Extreme bar chewing

[Bookish]

My hamster is just over a year old, for a long time she’s been a bad bar chewer, I’ve tried everything I can think of including:
X a tank (made her worse she just chewed the edges)
X deeper bedding
X more enrichments
X more chews
X chews attached to the bars
X scatter feeding
X bigger cage
X moving stuff around more
X moving stuff around less
X olive oil on the bars
X covering her cage at night so my light doesn’t disturb her

She will chew 90% of the time she’s awake, she doesn’t really run on her wheel.

I literally have no idea what to do, but it’s to the point you can hear her in other rooms of the house and she wakes me up at night!

[LunaTheHamster1]

I'm afraid your only answer is a cage that has absolutley nothing on the inside that she can chew. My female syrian Moonbeam was the worse cage bitter I have ever had. At the moment she is in the Marrakesh cage and she has been fine in that.

Is it where the sealant is in the tank that she is chewing? If so, is it possible to add some tiles or metal strip bars as long as she doesn't chew that and hurt her teeth.

[Lilafernim]

Also, I know it won’t solve the issue but all my hamsters have loved whimzees dog chews. If you don’t already use them you could put some in and she might at least be distracted for a while.

And you say you put chews against the bars. I just want to advice if any of these chews against the bars are edible, perhaps the taste of them is rubbing against the bars. Again I’m not saying this is the reason because that would be extreme but maybe it’s not helping if it is edible chews on the bars.

[heidii]

How big is your cage? Does it exceed 1000 square inches? That could help.

[Bookish]

Originally Posted by heidii

How big is your cage? Does it exceed 1000 square inches? That could help.

Yes, she’s had bitter too but was chewing the glass

[Bookish]

Originally Posted by LunaTheHamster1

I'm afraid your only answer is a cage that has absolutley nothing on the inside that she can chew. My female syrian Moonbeam was the worse cage bitter I have ever had. At the moment she is in the Marrakesh cage and she has been fine in that.

Is it where the sealant is in the tank that she is chewing? If so, is it possible to add some tiles or metal strip bars as long as she doesn't chew that and hurt her teeth.

She was chewing the glass so I moved her back to a bared cage so that it didn’t damage her teeth as much, I’ll have a look at the Marrakesh cage

[Pebbles82]

Size of cage can make a difference. What's the biggest size cage she's been in? She maybe needs something like a four foot fish tank.

[Ria P]

Does your hamster get enough out of cage time to use up some of her energy? What's she like when you handle her? Just wondering what kind of personality she has.

Is her wheel big enough and working ok? Syrians need a 28cm wheel.

Have you tried covering the areas she chews with thick pieces of cardboard? Some hamsters like to shred cardboard and chew the bars when they run out.

[Pebbles82]

Originally Posted by Bookish

She was chewing the glass so I moved her back to a bared cage so that it didn’t damage her teeth as much, I’ll have a look at the Marrakesh cage

The Marrakesch isn't that big really. Internally it's about 95cm by 45cm and quite low. I would think it may not be right for a highly active chewer of a female. Although not much to chew on.

[Pebbles82]

Originally Posted by Bookish

She was chewing the glass so I moved her back to a bared cage so that it didn’t damage her teeth as much, I’ll have a look at the Marrakesh cage

Which barred cage is she in now? I can't imagine a hamster chewing glass! Some chew the aquarium sealant away but surely they can't get their teeth into the glass.

It's very hard to find cages bigger than 100cm in the UK and Europe, but you can get bigger tanks (or diy cages). Space may be the key.

Do you have a photo of her set up? Because sometimes it's something to do with the set up that can make them want to chew to escape - a stress thing. On the other hand sometimes it's just a habit they're in.