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Pebbles82 · 12-10-2019, 06:22 PM

Are you maybe cleaning her out too much? That can stress them and lead to them bar biting as they don't feel secure in their environment with a lot of disturbance and their scent removed.

She will probably be using the wheel at night. I would put the 28cm Trixie wheel back, remove any tubes and the penthouse. Keep the solid shelf and make sure the base of the cage is filled with substrate to 1cm or so below the rim. And add a large-ish house (a shoebox house is ideal) and put a bendy stick bridge over the house entrance so it's dark inside. They like having somewhere dark to retreat to and to build a big cosy nest in. Then just "spot clean" the pee area. If she uses a litter tray you can just empty that every few days. The rest of the cage should stay clean and dry so just spot clean occasionally (ie take the odd handful out and replace it, if it's soiled anywhere) and you can then easily go 2 months without needing to change the substrate.

It's also important not to mess with their cage too much or move things around. Don't put lemon juice or any other nasty tasting thing on the bars. It won't help and it's bad for them. All you can do is weave strips of cardboard into the bars in the area where she's chewing - it distracts them and they may chew the cardboard instead. eg cut up cereal packet. But she may just move to another area of bars.

It is either set up, too much cleaning, too many changes or she may just need a bigger cage if she is a particularly active syrian. They really do need their wheels to burn off energy as well. So keep the 28cm one in there (and check it is spinning properly). To see if she's used it at night, put a bit of substrate on top of it before you go to bed. If it's gone in the morning she has used it during the night.

12-10-2019, 06:22 PM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: Hamster Heaven Biting Are you maybe cleaning her out too much? That can stress them and lead to them bar biting as they don't feel secure in their environment with a lot of disturbance and their scent removed. She will probably be using the wheel at night. I would put the 28cm Trixie wheel back, remove any tubes and the penthouse. Keep the solid shelf and make sure the base of the cage is filled with substrate to 1cm or so below the rim. And add a large-ish house (a shoebox house is ideal) and put a bendy stick bridge over the house entrance so it's dark inside. They like having somewhere dark to retreat to and to build a big cosy nest in. Then just "spot clean" the pee area. If she uses a litter tray you can just empty that every few days. The rest of the cage should stay clean and dry so just spot clean occasionally (ie take the odd handful out and replace it, if it's soiled anywhere) and you can then easily go 2 months without needing to change the substrate. It's also important not to mess with their cage too much or move things around. Don't put lemon juice or any other nasty tasting thing on the bars. It won't help and it's bad for them. All you can do is weave strips of cardboard into the bars in the area where she's chewing - it distracts them and they may chew the cardboard instead. eg cut up cereal packet. But she may just move to another area of bars. It is either set up, too much cleaning, too many changes or she may just need a bigger cage if she is a particularly active syrian. They really do need their wheels to burn off energy as well. So keep the 28cm one in there (and check it is spinning properly). To see if she's used it at night, put a bit of substrate on top of it before you go to bed. If it's gone in the morning she has used it during the night.