Bar swinging and poorly nose.

monalipschitz · 01-09-2008, 02:35 PM

My WW has taken to swinging by his teeth on the bars at the top of his cage. He's in a Rody and climbs up from the shelf, onto the top of his wheel and can then reach his bars. He's been doing it about 3 weeks and after a few days I noticed he was beginning to get a bit of a dent in his fur just above his nose, where it sticks through the bars.

3 days ago he came out for his daytime cuddle and I saw the ridge in his fur was a bit red and it looked sore, although he was fine with me touching it. It looked better yesterday but tonight its seems like a proper scab

He has a variety of different toys, which I rotate in the hope he doesn't get too bored. I've ordered a free standing wheel (silent spinner) so I can remove the old one but I can't remove the shelf because that's how his water bottle's attached.

He doesn't seem in pain but I'm worried about him - is there anything I can/should do?

Holly · 01-09-2008, 02:38 PM

You could try standing something heavy on the side of the wire grille that he can reach - then he won't be able to get his nose/teeth through the bars (I use a wooden show pen for my bar biting Syrian).

I haven't heard of a winter white doing it before!

monalipschitz · 01-09-2008, 02:43 PM

Thanks, I tried putting a box on the lid. I thought it was worknig but then I noticed the sore patch so I removed it in case it was making things worse. I'll pop something heavier later tonight.

He's quite the acrobat - taught himself to shimmy along too.

souffle · 01-09-2008, 03:18 PM

Can you take the shelf out and replace it with something like a lower box which he cannot reach the roof from. I think you need to leave it out for a bit till he repairs the nose. He could break the teeth or get an infection if he keeps it up and they can be really persistant. Just replace with a different toy to try and keep him busy. Maybe a tube run or something. Hope he heals up soon.

Nicolapompicola · 01-09-2008, 03:29 PM

You can use sticky backed velcro to attach the bottle to the tank if you don't want to drill a hole in your tank for the bottle. That way, you can still take the shelf out, which not only gives loads more space imo, but it means your little on won't be able to reach the bars.

souffle · 01-09-2008, 03:54 PM

If you look under the Cage Reviews you will see how someone has removed the shelf and just cut of the end with the bottle holder which works a treat

Its here on the red based cage
http://www.hamstercentral.com/forum/vie ... php?t=2586

**babyboos** · 01-09-2008, 04:29 PM

I have cut the shelf before with great success. Hopefully he will heal quickly once you stop him getting his muzzle through the bars

monalipschitz · 01-09-2008, 04:34 PM

Thanks for the ideas guys

I saw that post - brilliant idea, but neither my mum nor I have the skills

The only other person I can ask for help is my father and the last time he did something 'handy' he flooded the living room.

I love the idea of the velcro for the bottle.

I'll remove the whole shelf and try things that way. Thank you so much everyone.

Is there anything I can do to help his nose heal?

**babyboos** · 01-09-2008, 05:35 PM

not really - keep it clean and dry - application of anything, even something as innocuous as aloe vera gel will only bug him and cause him to rub his nose to get it off so best to let nature take its course.

the only disadvantage I find with Velvro is repeated removal and reattachment makes it less "sticky", but it is worth a try until you break him from the roof pattern - maybe you will be able to reintroduce the level again in future and he will have forgotten this "trick"

**jayne** · 01-10-2008, 05:14 AM

What a little rascal

My two figured out how to do this and i couldnt see how they were getting up there. Turns our they were using the yellow bit at the back of their silent spinner wheels to climb up the back of the wheel and quickly jumping up to the top of the wheel and then again, quickly grabbing on to the bars before the wheel spun round

I too, tried the velcro for the water bottle before i had the idea of cutting the shelf. I'm afraid to say it didnt work, hence the reason i cut the water bottle bit off and used it alone. The bottle was too heave and because of the angle of the plastic lid it wouldnt sit right and kept leaking.

You can try cutting the shelf, we just used heavy duty scissors and it cut no problem, then any sharp bits we used some sand paper and hey presto!