[RoyalHam]

I lost my dear Hamlet, and adopted a new hamster. My new hamster, Hamwise, is focused on a single thing--escaping his cage. Every minute is devoted to this. I have him in a 3/4 detolf, and he won't stop chewing at the divider which I didn't even think he'd be able to get his teeth into. I'm going to try blocking the bottom of the divider off with stones, so that he can't get at it. The last option is disassembling it and putting in plexiglass as the divider and to protect the wooden bottom which he is also chewing. But I'm afraid he'll chew that too. Beyond that, I guess I could get an aquarium? But I won't be able to get one with nearly as much space.

And that still doesn't solve his desperation to escape. When he's not chewing his way out he's standing on things trying to get to the lid and trying to push his way out of the sides. It's his only activity. He has enough space, he has bedding to burrow in, enough food which is scattered, a wheel to run on, tunnels, several hides, and a ton of cardboard and other chews. I thought it may be a stress response so I wrapped the cage in a towel (leaving breathing space) and largely let him be for a week hoping it would feel safe, to no avail.

I'm getting as desperate as he is. I'm severely mentally ill and mid-relapse, and the stress of this is only making me worse. I don't know what else to do. None of my previous hamsters have been like this. What can I do??