Hamster will not chew!!

Coco449 · 02-01-2016, 11:47 PM

Hi! I have a syrian I've had her for about two months now and she just won't chew! I got her a simple wood chew and she wouldn't chew on that so I got her a chew that doubled as a tunnel and she didn't care for either of its functions so I got her one that's filled with food but she only nibbled on it at first and doesn't seem to have any interest in it anymore. I'm really worried because I know it's important for her to chew. Also I've tried covering the chews in her food but she's only interested in it for a very short amount of time. Any help would be great!

cypher · 02-02-2016, 12:28 AM

It's very common for hams not to chew on wooden chew toys so don't worry about it, your hams teeth should wear down from her normal food so it's not an absolute necessity to chew on wood, I don't know where you are but the most popular chew here is the Antos dog chews, aka Whimzees, most hams love those, you could try something like bonio or biscrok dog biscuits too.

CMB · 02-02-2016, 09:28 AM

Try different types of wood, straw, loafer, sisal. Soak plain wood chews in fruit juice. I had hamsters that wouldn't chew thick cardboard (like chew chubs) but would destroy thin cardboard.

herbi7 · 02-02-2016, 06:27 PM

My ham never chewed anything except the thick willow sticks. She didn't like wood chews although she hoarded them in her nest and she didn't like thin willow sticks. She would sometimes chew the side or top of her bendy bridge too, I think it's something to do with the diameter of the wood sticks as they were the same thickness as the thick willow sticks. She was a great destroyer of anything sisal though but fickle, sometimes she'd leave it alone for ages and then suddenly destroy it all at once! Just experiment, something will work I'm sure but if not there is plenty in normal hamster mix that helps to wear down teeth

Niinicat · 02-02-2016, 06:52 PM

I am having a similar issue with Onyx right now. She has a simple wooden chew, a chew carrot thing that pokes through the bars. A corn on the cob shaped alfalfa chew, a wooden bridge, tunnel that doubles as a chew toy.

I think I may have to take her to get her teeth trimmed very soon if she does not start to gnawing soon. Although I was considering getting her some nice hard plain dog biscuits and some mineral chews.