Oh no! Chewing cage

[rosegold]

So I've had Rupert just over a week. He has a nice big Alaska cage and he seems pretty happy in it! He has a wooden house - Cosy Hamster Wooden Den | Free P+P on orders £29+ at zooplus! his food bowl, water bottle, plenty of bedding, a wooden bridge that arches over his house, a flying saucer wheel, a tube, a cardboard box that he likes and a cardboard tunnel, a chewable tree thing, plus some wooden carrot chews. I also scatter some of his food so he can forage. However, this morning I woke up to find that during the night he had chewed through the plastic clip bits on his alaska cage. Like, completely chewed 2 of them away, I found the pieces buried in the substrate. What could be the reason he's done this? Could it make him ill? And how can I stop him? I don't think he can escape that way as the alaska also has metal clips near where he chewed... But if it does mean I'll have to get a new cage I'll be pretty disappointed as I've only had it 2 weeks!

Should I try some of the chew toys that you can hang from the bars?

Photos are how the clip should look, and how one of them looks today! edit to add- sorry the photos have ended up on the side!

[cypher]

My guess is he just chewed them because they were there & he could!
Something that sticks out a bit like that can just be a bit of a temptation sometimes, I don't think providing more chews than he already has will help much although some whimzees/antos dog chews might be a good distraction!
You could try putting something over that area, maybe a bendy bridge against the side or something like that, could help possibly.
As long as you have the metal clips on the cage it should be secure enough I would think.

[flowerfairy]

One of my roborovskis is in the alaska. She likes to rummage around so substrate drops out of the bars. I have woven cardboard around some of the edges to stop the mess mabe you could use it to protect the plastic things?

[CMB]

The chewed part it just to help keep the top part of the cage aligned with the base. As long as the clips are not damaged the base and top should be secure.

[Pebbles82]

If he's only been in the cage a week, it's still all very new and they need a couple of weeks to settle in. If you've cleaned it out or changed a few things during the first week, that might make him chew as he isn't settled in yet so will get stressed easily If you fill the substrate to just below the edge of the cage base, it would cover them up a bit and give him more substrate to play and dig in. Sorry if you didn't do any cleaning or changing things! In which case he's probably just a bit stressed initially and will settle down. Sounds like you are doing all the right things, but the usual advice is don't clean anything for the first two weeks. You can 'spot clean' a little bit if it gets wet and stinky in a wee corner - ie take out a handful or two of substrate - just enough to get rid of the worst bit - and add a couple of new handfuls, then mix it in so it still smells familiar. He will be scent marking his cage and making a bit of a routine in the first couple of weeks, so any changes would stress him out and make him want to escape! It doesn't sound like he's just a chewer or he'd have chewed other things.

You could try giving him some really tasty chews that he can't resist maybe (links below), add more substrate if it isn't very deep - but best to leave this a bit longer until he's more used to the cage. Unless you have less than 3 or 4" of substrate, then add some now and mix it in - he might prefer that. Another reason hamsters chew like that is if something isn't right in the cage - eg if there isn't much substrate or the wheel is too small. What size flying saucer wheel is it? Syrians need the 30cm one really or their backs twist and it might not be comfortable. I reckon if you get him a wheel he'll be happy as pie. A flying saucer can be a nice extra thing but doesn't replace a standard wheel.

This 28cm Trixie one from Amazon is popular and not too expensive and what a lot of Syrian owners have. Amazon also post out quickly

Trixie Exercise Wheel, 28 cm Dia (colours may vary): Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

If you want a really quiet wheel though, the 27cm Wodent wheel is better, but not easily available. The sugarglider site has them in stock at the moment and it'll take 3 to 5 days to get to you. Costs a bit more but they are good wheels. Unless you really need a very quiet wheel I would get the Trixie one asap to keep him happy!

11" Wodent Wheel (Senior) & Free Glider Shield

When you get round to cage cleans, I found this video from Erin's Hamsters really helped my cage cleaning methods as our Syrian got totally freaked out if anything moved in his cage or if I did any cleaning. Now it works much better. (Video link at the bottom).

Here are some chews that every hamster I've heard of can't resist. They're actually dog chews but suitable for hamsters - you want the mini sized ones. Our hamster was dismissive of most chews but dragged this one into his house for safe keeping

You can buy them singly at Viovet but then postage might not be worth it. Or a tub of them for £10 on Amazon. Don't get the white ones though - those are the only ones our hamster wouldn't touch lol. If you get four you'll get a selection of flavours most likely.

https://www.viovet.co.uk/Antos_Cerea...=antos&sct_r=3

This is the other thing our hamster spent hours and hours chewing. It's not cheap at £5 ish but it's a fair size. He stripped all the bark off and spent a long time each night trying to get the carrot out of the middle.

You can get that at Viovet as well - at Amazon it's an add-on item but if you get the Trixie wheel from Amazon that might be a good time to get it if you're interested.

Rosewood Boredom Breaker Natural Treat Nibble Woodroll Carrot: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jVnEjrXbww

[rosegold]

Thanks for the advice I think he may have just been doing it out of boredom. I ended up buying him a nice dig tower thing from zooplus and some wooden steps/levels and rearranged his cage with it all. It's made such a difference, he hasn't chewed anything he shouldn't and he seems to be really enjoying being able to do more. I also added lots more substrate like advised and he has made tunnels

The flying saucer he has was the "medium" sized one from pets at home, I don't think it's the 30cm one so I will try to find one asap!