Quote:
Originally Posted by BThuringer
Zeus, my 3 month old Syrian has developed the a habit of chewing bars recently, which has been making me quite worried as I know that it can be harmful and also means that he is bored/stressed.
He has plenty of chews and treats all around his cage which he uses, so I know that he has plenty of options and he shouldn't feel that he needs to resort to chewing his bars. He has a large cage (95 x 57 x h 50 cm) with multiple tiers, so there is a lot of space to play and explore. He also has a wooden wheel (28cm diameter) which he uses every night. I always scatter feed him and provide extra enrichment such as puzzles when he has time out of the cage. I also recently bought new climbing frames and tunnels for his cage when I was worried that perhaps it could be due to boredom, but he still continued to chew his bars.
Does anyone have any suggestions about what might be causing him to chew his bars? It feels like I've tried everything (and have spent an awful lot of money) but still come back to the same result, and I hate the thought of him being stressed/unhappy.
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Hello,
I can see that you care very, very much about the wellbeing of your hamster. I also have an exttemely active syrian (4 months) and I have been there - I started with Alaska cage, moved her to Detolf in two weeks due to obsessive bar chewing, and at the end I built a DIY cage.
First, some hamsters need more free roaming time. I have found that my Yasmin wants 1,5-2 hours of free roaming! Since the room itself gets boring for her (despite all the toys etc), she chews closet, corners of bed and so on.She wants to climb on the radiator heating, so I always turn that off. She would climb walls if she could
I always have to keep an eye on her.
Second, how deep is your bedding? Cages with bars usually do not provide enough space for deep bedding. Digging significantly reduces bar chewing and stress. If you have little bedding (10-20cm), you can use a carton box filled with bedding in your playpen, to make up for that a bit.
The influence of bedding depth on behaviour in golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) | Request PDF
Third, some hamsters, especially this young, are just too curious, smart and active. I know how frustrating it is that your hamster is telling you that he needs more space. Maybe you can connect the cage you have with extra bin cage, where you can provide also burrowing area (it can be only burrowing area, since you already have so may toys and chews). This will not be as expensive as buying a brand new tank or building diy cage as I did.