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Old 06-29-2020, 03:44 PM   #1
Benefitsben
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Greater London
Posts: 136
Question Bar biting

My boy has recently started bar chewing in 1 corner. He hasn't bar chewed in a while prior to this but he's suddenly started again. He seemed stressed yesterday but idk why as I hadn't done anything different. I cleaned the bars where he was chewing before and and put a toy in the corner he was chewing, and so far tonight he hasn't chewed but in case he starts again is there anything I can do to stop him? To temporarily stop him so I can sleep without being too anxious about him I give him a chew/treat toy so he's occupied by things other than biting, but I feel like this is rewarding him for chewing which isn't good, so what else can I do to save his teeth and let me sleep? I don't mean a fix for the root of the problem, altho this would be good too, I just need a way to stop him in the moment (if that makes sense lol). Thank you :)
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Old 06-29-2020, 04:03 PM   #2
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Bar biting

Oh dear - he's started again. I think it was after a cage clean last time wasn't it? I think if this doesn't settle you might need to get him a different kind of cage like a maxi duna multy tank with no bars, but that would be extra expense.

I don't think there is a quick fix. Sometimes they will do it to try and tell you something serious is wrong. Is his water bottle working? Wheel working? For tonight you could weave cardboard through the bars in the area he's chewing- tear up a cereal packed or something and weave strips of cardboard in the bars.

I think moving his toys around will annoy him as well. They tend to like things left where they are and some hamsters are much more fussy about this than others.
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Old 06-30-2020, 03:29 PM   #3
Benefitsben
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Default Re: Bar biting

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Oh dear - he's started again. I think it was after a cage clean last time wasn't it? I think if this doesn't settle you might need to get him a different kind of cage like a maxi duna multy tank with no bars, but that would be extra expense.

I don't think there is a quick fix. Sometimes they will do it to try and tell you something serious is wrong. Is his water bottle working? Wheel working? For tonight you could weave cardboard through the bars in the area he's chewing- tear up a cereal packed or something and weave strips of cardboard in the bars.

I think moving his toys around will annoy him as well. They tend to like things left where they are and some hamsters are much more fussy about this than others.
He hasn't started again as such, I think it was just a 1 night thing as he didn't bar chew yesterday. I think he was just bored as he hadn't been let out in a few days and his toys have been the same for a couple months. I cleaned the bars where he was chewing and put a toy in front of it, as well as rearranging his toys and letting him out for playtime and he didn't bar chew. Cardboard would be a good idea however cardboard is one of his favourite things to chew so I think that would only encourage him.

I'm going on holiday in a month or so and he'll be left with my grandparents for 2 weeks who can't let him out, so he will likely get bored and might chew. I'm thinking of zip tying some plexiglass or some other hard plastic to the corner he chews as it's more hard wearing than cardboard and will last 2 weeks. Is this a good idea? And are there some hamster-safe plastics? This is kinda off topic but you know loads about hamsters so you prolly know the answer lol. Thanks :)
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Old 06-30-2020, 04:04 PM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Bar biting

Good that he's stopped again. Weaving cardboard works well as it saves his teeth if he chews the cardboard instead of the bars, but it's only a temporary solution. Plexi is fine.
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Old 06-30-2020, 04:49 PM   #5
Benefitsben
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Default Re: Bar biting

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Good that he's stopped again. Weaving cardboard works well as it saves his teeth if he chews the cardboard instead of the bars, but it's only a temporary solution. Plexi is fine.
Thank you :)
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Old 07-01-2020, 05:07 AM   #6
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Bar biting

When you say he'll be left with your grandparents, do you mean they will be at your house or is his cage going to be moved to their house? Just asking because when I left our hamster, in his cage, at another house, that did set off bar chewing! But only towards the end of the time where he was staying and it continued for two weeks when we got him back. I thought it would help him staying in his familiar cage, but if I did it again I would probably leave his cage in tact at home and take a "holiday cage" for him to go into at the other house. So at least then when they come back they go straight into their familiar cage and it's less likely.

Nothing is certain though. A change of environment and person can lead to them starting to bar chew - stress. But it might be fine - they all vary.

All I do know is that when we took him with us on holiday, and took a slightlysmaller holiday cage - he was absolutely fine. Maybe because we were familiar.

