Help! I rescued a Syrian - Page 2

Thin Lizzy · 02-27-2017, 03:28 AM

Congratulations on rescuing her, she's in good hands with yourself. Whimzees are popular for trimming their teeth.

alpacassei · 02-28-2017, 02:37 AM

I bought her a whimzee alligator and she took the whole thing into her nest

She's chewing the bin cage so I'm moving her into Francisco's Duna Fun Large when she wakes up tonight and moving Francisco into the bin cage (she was chewing near the lid and he's far too short to reach where she was chewing).

I'm looking for Syrian wheels, is this any good? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-Exer...dp/B00365P9NY/

cypher · 02-28-2017, 03:48 AM

The duna fun large really isn't big enough for a syrian, you may well continue to have chewing issues or other problems with her in there, how big is the bin she's currently in?
I'm not sure you'd get a wheel for a syrian in that cage either, you need the height of the wheel plus a good depth of substrate too.
That wheel is ok although they can be a bit noisy, for the best wheels have a look here.

alpacassei · 02-28-2017, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

The duna fun large really isn't big enough for a syrian, you may well continue to have chewing issues or other problems with her in there, how big is the bin she's currently in?
I'm not sure you'd get a wheel for a syrian in that cage either, you need the height of the wheel plus a good depth of substrate too.
That wheel is ok although they can be a bit noisy, for the best wheels have a look here.

The bin is 70 x 40cm so slightly smaller than the duna and I was going to extend it (attached a few more bins together to widen it and also put some upside down over the cage to add enough height for her wheel) but because there would be overlapping when I connected the bins I think that might give her more opportunity to chew the bin.

I'm going to get her the Alaska on the 10th March so I was only planning on using the Duna as a temporary cage until it arrives but thinking about it more, it would be less stressful for her and Francisco to keep the cages the same until then. Swapping their cages was a bad idea tbh. I cut a section out the lid to put the mesh and that's the part she's chewing at so I might try putting a different lid with just A LOT of air holes that are harder to chew since they're smaller but I don't think that would give her enough ventilation? Maybe I could get her some more toys to distract her? The only other cage I have available is a mini duna but that is far too small for her

AmityvilleHams · 02-28-2017, 05:20 AM

Holes drilled is not adequate ventilation.Also,it means more plastic to ingest,leading to an ill(or potentially worst case scenario killed)hamster

Don't take that risk,it isn't worth it.

Lots of enrichment might work temporarily,but considering the bin size I highly doubt just moving her into an Alaska is going to fix the problem.You'd need a significant upgrade given her behavior,so instead look into directly expanding the bin using several bins

cypher · 02-28-2017, 05:28 AM

The alaska will be good when you get it, not too long to wait until the 10th, it's not the biggest of cages but spacious enough with plenty of height for a good size wheel & enough space for deep substrate & plenty of toys so things should improve once you get that.
I'm not sure that just holes in the lid of the bin would be enough ventilation & unless the holes were really tiny she would still be able to chew them so it might even be worse than the mesh.
I would do what you can with things like toys & scatter feeding, out of cage time if you have somewhere safe for her to run around & explore a bit for now.

alpacassei · 02-28-2017, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

Holes drilled is not adequate ventilation.Also,it means more plastic to ingest,leading to an ill(or potentially worst case scenario killed)hamster

Don't take that risk,it isn't worth it.

Lots of enrichment might work temporarily,but considering the bin size I highly doubt just moving her into an Alaska is going to fix the problem.You'd need a significant upgrade given her behavior,so instead look into directly expanding the bin using several bins

Yeah that's what I was worried about

I've given her some more toys and she's been getting a lot of out-of-cage time. I think buying her a wheel will help a lot (unfortunately nowhere I live sells large enough wheels so I've got to order one online).

Is there a way to connect the bins without plastic overlapping because I think she would just chew at the edges?

AmityvilleHams · 02-28-2017, 07:29 AM

Not really,the plastic would have to overlap to some degree for structural integrity reasons and keeping substrate from falling out as well.

A DIY cage is going to be your best bet then,in terms of making something that has no edges that can be chewed as well as being much larger.

alpacassei · 03-01-2017, 05:20 PM

My roommate and I have named her Peppermint or Minty for short

She's stopped chewing her cage now so I think it was stress behaviour where she had moved around so much (from her first owners to the pet shop to my house in a week).

She's gained a bit of weight and her paw is almost healed now. She's nibbly but friendly and curious. She has only bitten me hard once and I think it's because my hand smelt like food. She's also accepting food from our hands and letting us handle her for short amounts of time.

minty.jpg

**Cinnamon Bear** · 03-01-2017, 06:42 PM

That's a cute name

Lucky girl to get the Alaska cage, even though I don't know about it

Hope taming continues to go well!