Hamster chewed up her wheel?

[Asundrop]

Hello everyone! I have a Syrian hamster named Lady Seraphina Moonbeam from Nuggetland (age known) and I recently bought her a large wooden wheel with a cork inner lining and I went to check up on her this morning and she had ripped all the cork lining out.

My assumption is that she thought it was wonderful bedding for her burrow but I’m not sure. Has this ever happened to you?

[Ria P]

No because i use plastic wheels.

One of my hamsters is enthusiastically chewing up her wooden house from the outside in but i have no idea why. She has a whimzee and wooden chews and she's a happy hamster.

I think all you could try is give your hamster other items that may catch her interest from a variety of chews to different textures like cork, wicker, grass mats etc and our old friend, cardboard.
Chewing up the wheel could turn into a costly activity.

And welcome to HC!

[Lilafernim]

Mine also chews up her house. Her previous wooden house she chewed up the front left hand sign and the back, so I made her a new one and again she’s chewed up the front left hand side. I think they get a mission in their minds and once they start it they don’t stop. As Ria said, my wheel is also plastic, I just find it easier to clean. And again I have chews, I’ve got toilet roll contraptions with treats in, encourage foraging, got whimzees as well, but nothing stops her warpath in ripping up her house XD. Think it’s just how some hamsters are.

[Pebbles82]

Lady Seraphina is clearly a very active female syrian! They are known for ripping things up! I shouldn't worry about it, the wheel will be fine without the cork. Although if there are now lumpy uneven bits it might not be very level for running. Did she manage to get all the cork off?! These female shredders often like to rip up cardboard as well so you could add things like a cardboard egg box with a hole cut in (like a hidey place) - she might enjoy ripping that up. Same with cardboard kitchen roll tubes (slit those down the side so they expand or she could get stuck in it).

[Asundrop]

Thank you all so much for your help! She had done such a good job at ripping the cork that it’s not uneven at all. I’ve been keeping an eye on her little feet and so far there hasn’t been a problem.

At this moment she has so many things to chew so she hasn’t destroyed anything else in her enclosure but at the moment it was a pretty frustrating thing to wake up to.

I’ll look into a plastic wheel that matches the enclosure and see if she takes to that one as well!