sure he'll be fine without though.

Natasha95 · 01-23-2019, 09:33 AM

I know everyone else is telling you not to worry, but just in case you still want your hamster to chew on his chew toys, what I sometimes do with my Syrian is put a super thin layer of peanut butter on his chew toys to make them more attractive to him, and that works!

cypher · 01-23-2019, 09:40 AM

I wouldn't recommend putting peanut butter on chews or anything else for that matter.

Natasha95 · 01-23-2019, 10:52 AM

Oh. I thought I got that peanut butter advice here, but it might've been on hamsterhideout.com. Never mind then!

teamlamont · 01-23-2019, 11:27 AM

Is a all natural peanut butter not good for them? As I said in my original post, I tried that and it didn't make a difference....only initial curiosity. I used one that only had peanuts as the ingredient. He doesn't seem to like it anyway.

Thanks.

cypher · 01-23-2019, 11:33 AM

Natural peanut butter is safe in the sense that it's not full of all the stuff in the other types but all peanut butter is too sticky if they have more than the tiniest bit & even that could be a problem if it gets in their pouches, putting it on chews will just leave an oily residue which will over time go off if left.