Register FAQ Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Navigation
Front Page
Forum
Gallery
Wiki

Ads by Google


Go Back   Hamster Central > Hamster Central Forum Topics > Hamster Healthcare

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-15-2011, 05:21 PM   #1
MissMarvel
Hamster Pup
 
MissMarvel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Kent
Posts: 247
Default Hamster not chewing her chew toys?

my Syrian has various chew toys in her cage, but she doesn't seem to be interested in them. shes had a nibble at some of the little things but nothing major (shes still young) should i be worried only i don't want her teeth to become overgrown. Or will she just decide to chew them when she feels she needs to?
MissMarvel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-15-2011, 05:37 PM   #2
CoolcatNatNat44
Miss Hamster Addict
 
CoolcatNatNat44's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3,781
Default Re: Hamster not chewing her chew toys?

All of my hamsters are like this, its nothing serious i would just let them get used to them in their own time
__________________

Sleep well Nibbles, Honeydo, Cookie, Crumble & Maisie
CoolcatNatNat44 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-15-2011, 06:15 PM   #3
MissMarvel
Hamster Pup
 
MissMarvel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Kent
Posts: 247
Default Re: Hamster not chewing her chew toys?

Quote:
Originally Posted by CoolcatNatNat44 View Post
All of my hamsters are like this, its nothing serious i would just let them get used to them in their own time
Ah thank you!, i just didn't want her to resort to bar chewing :L maybe when shes older she might be more interested in them
MissMarvel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-15-2011, 06:27 PM   #4
kyrilliondaemon
Retired Moderator
 
kyrilliondaemon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Aberystwyth
Posts: 16,105
Default Re: Hamster not chewing her chew toys?

Yeah none of ours chew much (except the bar chewing lunatic lol), and the only one who chews bars started doing so really early to get our attention.
Then it just progressed to really bad levels and she's now banned from bars and chewing anything she can get her teeth on to distract herself. Even she didn't chew much before the addiction though, so I think its now that her gnawing is unhealthy to be honest, rather than before when she scarcely chewed anything.

Oh and I think if they're going to bar chew nothing will stop them. Scamp had wooden toys, a mineral block, fruit flavoured wood, fruit flavoured calcium based stuff on lolly sticks, a loofah, cuttlebone, cardboard, small wooden sticks (from multiple trees), dog biscuits, hamster-safe string woven through some of her bars... And the only thing she ever touched much was her bars. It all started to get our attention though, just managed to get into an addiction from there. Now she gnaws anything and everything but its just because she's being forced to get over the bar chewing thing.

If your hamster starts on its bars do what you can to stop them. We tried with Scamp but not as much as hindsight says we probably should have, but theres no point in worrying about them chewing bars until they start doing it to be honest.
__________________
kyrilliondaemon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-15-2011, 06:51 PM   #5
Flamestriker
Hells Hamsters
 
Flamestriker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: South Wales
Posts: 2,626
Default Re: Hamster not chewing her chew toys?

Squeak chews bars, but I haven't got room for a tank or Duna cage. I'm concerned about bar rub on her nose. She has wooden toys and chew sticks which she nibbles now and again
__________________
Proud mummy of Fluffy

I started off with one hammy...but one is never enough
Flamestriker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-15-2011, 06:55 PM   #6
kyrilliondaemon
Retired Moderator
 
kyrilliondaemon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Aberystwyth
Posts: 16,105
Default Re: Hamster not chewing her chew toys?

One suggestion is the very time-consuming option of weaving hamster-safe string through all the bars she can reach. It stopped Scamp for a while, except she moved to other bars within about 5 minutes lol, and soon learnt that if I was threading anything with her in the cage she should try and steal the string from me. I decided I didn't have the time or patience to spend a couple of hours weaving though, even if playing tug-of-war with Scamp and the string was kinda funny lol
Alternatively things like cardboard would probably be way faster... Why have I only just thought of that?
__________________
kyrilliondaemon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-16-2011, 02:58 AM   #7
louisbs
Hamster Addict
 
louisbs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Southampton, UK
Posts: 895
Send a message via MSN to louisbs
Default Re: Hamster not chewing her chew toys?

Mine dont touch store bought wooden things
But i find a simple cardboard box is more fun for them lol
__________________
RIP Honey 02/13 | RIP Pixie 11/12 | RIP Tom 04/09 - 06/12 | RIP Jerry 04/09 - 09/12
louisbs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-16-2011, 05:56 PM   #8
Flamestriker
Hells Hamsters
 
Flamestriker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: South Wales
Posts: 2,626
Default Re: Hamster not chewing her chew toys?

Iv just ordered a bitter apple anti chew spray from Amazon which I'm going to dilute and coat the bars of the cage with. Squeak does chew the bars, but not all of the time, but they are looking very unsightly and iv noticed the fur around her muzzle is looking ruffled so I gotta do something.

I just don't have room for a Duna or a tank. I'm starting to pull my hair out because I am concerned about bar rub.
__________________
Proud mummy of Fluffy

I started off with one hammy...but one is never enough
Flamestriker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-16-2011, 06:16 PM   #9
kirst
Hamster Pup
 
kirst's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: England
Posts: 185
Default Re: Hamster not chewing her chew toys?

I have a wooden "rattle" thats made of wood and she has almost chewed through ALL of that but when she's on the first level of the cage all she does is chew the bars no matter how many chews i put in there!
kirst is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-16-2011, 06:33 PM   #10
kyrilliondaemon
Retired Moderator
 
kyrilliondaemon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Aberystwyth
Posts: 16,105
Default Re: Hamster not chewing her chew toys?

Flamestriker - Good plan.
Scamp gets her bars back on er... Thursday apparently, so hopefully over a week being bar-free will have cured her of it. If it hasn't we resort to plan 2 - either buying stuff to stop her biting, smearing vinegar/lemon juice over the bars, or taking bars off her permanently lol
__________________
kyrilliondaemon is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.43 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Copyright © 2003-2022, Hobby Solutions
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:02 AM.