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Pebbles82 · 10-03-2020, 07:32 AM

Agree with Cypher. Some females can be extremely active and need more space. I’m guessing you’re in the US when you said you can’t afford a tank yet and most cages in the US are too small. Is she a Syrian? If so there is a good sized cage available for about 60 dollars on Amazon - the prevue cage. It’s about 32” x 20” floorspace which is about the minimum you want for a Syrian. Having said that, even that may not be big enough for an active female. Do you have space for a detolf? Cheaper than a 40 gallon tank I think.

Even if the cage is a good size it might be something else causing bar chewing stress. Too much cleaning out can cause it especially if you remove the nest and hoard and remove all their familiar scent in one go. That can make them quite frantic and they chew to try and escape because their environment isn’t their own. So spot cleaning is better and partial cage cleans so something always smells familiar. If you have enough substrate (4 to 6 inches) then with soot cleaning you can easily go 2 or 3 months without a full substrate change. Especially if they use a litter tray.

Do you have a photo of her set up? For now you might just need to keep giving her lots of out of cage time. And you can try weaving cardboard through the bars in the area she chews (torn up cereal packet eg) - at least then it will protect her teeth chewing the cardboard but they then sometimes just move to another section of bars.

It is stress behaviour whatever is causing it.

10-03-2020, 07:32 AM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: Stubborn Bar Chewer! Agree with Cypher. Some females can be extremely active and need more space. I’m guessing you’re in the US when you said you can’t afford a tank yet and most cages in the US are too small. Is she a Syrian? If so there is a good sized cage available for about 60 dollars on Amazon - the prevue cage. It’s about 32” x 20” floorspace which is about the minimum you want for a Syrian. Having said that, even that may not be big enough for an active female. Do you have space for a detolf? Cheaper than a 40 gallon tank I think. Even if the cage is a good size it might be something else causing bar chewing stress. Too much cleaning out can cause it especially if you remove the nest and hoard and remove all their familiar scent in one go. That can make them quite frantic and they chew to try and escape because their environment isn’t their own. So spot cleaning is better and partial cage cleans so something always smells familiar. If you have enough substrate (4 to 6 inches) then with soot cleaning you can easily go 2 or 3 months without a full substrate change. Especially if they use a litter tray. Do you have a photo of her set up? For now you might just need to keep giving her lots of out of cage time. And you can try weaving cardboard through the bars in the area she chews (torn up cereal packet eg) - at least then it will protect her teeth chewing the cardboard but they then sometimes just move to another section of bars. It is stress behaviour whatever is causing it.