Is there anything that can be applied to wooden toys to encourage hammys gnaw??

[Golden_Syrian_Hammmies]

Hi I was just wondering is there anything that can be safely applied to wooden toys etc to encourage hammys to gnaw therefore helping teeth to stay healthy and not overgrown? In the past I have noticed that some hammys don't gnaw the wooden things that we owners provide but prefare to chew bars and plastic that we don't want them to chew. I know honey is a no no as it gets stuck in their pouch not to mention being high in sugar. Any ideas would be great fully received 😊

[Gemma_xo]

I was wondering this too!
Pixie has a wooden bridge and a wooden tunnel thing but never chews them, I've just brought loads of flavoured wooden chew sticks but my faith in them being flavoured is nil. But her teeth NEED wearing down (my fingers are suffering!), I've just got dog treats which should help, but I would also like her to chew her furniture (never thought I'd say that in my life, ever, but hey!)
x

[Jeir]

Hard (but not too hard!) things help. Thankfully I've never had a hamster with overgrown teeth; I've found that my hybrids and robos are more interested in nibbling wooden things than any of my syrians have been. Some of the things I've given my hammies over the years are dog biscuits (Biscrok and Gravy Bones - I avoid milk bones due to the added sugar), and monkey nuts. Mainly the monkey nuts. XD Sunflower seeds work as well, even if their shell isn't as hard as the peanut ones. Also, cardboard tubes; you can snip the ends to close them, and put treats inside to encourage your hammy to chew into it.

[Bertiebobbins]

I find Nibble isn't interested in chewing anything non edible so I've gone for the Whimzees chews and dog biscuits, he also has monkey nuts and sunflower seeds in their shells.

I'd be inclined to think that anything declicious enough to tempt them when spread on a wooden toy wouldn't be too good for them!

[Golden_Syrian_Hammmies]

Thanks for your replies! The dog biscuits sound like a good idea! Say I went to Jollyes for example as they sell dog biscuits there in a bin and you can get a much as you need, would any type of biscuit do? Just so I know I am not getting ones that can make fudge ill. Yeah Bertiebobbins I think your right and we don't really want to be doing that if we can help it. Hope your fruit sticks do work Gemma! (It was me who has asked you about your lovely playpen &#128513 so excited because today I went out and did a hammy shopping spree 😊 so fudge has more interesting things/toys in his bin cage.

[Gemma_xo]

I use these two ->
Pedigree Puppy Markies in the Chicken flavour.
Pets at Home Milk Bones

I did ask in another post if they were safe due to having them brought for me, I got the go ahead for both too.
Pixie seems to really like the Markies, although she's hidden the one I put in there 2 days ago, but I'm sure it'll surface soon, when I did see it yesterday she had nibbled at it a little so that was a good sign!

I'll try the P@H ones in a few weeks, but I'm sure she'll be fine with those too

Also, I did reply re the play pen post, I put a link up in my reply for you
x

[RubyDG]

My hamster Spike also has zero interest in chewing wood, flavoured or otherwise. Sometimes with hammies it seems to be a bit of trial and error - you just have to try a whole bunch of diffierent things to figure out what your hammy likes to chew on and then make sure they have an abundance of it even if they are super fussy and only like one or two things. Spike for example is a bit of a fuss pot weirdo when it comes to food so I'm limited with what I can give him to help his teeth. There are three things he will chew on (aside from my carpet ): cardboard/paper, Whimzees and then oddly he likes stripping bark off things so I give him any chews I can find with bark on. Hammies are food orientated so hard treats like unshelled nuts for example are always good - when I give Spike treats I make a point of giving him the few hard treats he likes more often than not.

Another option if you really want to try and use the wooden chews you have is peanut butter. It would be a case of rubbing it into the wood so there is actually not much on there but it still smells yummy. Unfortunately this will only work if your hamster likes peanut butter (Spike doesn't like peanut butter )

[Golden_Syrian_Hammmies]

Great, I will suss these out, thanks for names Gemma. That's actually a cool idea RubyDG, thanks ��. With regards to the dog biscuits, can these be given as often as needed? Or sparringly? Loving hamster central, it's great to meet other people fanatical about hammys �� and any advice needed you guys are on it.

[Golden_Syrian_Hammmies]

Also thanks everyone cos just realizing lots of you gave me names and good advice

[virtualkeith]

My hamster would not chew on anything hard until I got him whimzees. I got the suggestion from someone on this forum. He chews a little each night. It works really well.