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Old 01-07-2014, 04:45 PM   #21
ThePipsqueakery
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Default Re: PLEASE help. I can't take much more.

I love love love large aquariums and use them for all of my hamsters.
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Old 01-07-2014, 06:44 PM   #22
Scrubby
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Default Re: PLEASE help. I can't take much more.

I don't mean to be rude and I appreciate all the advice but I have said I don't want a tank or a bin cage but people keep telling me to get one.
No thank you, I do not want a tank, I do not want a bin cage.
I'd like a solution to stop her biting the bars where I don't have to make a cage and that isn't a tank. As I have said my last hamster was stressed in a tank and honestly I don't have the time or patience to make a bin cage.
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Old 01-07-2014, 07:50 PM   #23
BrainGirl
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Default Re: PLEASE help. I can't take much more.

We're not trying to be rude, but that was your last hamster. This is a different one, with a different personality, and she may be perfectly happy in a tank-style cage. Better yet, you won't be driven to dislike or possibly even rehome her. Now that would be stressful for her!

As a last resort for the barred cage, you could try hanging toys lengthwise along the bars, like garlands. See if that distracts her or perhaps lining the cage with 1/4" mesh which she can't get her teeth through.

Negative reinforcement doesn't seem to work on rodents and flavours that we (and other animals) find nasty are like spice to them, even if it causes them discomfort. Go for the positive reinforcement and distraction techniques and then if that doesn't work I'm afraid that removing access to the bars may be your only option
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Old 01-07-2014, 09:50 PM   #24
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Default Re: PLEASE help. I can't take much more.

Just because your last hamster for some reason didn't like a tank, doesn't mean this one won't, especially if it's large and filled with toys. There's no logical reason why a hamster should dislike a tank style cage. All of mine are in large (90cm+ long) tank cages, and there's never been a problem. A creative layout and good fun toys.

A tank is also very transparent and makes for great visibility. As a bonus, it's completely escape-proof, if you get a proper top for it.

I understand that you want to keep a barred cage, but if you don't like the advice people have given you, and it's not stopping your hamster from chewing bars, then the only answer is a tank style cage. Surely it's better to try that rather than give up your hamster and subject it to even MORE stress from rehoming.
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Old 01-07-2014, 09:54 PM   #25
Panda's_mommy
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Default Re: PLEASE help. I can't take much more.

Everyone should know hamsters are nocturnal, especially someone who wants to get one as a pet! Why would you get a pet you know is going to be active and noisy at night and early in the morning knowing that you may not get much sleep? Panda doesn't chew bars and his wheel isn't that loud but if he's on it when I'm about to go to bed I put my ear plugs in. I just don't get why you got a hamster and now you are all frustrated. They are nocturnal so you probably shouldn't own any noisy nocturnal animals!!!!!
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Old 01-07-2014, 09:56 PM   #26
ThePipsqueakery
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Default Re: PLEASE help. I can't take much more.

Well I've personally never managed to convince a hamster to stop bar chewing (and I've had a lot of hamsters). Luckily other people have given you some ideas to try so if that doesn't work then you will either need to put her in a tank/bin style cage or rehome her. I hope you have better luck than I have getting her to stop because it can end up damaging her teeth badly if she continues to bar chew. Sometimes a cage that you consider less than ideal might be what you have to do to keep your hammy safe from herself. Good luck!
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Old 01-08-2014, 12:09 AM   #27
a_small_pineapple
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Default Re: PLEASE help. I can't take much more.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Panda's_mommy View Post
Everyone should know hamsters are nocturnal, especially someone who wants to get one as a pet! Why would you get a pet you know is going to be active and noisy at night and early in the morning knowing that you may not get much sleep? Panda doesn't chew bars and his wheel isn't that loud but if he's on it when I'm about to go to bed I put my ear plugs in. I just don't get why you got a hamster and now you are all frustrated. They are nocturnal so you probably shouldn't own any noisy nocturnal animals!!!!!
The OP has had hamsters before and so is presumably aware of how noisy a hamster going about its normal business is. There is a massive difference between a hamster running normally on its wheel and a hamster chewing on bars/rattling the outside of its cage. You simply cannot predict how noisy an individual hamster will be and to say that the OP should not have any noctunal pets simply because this individual hammy in this cage is causing problems is unfair.

OP you may not like tanks, but i was simply suggestng it because after trying to block off access to where sally was chewing along with any other discouragement i could think of... Swapping her into a glass tank was the only option. I could have saved a lot of time (and got a lot more sleep!) if i'd just accepted the inevitable a bit sooner.

Last edited by souffle; 01-08-2014 at 03:11 AM.
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Old 01-08-2014, 12:57 AM   #28
souffle
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Default Re: PLEASE help. I can't take much more.

I really think you should try the suggestion of myself and others of some ear plugs scrubby. Honestly they do work quite well!
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Old 01-08-2014, 02:02 AM   #29
Holly's Mum
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Default Re: PLEASE help. I can't take much more.

One solution that nobody has mentioned yet is weaving strips of thin cardboard (like old food packets) in and out of the bars. I did this with my Holly, had to do most of one side of the cage where he could reach the bars, but it did work. He chewed the cardboard quite a bit for a while and then got bored with it and stopped.
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Old 01-08-2014, 03:50 AM   #30
squishyhammy
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Default Re: PLEASE help. I can't take much more.

scrubby citrus is bad for hamsters and i wouldnrt put any spray on the bars as they generally dont work (never heard a case of it working) rehoming the hamster will be far more stressful for it than moving it to a tank. pasta was a bar chewer in his first cage. when i moved him to the much bigger alaska he stopped for a while but then started again. but lately he has stopped. what cage is your hamster in? perhaps its a bit small
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