Hello and help with hamster biting large cage

[timidLittleHamster]

Hello! I'm a Portuguese woman living in the UK and I'm a proud owner of my first Syrian hamster, a little timid girl named Vanilla/Canjinha (me and my boyfriend have different names for her).
I know everyone asks for help and I'm sorry if this is annoying repetition but I'd be very greatful if you could look at my enclosure and hamster and advise me on how to make my little girl's life the best it can be (pictures at the end).

Useful information
Hamster

• Birthday: 21st October 2020
• Move in date: 13th Decembre 2020 from local breeder
• Gender and coat: Female short hair
• Weight: 95g
• Tamed: not yet but accepts treats, pets sometimes and follows my hand

Cage

• Name: Ferplast Maxi Duna Multi
• Internal measurements: 95cm wide x 47cm deep x 34cm tall
• Floorspace: 4465cm squared

Cage setup

• Bedding height: 18cm (Carefresh Natural Paper fibre)
• 1 32cm Trixie silent wheel
• 1 Trixie Natural Living Labyrinth house
• 1 Bendy bridge
• 1 sand bath
• 1 toilet with potty litter
• 1 branch
• 1 water dish (I scatter feed her)
• 1 bridge (I think it's not wide enough so I'll sell it or swap it)
• Some willow sticks
• 6 or so chew toys (she always takes the 4 carrots into her hideout)
• 1 Rosewood Toy and Treat holder
• 1 kitchen roll tube (I want to get something better...)

Playpen

• 1 Lagxun adjustable playpen - I've made it smaller and bigger than her cage and just put her cage toys in there

Ufff...after all that, here's my concerns: The other day I was filming her and she was very energetic, walking around and running on her wheel, which I was happy about but at some point she started scratching the transparent plastic. She also went on top of her hideout and started monkey baring for a few moments. This morning I looked at her cage and she had been biting the 2 water bottle holes each side of the cage.

Is the enclosure still too small for her or is she bored with what she has inside?

I don't mind spending hundreds on her, money is not a problem for me, I just couldn't find a bigger cage with tall enough area for substrate...
I thought about changing the lid to be the top of another cage so I could make room for a hammock and some platforms. For example using the metal structure of a cage like this but, of course, I didn't find any cage with exact or approximate measurements of the lid (69cm x 31.5cm).

What should I do? Should I didtch the cage for a new one? Is the problem just what's inside of it?

[Ria P]

Hello and welcome to HC!

Hamsters like out of cage time so it could be that your hamster simply wanted to come out.
The playpen looks big enough for you to sit in it with her to interact and play with her.
I would try more out of cage time before looking into buying another cage and see how it goes.

As for chew toys, she'd probably like a Whimzee dog chew and they usually end up in the nest.

The cage looks fine to me but i would replace the potty litter with sand. Apparently, it can be harmful when ingested.

You could maybe add a coconut hide because a lot of hamsters like those. All my hamsters do but one who prefers his ceramic hide.
Another thing they like is a big heap of torn up strips of plain white unscented toilet paper left outside their house. They use it to build or improve their nests and keeps them busy for a while.

If you want to replace the kitchen roll with something different a cork tunnel may be a good idea.

Homemade hanging cardboard toys with treats hidden in them keeps them entertained as well, for a while anyway.

A few of my hamsters monkey bar and chew the bars now and again, usually when they see or smell me, to get my attention. It's not so that they want to see me but i'm the one who takes them out for free roaming time.
This behaviour does not necessarily mean that they are bored or need a bigger cage. They just love to run and sniff around.

[timidLittleHamster]

Hi Ria, thanks for your answer. I give her playpen time 4 or so times a week, she had this behaviour just after I put her there after her play time. She wasn't enjoying it much since she was biting the edges of the playpen. Sometimes she seems to like it, other times she doesn't...

I had also put more substrate on her cage and cleaned her hideout. Maybe the combination of all that caused this...? I've been checking her out tonight and she hasn't bitten anything yet which is a relief.

I didn't know the potty litter was bad for her, she likes it a lot, always goes there to dig. I'll replace it with sand and see how she likes it. I know she uses her sand bath it during the night.
Your suggestions are really good, I'll probably get all of that!

[Pebbles82]

Hello. It is very common for them to chew at the water bottle hole in that cage. The solution is to block the hole with a screw in wood chew or a parrot perch type thing - something that has a bolt and a nut to fasten. Or just a nut and bolt! I have seen some wood carrot chews that screw in. You then need a free standing water bottle holder or make one.

Hamsters can monkey bar - they always look to see if there is a way out so that in itself Nat not be a major thing unless she is frantic. Cleanouts can maje then frantic so just spot clean as and when necessary. With a litter tray you can go a long time without needing to do a substrate change. They also don’t like things being moved around.

Set up looks very nice - but maybe a bit exposed - it’s always difficult with a tank style cage to have overhead hanging things or platforms but a platform gives another shelter. A large cork tunnel would do that too - it’s tall enough to be overhead cover- but it would also help her reach the top bars!

Having said all that, some female hamsters are extremely active and do need more space. More do than males usually.

The biggest commercial cage I know of is the Living World Eco habitat but that can be chewed as well.

How would you feel about diy? The Linmon cage is a large, popular diy cage. It’s on YouTube if you put it in the search box. An IKEA hack. Alternatively a detolf could be good. Google “Hamster detolf” and click on images for some examples. That is minimal diy - just two lids to make out of strips of wood and mesh.

