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Old 03-30-2020, 07:35 PM   #1
ne0t0ky0
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 4
Default Syrian Hamster won't stop chewing, please HELP

My friend has a female Syrian hamster, about 7 or 8 months old, and she has a major chewing problem.

She has a pretty big cage (my friend has upgraded her cage 3 times so far), her current cage is 115 x 60 x 58 cm. 3 levels with a lot of floor space, a big running wheel, lots of bedding, a few climbing toys, plus some containers and stuff to hide and play in. Her food is almost always hidden inside her cage or else my friend gives it to her inside a puzzle so she has to work to get it out (like a inside a toilet paper tube with holes in the sides and the food wrapped in lots of bedding material). The hamster gets taken out to socialise daily, and my friend also hamster proofs her front room and bedroom to let the hamster run around at least twice a week, for 15-30 mins a time.

I've never had a hamster before and neither has my friend but to me she seems extremely intelligent and energetic, which is bad in a way because it means it's so hard to keep her happy. I remember when she was new, she would run on the wheel all day, this slowly changed to bar biting and bar chewing (she always chews at a particular corner of her cage). My friend used to get up every 3 mins to wrap cardboard around the bars so that she had something to chew on without hurting her teeth. We got her a couple of chews and stuff and she did chew through them very fast (like a day or 2), and she spends an insane amount of time chewing so I don't think she's chewing just to run down her teeth.

Initially she was in a cage with steel bars but the chewing became constant so my friend upgraded her to a larger wooden cage with a plastic wall (this is the current cage: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PawHut-Ha...e/382624858719 ). However this didn't solve the problem and she again continues to chew the cage to the point where the wood is so chewed down she will soon have chewed a hole in the wood to escape.

Things we're gunna try to do:

1. get a lot of Lego so that we can make her hamster-sized mazes and puzzles quickly so that she has some new mental stimulation everyday.

2. Keep upgrading her cage so that she has a LOT of space (we're gonna connect up her current cage to her old cage via a tube system, and then connect THAT to a glass aquarium cage, AND she'll have some open space of her own like a little backyard that she can run into which will be fenced off obv but it will be able to give her a feeling of openness and hopefully make her feel like she has her own territory.

3. get her more toys

4. bringing her cage over to my house for a few hours so that she has a new environment to explore on her own (would this be upsetting for her?)

BUT basically we don't know what else to do. My friend is really upset, she's wondering if it's really cruel to keep a hamster as a pet full stop (ngl i kinna think it is, even tho were doing our best to give this hamster a gd life she still spends at least 50% of her time gnawing at some wood/bars, so obviously there's still a lack of mental stimulation).

My main question is this- is the hamster unhappy? Maybe the chewing is just an addictive behaviour she learned from a young age? What else can we do to make her even more mentally stimulated and happy?

As for how the hamster seems, she does seem happy when she's out of the cage. She's calm and sociable, doesn't really sit still but not frantic at all when being handled. She is constantly exploring, if she hasn't been out of her cage for a while to explore on her own she does get frantic but if she has been exploring for at least 30 mins a week, more like 2 hours a week usually (my friend tries to let her out on her own everyday for 15-30 mins but the absolute minimum is 30 mins a week) then she is much much calmer, so getting out and exploring definitely has a positive effect. She never bites. She does seem very interested in the perimeter of things, such as corners and walls, which makes me think she's constantly trying to escape. But exploring the perimeter of your territory might just be a natural response. When she was just new she used to run on the wheel for hours at a time, so she's always been extremely energetic. But now she barely runs on the wheel for a long time, she seems more interested in climbing and (mostly) chewing. I also think she went thru some depressive episodes where she kept sleeping for long periods of time, like she would stay inside her den for 18 hours straight sometimes, but maybe that's normal?

Anyway soz 4 rambling but basically IDK what else we can do except add more space and stimulation. Is the hamster happy?
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Old 03-31-2020, 05:31 AM   #2
Ria P
House of Hamsters
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Posts: 7,103
Default Re: Syrian Hamster won't stop chewing, please HELP

I can imagine that it is distressing and frustrating for you and your friend to watch this hamster lady chewing so much considering that you are making this huge effort trying to make her happy.
I have a male Syrian who is pretty much the opposite from your friend's hamster so i'm not talking from experience but would like to make a couple of observations.

Have you checked that the wheel is working ok?

Have you checked that the water bottle is working?

I'm mentioning these to rule out that the hamster is trying to tell you something.

Does the hamster have a big bottomless house placed on top of the substrate not on top of a shelf?

