Bar biting worries

[sarah]

Hi everyone,

When I got Maisie I delibratly bought the biggest cage I could find and lots of toys for knawing and tunelling, in order to provide her with plenty of interest.

Should I be concerned that even with all of this she still spends lots of time biting the bars of the cage? I've given her apple wood and a wooden toy to chew but she doesn't seem interested in these :?

[babyboos]

Bar biting is sadly something many hamsters do no matter what we give them to gnaw on instead. You can try placing a metal spoon between the bars and see if she bites on that instead - at least this has a solid surface but many hamster gnaw away every day for many years. When she starts gnawing maybe try and distract her - pop her in her ball or playground. Give her some nuts whole (still in their shells) - I like hazelnuts and walnuts. I crack them slightly to allow the hamster to smell the yummy fatty treat within and then they dig and scratch and bite and gnaw away at the shell to get inside.

I also use all sorts of toys to keep them occupied, tunnels and see-saws, hanging rope bridges (designed for birds), puzzle playground set-ups, Run-around Balls with special doors which allow them to be used inside the cage at the hamster's freewill, Hamster Ka-Bobs (available on eBay), and then the cheap toys, such as toilet and kitchen roll tubes, and empty cardboard eggboxes.

[WolvesRaven]

My hammy does this too. She has quite a few toys in her cage and even a second level, but still prefers to chew on the bars. Did you get yours from a pet store? I know of several hammies that run back and forth in their cage like they did in the store. Maybe they're doing it for the same reason?

[SnuggleHam]

I think when it comes to bar chewing and it's obsessive it's best to just change the cage altogether, to either a bin or a tank, or some other kind of plastic cage where they aren’t able to get to any bars.



There is an article on bar chewing on HC for anyone who is interested in reading it, it can be a serious problem.



http://www.hamstercentral.com/a_barchewing.htm