[timidLittleHamster]

Hi folks, it's been a couple of days and I bought her 2 tunnels (the coconut hideout is still on its way) and things are worse. I covered the hole in the cage with her sandbath tupperware but she has now been biting it. She is monkey barring every day, I also heard her making loud teeth chaterring noises for a few seconds. It breaks my heart... I took her out when I saw her doing this, I spoke to her softly, I put her in her large playpen but she just walks around fast and bites the corners of the playpen aggressively...
I put my hand in the cage, she sniffs it and tries to climb my arm, biting my robe, doesn't bite my skin which is nice I think... Yesterday night I put her in the sofa, just so it wasn't the playpen, but it didn't make things that much better. Me and her were both very stressed.

I sent an email to a carpenter asking how much he would charge to make me a custom cage, 160cm by 60cm (160cm is the longest I can have in my house) and I'm now waiting for a reply. I'm not good at DIY nor do I have the tools for something like this.

I read a lot of threads about female hamsters and some people saying that some female hamsters can still be unhappy even with 2000sq inches of floorspace and I'm very scared that may happen.

I put her hideout and things more submerged in the bedding so she can't reach the top bars but to no avail, she always manages to get there.

[Pebbles82]

I’m so sorry to hear this. She does sound very stressed for some reason. Did you check out the detolf? It’s not too expensive and is 163cm long. It is only about 38cm deep but it is plenty big enough for most hamsters. Your carpenter could make the lids. They are actually very simple to make and there are YouTube videos with how to work out the dimensions for the lengths of pieces of wood. Most people maje two smaller lids so they are easier to remove. They are just four pieces of wood screwed together and mesh attached with a stapler.

In the meantime it can also be set up that isn’t right for them and the more we try and adjust it the more stressed they get by the changes! Females also come on heat every four days. Do you think she is worse some days than others.

When you describe her chewing your sleeve it sounds like testing for nesting material to forage for.

My suggestion in the short term is to give her a large house in the cage, if she doesn’t have one. And a very big pile of torn up strips of plain white toilet paper. A cardboard shoebox house is ideal and easy to make. Just cut the base out of a shoebox and cut a hole for a door - best place for the door is at one end of one of the long sides of the shoebox. That means the other end is darker inside. You keep the lid as a lift off roof - but I wouldn’t lift it off for a while until she’s settled a bit. If you havd a bendy stick bridge then putting that over the door will also make it darker inside and will provide a tunnel entrance which will tempt her inside. It also makes a ramp onto the roof so that makes another level.

For now I wouldn’t worry about trying to prevent her monkey barring but just make sure she can land on anything hard or spiky/sharp if she drops.

She will accept the addition of something she approves of. Also don’t clean her out for a couple of weeks. Put a smelly treat inside the shoe box house to tempt her inside. I am sure she will move in and build a big nest in the a day or two. Probably overnight.

If she has a large dark space to build a large nest she may settle a bit. Leave her current hide in there but if she doesn’t move in a couple of days then take it out but transfer any nest she has made into the new house. But still leave a large pile of toilet paper nesting material near the new shoebox house.

In terms of getting her out to try abd settle her, sometimes time of day can maje a difference. They vary but can be very active around 6 or 7pm and after 10pm but can be more dopey between 8 and 9pm.

[timidLittleHamster]

Hi, yes I checked the detolf and other IKEA cages but to me the detolf is very slim and not that tall, doesn't look like it would be a big enough improvement to justify the change that's why I'm looking to go all out and make something gigantic and tall. My reference is HoppingHammy's cage. On the email I sent to the carpenter I basically ask: "can you make this cage but 160cm wide by 60cm deep and 60cm tall?"

She has a big labyrinth house that she really likes, it's very dark with 3 rooms and an under the stairs space that she uses as toilet. It's 35cm by 25cm if I'm not mistaken.

I moved things so she doesn't land on anything sharp but she can always be unlucky and land on the edge of the wood house or the edge of the tupperware sandbath... She has a bendy bridge that I put on the side of the cage so it is a hideout, one of the tunnels also works as a hideout since it is spacious I guess. She also has deep bedding, 17cm/18cm (except on the wheel area).

I'll leave rips of toilet paper, I have done that before and she liked it.

I'm not sure if she's worse on some days than others, on the last 3 or 4 days she has been worse in general. Doesn't look like it oscilates much.

[timidLittleHamster]

I forgot to say, she's usually out around midnight, the later it is the more active she is. I think she's awake before that (I never see her in the morning, around 8:30am) but doesn't come out much.

[Ria P]

Very large aquariums are often used as hamster habitats on the continent.

The company Jungle pets makes them to measure with lids and delivers but you may already be aware of this.

Have you checked that her water bottle and wheel are working ok?

It can be so very frustrating not knowing what causes a hamster's behaviour.
I have a bar chewing tiny dwarf. I let her out and she climbs straight into one of my boots for a nap! How i'm supposed to make sense of that i do not know. She even has a hide in the shape of a boot in her habitat plus everything else a dwarf may require.

[timidLittleHamster]

I didn't know about that company, thank you for sharing, they may be an option for me.
Her wheel is working fine and she doesn't use a water bottle, she drinks from a dish. I see her using the wheel in between monkey barring the cage. This was her cycle yesterday:
- get in her hideout
- come out from the top hole
- look up and monkey bar across the cage
- fall down
- run on the wheel
- go through the cage
- repeat

Oh that's cute that she does that, at least she's calm when out if she wants to take a nap. My little girl is so active and fast, at the beginning I remember one or two times when I put her in the playpen that she enjoyed, only biting the edges of the playpen at the end of the session, but now I don't see advantage on putting her outside of the cage unless it is for cleaning her toilet area inside her house :c