Hamsters are ground dwellers and need to be able to make a big nest in a sheltered area like a house and they like to keep a hoard by their nest. They also need nesting material like paper substrate and plain white toilet paper torn into strips.

Hamsters generally don't like changes and need time to settle in a new habitat and this hamster has already had three different cages. It's a bit like humans moving house, it causes a lot of upheaval. Hamsters don't usually like a change of environment either so i would advise against taking her to your house.

Many hamsters ignore chew toys but love a Whimzee dog chew. The small toothbrushes are very popular but there are a number of shapes available. You could go and buy a big hedgehog Whimzee and plonk it in the corner where she chews to see if it would distract her.

You could also try scutter feeding for a change instead of hiding her food or even give her a food bowl for a change. I understand why you make the effort to hide her food in puzzle toys and try to stimulate her mentally but sometimes it is possible to overthink and going back to basics may help. You could hide treats in puzzle toys instead and see how it goes.

It is normal for a hamster not to make an appearance for 18hrs. Two of my hamsters i sometimes don't see for a couple of days. Hamsters eat from their hoards and probably come out for a drink when we are not watching.

I have read that female Syrians especially can be hard to please and excessive chewing can become a habit that is hard to break and i hope that someone here will be able to advise you.

You could post a photo of the hamster and her current set up.
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Old 03-31-2020, 05:47 AM   #3
peculiarplanets
Hamster Pup
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 170
Default Re: Syrian Hamster won't stop chewing, please HELP

Hi! Sorry to hear about the problem you're having with the hamster. I have a female Syrian too and I recognise some of this behaviour. My Syrian Jupiter is very hard to please and loves to chew as well. She also loves to climb and will often climb on top of things to chew on the mesh on the lid of her aquarium tank. She's not interested in boredom breakers at all but is a true escape artist.

You mentioned that the hamster is taken out for free running twice a week. I take Jupiter out every night, usually in two separate blocks of 20-30 minutes to divide her energy. While doing so she'll chew on the carpet or on the door frame. While I do try and pull her away from some spots, I will allow her to do so in spots where the damage will be hidden (such as the corner of the carpet behind my bedroom curtain). I've noticed that since I've started to take her out more she became a bit calmer. She'll still bite the mesh but not as frantic anymore. Usually she does this when she wants to be let out.

Hamsters are rodents and rodents like to chew. Syrian females are just very hard to please but they're absolutely wonderful when you get to know them. Jupiter is at her happiest when she gets to explore places outside of her cage with things to climb onto and dig behind (which is why I scatter many plushies around my bedroom for her to climb on).

And I agree with Ria P. I recently changed Jupiter's cage set up twice in a row with like a week in between and I could immediately tell she wasn't happy with that as the mesh biting became more frantic and almost aggressive. Also check if the wheel works because I know that Jupiter's often gets stuck because of the substrate she shoves underneath it.

I hope this helps!
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Old 04-01-2020, 03:17 PM   #4
ne0t0ky0
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 4
Default Re: Syrian Hamster won't stop chewing, please HELP

thx 4 the responses guys, quick update. I've been doing a lot of research and based on a couple studies I found that suggested the absolute minimum of territory a syrian hamster in captivity needs is 1500square inches, along with a bedding depth of min 80cm. My friend current layout gives her only 1000 square inches although it is much larger than the minimum recommended by pet shops.

The hamster's wheel does run well and she has a lot of bedding, in some places it's 30cm deep. We ran out of chinchilla sand tho so she hasn't had a sand bath for a while which might be irritating, I noticed her scratching herself on a tube today so we ordered some more sand.

One thing I did notice is that yesterday we took her out for a longer time than usual, and when she returned to the cage she was more relaxed. She hasn't chewed for 24 hours.

After researching this for a while I really do think that it's a simple matter of her needing more space. A few studies I found pointed to the conclusion that Syrian hamsters (especially females, with males it's not as bad) aren't good candidates for captivity compared to other hamster species such as Dwarfs, which need far less space. We're going to aim to give the hamster about 3 or 4 square meters of cage space (basically taking up half my friend's bedroom) plus an extensive tunnel system going round the house, and extra free roaming time. Hopefully that stops the chewing lol.

The problem with the tunnel system thing is that so far all the parts I can find are extremely overpriced, can you guys recommend any cheap hamster tubes or DIY alternatives? And Ria P, cud u plz send me a link to a good Wimzee chew that your hamster liked? dont wanna get the wrong one, thank u guys
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