He will be fine with your grandparents but have a think about whether his cage is moving or not.
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Old 07-01-2020, 07:30 AM   #7
Benefitsben
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Default Re: Bar biting

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
When you say he'll be left with your grandparents, do you mean they will be at your house or is his cage going to be moved to their house? Just asking because when I left our hamster, in his cage, at another house, that did set off bar chewing! But only towards the end of the time where he was staying and it continued for two weeks when we got him back. I thought it would help him staying in his familiar cage, but if I did it again I would probably leave his cage in tact at home and take a "holiday cage" for him to go into at the other house. So at least then when they come back they go straight into their familiar cage and it's less likely.

Nothing is certain though. A change of environment and person can lead to them starting to bar chew - stress. But it might be fine - they all vary.

All I do know is that when we took him with us on holiday, and took a slightlysmaller holiday cage - he was absolutely fine. Maybe because we were familiar.

He will be fine with your grandparents but have a think about whether his cage is moving or not.
His cage will be moved to theirs. I'd use my other cage I 1st had for my 1st hamster, however it doesn't fit an 11" wheel, and he is too big to use an 8". I'd rather leave him at my house, but my parents would rather have him at my nan's :/ I'll try talking to them and see if they'll let me keep him at mine. A couple weeks of bar chewing might not kill him, but it might kill me lmao. Thanks for your advice :)
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Old 07-01-2020, 08:37 AM   #8
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Bar biting

Yes it's probably better to move him with his current cage to your grandparents. He might be fine. In my case he was in a room with other hamsters and that might have been what started the bar chewing (copying?!). Even if they stay in the same place it's different as they're aware the person is different. So whatever is easiest. You'd need to put him in a pet carrier to move himto the other house and dismantle the cage. I bagged upall the bedding and toys and took water and food out and then just assembled it all at the other house and popped him in. At least then he has his familiar cage and toys - but try and make sure to put everything back in the same place as it was before so he feels at home.
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Old 07-01-2020, 03:00 PM   #9
Benefitsben
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Default Re: Bar biting

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Yes it's probably better to move him with his current cage to your grandparents. He might be fine. In my case he was in a room with other hamsters and that might have been what started the bar chewing (copying?!). Even if they stay in the same place it's different as they're aware the person is different. So whatever is easiest. You'd need to put him in a pet carrier to move himto the other house and dismantle the cage. I bagged upall the bedding and toys and took water and food out and then just assembled it all at the other house and popped him in. At least then he has his familiar cage and toys - but try and make sure to put everything back in the same place as it was before so he feels at home.
What I normally do is just leave everything in the cage except the water and the hamster, so I don't mess up his burrows, and if anything falls over on the way there I'll sort it out before wi put him in there. At least that's what I did with my last hamster. My nan liklves like a 2 min drive away so it's pretty rare for the cage to get super messed up lol
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Old 07-02-2020, 01:47 AM   #10
Benefitsben
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Greater London
Posts: 136
Default Re: Bar biting

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Yes it's probably better to move him with his current cage to your grandparents. He might be fine. In my case he was in a room with other hamsters and that might have been what started the bar chewing (copying?!). Even if they stay in the same place it's different as they're aware the person is different. So whatever is easiest. You'd need to put him in a pet carrier to move himto the other house and dismantle the cage. I bagged upall the bedding and toys and took water and food out and then just assembled it all at the other house and popped him in. At least then he has his familiar cage and toys - but try and make sure to put everything back in the same place as it was before so he feels at home.
He bar chewed again this morning, and it might be because I didn't let him out last night, but often I can't let him out because he wakes up late, and if he bites everytime it'll be a problem, so I'm thinking about getting him a new cage. It might be a bit stressful for him as in the space of about a month he'll have to get used to new caretakers (I'm going on holiday for a month so my dad is looking after him, before handing him over to my grandparents so he can go on holiday too) and a new cage, but tbh he's left me no other option. My parents won't like it, but it's my room and my money, so they just have to deal with it lol. You said the duna multy was a good cage, but do you have any slightly bigger recommendations, that aren't too expensive? The multy is about the same size as the cage he's already got but if I get him a new cage I'd like it to be a bit bigger than the one I've already got. I live in the UK, so a diy bin from Walmart wouldn't be any good, and I don't think I have the length space for a detolf. Actually nvm, I think I'm gonna make a new thread for this. Thank you :)
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