Ok, with the sudden shift into fall temperatures and first rains of the season, Ziggy has started making a big fuss over one of the corners he likes to hide out and sleep in. The most inaccessible corner of the cage with the current setup....
He has wood to chew on, threaded into the bars in case he thinks of chewing, he chews wood. Which he has done a good job of ......lately a 7 am chewing habit made me see what would happen if I removed them at certain times....and.....he's covered by litter in his nest, I can kinda see where he is, and I hear a sawing, chewing sound ....
Sounds like plastic but I can find NO evidence he is gnawing on plastic anywheres????
But he's either chewing some part of the cage suddenly, or he's buried and eating his food (the good stash stuff like peanuts, walnuts etc) in a way that makes him gnaw it against or on the floor of the cage? He never eats that way out side that I've seen though.....
Given I have a cold I am keeping contact WAY down. So I don't want to get him out again, and handle him and put him somewhere and rifle thru his cage....since till now, I can't see or feel any evidence.
How do I catch him at it. Should I do a kind of partial clean and dig around his gigantic nest? Since theres no part of the cage that looks abused and ready to be chewed open, its really mad curiosity so I know what he's up to. It's not frantic activity....its a gnaw, a pause......some gnawing....silence.....more gnawing.....
Or is he sawing something? Should hamsters be trusted with sharp tools?
Usually he doesn't hide if he wants to start chewing at something, he's bold about it. This just has me stumped.....