New hamster bar chewing?

[geeky]

Hey,

I got a new hamster about 4 days but I noticed when he is awake he will climb to this corner and chew, I left him alone for the first two days and now I have started chatting to him and i give him a tiny bit of cucumber which he came and took.

This is how his cage is, it's a savic hamster heaven which I read should be big enough. Is he unhappy? Am I doing something wrong? Also I haven't seen him use the wheel?

I've ordered him a wooden shelf so he doesn't have horrible plastic one.



and this is little Junimo!



I want him to as happy as possible so please give me helpful advice

[Hammy_Newbie]

Congrats on your new hammy! It’s very early days so I wouldn’t worry too much. We adopted a hamster nearly 3 months ago and she frequently chewed the bars for the first few weeks. I made sure there were lots of toys for her to chew, whimzees, hanging toys and put cardboard across the bars that she favoured chewing. Within a few weeks she completely stopped and I haven’t seen her chew the bars since. She was nervous of us to begin with but is really tame now.

She had been through a lot of upheaval and multiple owners in a short space of time so I think it was mostly down to stress and feeling unsettled. Once she got used to us and her new surroundings she calmed right down.

I think a hamster heaven is fine and that is the cage Cookie is in. How big is the wheel? Cookie has a 28cm one and that is the recommended size for a Syrian hamster.

[Pebbles82]

I think you’re cage looks fine . But needs a new wheel. The one the cage comes with is too small for a Syrian. So yes you need a 28cm wheel at that end. The other thing that keeps them happy is a large ish house/nesting box - they need somewhere dark to nest and are happy as Larry with a house big enough to build a big cosy nest in, that’s nice and dark inside (not easy sleeping during the day unless the house is dark inside. There are few good ones you can buy or you can make a shoebox house. Just cut the base out of the shoebox, so the house is open underneath and sat on the substrate (they like to bury hoards under their nest and it keeps the house aired). But a hole for a door - ideally at one end of one of the long sides (the other end is then darker). Keep the lid as a lift off roof - so you can check inside occasionally without the nest collapsing).

If you put that bendy bridge over the door it’ll make her really happy - not only does it make it even darker inside but it makes a tempting tunnel entrance to the house (plus a ramp onto the flat roof.

When I had that cage (v similar cage - identical except for bar spacing). I actually just used a large flat roofed house instead of a shelf. The flat roof doubled up as a shelf. Then I had a small shelf (lava ledge) over it.

Something like this is ideal. Not cheap but has a granite slab over part of it. A good place to put a food bowl so it keeps their nails short every time they go to eat. Also a cool pls e to sit on on hot weather. Alternatively you can have a water bottle over the granite area - soaks up the drips. And still roughens nails when they go for a drink.

It fits well in the HH along one end. Shoebox house is cheaper though!

Rodipet® +GRANiT House DALANi for Pet Rodents

For a 28cm wheel this trixie one is popular, quite quiet and cheap. She will love a wheel that size. The small ones can give them back ache or lead to long term back problems. Or they just don’t use it because it’s uncomfortable.

I’d sort the wheel first as a priority. Then she can burn off some energy.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-6101...ixie+28&sr=8-1

[geeky]

Hey guys so I updated Junimo's cage, he has some hasmter sand on the way. This is what it currently what it looks like.

He hasn't monkey barred or bitten the bars in a week or so!

Also does anyone know if I can remove the trixie wheel from the stand so I can attach it the bars, I think I could make a tiny bit more room that way?

Any advice and tips to improve it for him much welcomed!

[Pebbles82]

He's gorgeous! Glad he's settled down. I think the larger wheel will have done the trick as he's not full of pent up energy now and will love it. I believe the trixie wheel won't attach to the bars - had that issue myself. So needs to be on it's stand unfortunately. There aren't many quiet wheels that do attach to the bars and those that do tend to be very expensive.

However, I do have the wood trixie wheel 28cm upside down in my savic cage (same size). I took the wood base off and screwed through into it through the top of the cage with a couple of large washers. But it doesn't save a huge amount of room. And if you're happy with that wheel, maybe think about that option if it ever breaks. It's also a bit of a fiddle to fix the wood one upside down. Needed a saw to get the base off and some large washers.

[Pebbles82]

In future, is it possible to resize your photos so they don't stretch the screen? They need to be resized to 650 pixels wide . If you pm one of the moderators they can resize them for you on this thread now.

[sushi_78]

You can hang the Trixie upside down by tying the stand to the bars with zip ties. It fits very securely and the wheel is very quiet. But it depends on how well the stand fits the wheel as some are slightly loose, which is fine when it's used normally but it will fall off when hung from the roof.



The Trixie wheel can attach to bars but it won't work in the Hamster Heaven due to how the base slopes. I think this would be the case for any 28cm wheel.

When posting Imgur photos, make sure you've selected "Large thumbnail", not "Huge thumbnail" which is usually selected by default and makes the photos come out too big.

[Pebbles82]

Good tip from Sushi - I tried that once and the wheel just fell off the stand So yes mine was a loose fit. I didn't trust it after that! The wood trixie wheel works upside down Screwed to the top bars with a couple of large washers. I needed a saw though - to get the base off. I don't think it takes up too much room just stood normally though and sometimes they like that bit of space behind the wheel

I meant to check - is it definitely a Syrian hamster you have?