Bar Chewing - how many hams do it??? NON-SCIENTIFIC STUDY!

[Holly]

There have been lots of posts on here lately about habitual bar chewing Syrians and, having one myself, I'm interested in how common it actually is. A scientific study is out of the question so I thought I'd just ask people here:

1) How many of their hamsters (past and present) are bar chewers and how many aren't? I'm talking about constant habitual chewing on the bars despite ensuring that the hammy has a large cage with lots of out-time and plenty of stimulation (inc chewing items) in the cage.

2) What did you do to attempt to alleviate the problem and did anything work?

3) Did any of the bar chewers develop problems associated with the chewing ie/ fur rubbed off their nose or pulled teeth?

I'll start -

1) I have six hamsters, four Syrians and two winter whites - only one is a bar chewer - Mocha my grey Syrian. (I suppose one out of six isn't bad )

2)The ww's are in a Gabber Rex and can't reach the bars so they don't chew! Out of the three Syrians who don't bar chew, two have wire cages and one is in a Rex. I've done everything I can think of to deter Mocha including several cage changes, loads of "out-time", putting card over bars, smearing favourite chewing areas with alcohol cleaning gel, putting in apple tree branches and dog biscuits for chewing etc etc. I finally gave up and he now lives in a Gabber Rex connected to a Lux....and he still chews the bars on the roof!

So now I keep weighted tiles on the roof part above the shelves - often he is able to knock them out of the way at some point during the night and start chewing. I'm thinking of attaching a row of "roof runs" along the back above the shelf to see if that stops him - he can't reach the bars unless he's standing on the shelf.

3) He has not (yet) managed to damage a tooth but has managed to rub his nose raw when he was in a wire cage

Anyone else???

[suga]

I have 2 syrians. 1 chews the bars and 1 chews the bars and plastic.

For 1 I haven't done anything as she only does it for a short period of time. For the other I have tried wedging cardboard in but she just chews it all away and then starts back on the plastic :-(. I could remove the shelf that is in it but like the space it gives her as it does allow her to exercise on the bars by climbing the only other thing I am considering is purchasing her a bar cage as I'm thinking plastic is worse than bar chewing - although I don't think this is the answer.

Little bit of fur rubbed on nose. No broken teeth, unless that is what has caused the current broken tooth problem we have.

[gizmo]

I've had 5 hamsters, one being a constant cage chewer, all I did was transfer her and her sister (dwarfs) into a tank instead.

[souffle]

Oh gee hamster history here, this starts from Pophammy time....there were others who I cant remember before this...
Buffy - barred cage, never chewed no problems
Lucy - barred cage. never chewed, no problems
Lily - barred cage, never chewed, no problems
Barley - larger barred cage, chewed occasionally, no damage to self but stopped after she had a litter for some reason. No damage to face
Peppermint - Gabber rex cage - sometimes chewed roof of cage with slight fur rub. Stopped with tiles on top.
Runty - same as above.
Nelson - Gabber rex cage - chews and acrobats when female in season but not persistant. No fur rub and no tiles needed.
Bailey - Gabber rex - never chewed no problems
Pawaver - Gabber rex - chews roof bars when girls in season. Has slight nose rub sometimes. Fixed with tiles on roof.
Sonni - Started in bar cages. Moved because she could escape from them. Never chewed. Now in Gabber lux with no chewing problems.
Red - started in barred cage- chewed badly and rubbed nose to extent of bleeding. Was moved into tank cage which was a bit too small then to a Gabber rex. Never chewed since moved to tank cages.

It seems that not always a chewer if they start as Red has proved. They need a reason to chew I think, like to get to a female or to get out if fed up. To solve the problem most need to be moved to a non chewable tank and even then some will chew the water bottle spout or an alternatve. I think they actually enjoy it even if it hurts their nose. Perhaps it is addictive like smoking!!!!

[lau200]

at the moment i have 5 hamsters and am adopting two. all of them bar Igor (campbells) and Urkel (robo) are bar chewers, but Summer (ww) is the worst. she chews when she doesn't ger her own way, when she wants to come out or get a treat, and when she's frightened or on heat. the others i try to tempt away with a new toy or tube, but nothing works with her. i often put her back in her nest, which works for about 5 seconds and then she comes charging back out the worst thing is that once she starts my gerbil Silas does too and then i have to move them both

i have started to move evrybody into zoo zones or cages with high bars. that ought to stop them

chan RIP had a barred cage but only ever chewed the metal stairs Viktor RIP, Homer RIP and Clay RIP never chewed their bars either and i don't remember the ones before them