cage bar chewing - should I be concerned?

Hi, I'm new to the board and to having a hamster!



I got my little girl Syrian hamster about 2 weeks ago and I think she is a couple of months old at this point. She has started, in this last week or so, to chew on the bars of her cage constantly, and usually in the same spot in the cage. I noticed today that she is now getting some wet fur around her mouth and I am concerned about what this behavior means...



I try to let her run in her ball at nights, which she seems to really enjoy, to let her get some of that energy out. And I have chew toys for her in her cage which she has obviously used, but she still seems to go for the bars of the cage.



Thanks for any help or advice you can give!

[Emma]

Persistent bar-chewing is quite a common problem - I think there might be an article about it on the main HC site if you have a look.



It can cause tooth problems - chewing on hard metal can break or chip teeth, leading to uneven wear and malocculsion problems, with teeth overgrowing. Being wet around the mouth can be a sign of this - however it can also be a normal thing that hamsters do when they are hot, stressed or excited. It may be worth trying to have a look your hammy's teeth to see if they are long and rubbing on her tongue or mouth, but the wetness around the mouth may just have been normal and a coincidence.



I do think its worth trying to dissuade hamsters from persistently chewing bars. I like to try a distractio method as I posted in Becka's thread about chewing just now - basically, try and offer the hamster other things to do to distract them in the cage. Any toy or chew that stays in the cage of an amount of time isn't exciting any more as it's always there, so I change around the things in the cage every few days or so, and try and provide things that are new to the hamster or they haven't seen for a while (it's also a nice excuse to indulge your ham and buy/make new things!). There are loads of things that can be toys - little houses, wooden bridges, tunnels/tubes, grass/straw toys, cardboard boxes & tubes, hanging things (the bird section of the pet shop can be great for this kind of thing). You can make 'parcels' with small boxes or loo rolls wrapped up in plain tissue, with a few treats inside that the hamster has to work to get. I've also tried jamming a dog biscuit or tasty (new) wooden chew through the bars at their favourite chewing spot - then they chew on that rather than the bars.



If all else fails and the hamster is still a persistent offender and you're worried about it, then switching to a cage without bars, such as a homemade bin cage or a duna-style tank is a good idea.

[mrsblloyd]

Toffee seems to chew his bars after he has been out in his ball or play pen and has become excited by the freedom. Luckily, he will not do it all the time and he does have a break from it but he does seem to choose just certain parts of the bars to chew. He also has a choice of toys to play with but there are some really good ideas of other things we could provide for him. There are some really helpful tips which we will be sure to try out.

Beth

[Christine Yule]

I would say that it is VERY important to make sure that your hamster is not able to chew on its bars.

I have had a very bad experience that has made me aware of the serious consequences of the habit.

One of my Syrians would chew relentlessly on her bars until she got infection in the gums around her upper teeth. I had to take her to the Vet and she needed antibiotics. They cleared up the infection but her top teeth fell out and never grew back. I had to trim her two bottom teeth once a week with cutters so they wouldn't grow into the roof of her mouth. I felt like I was torturing her every time I did it. Poor girl but the alternative would have been worse. I needed to feed her mush I made in the blender for the rest of her life. The worst part was that she was never happy again. She was depressed because all she wanted to do was sleep all the time. She would play only if I woke her up and took her out of her cage. It seems that she just wasn't "a hamster" if she couldn't chew her own food etc. She lived a long time and died some time ago but I still feel guilty that I didn't stop her from chewing on her bars sooner.

I have another young pup who chews on her bars. She chipped a tooth and that was enough! I have switched her from her wire cage to a glass aquarium.

Try all you can to stop the chewing. If all the suggestions don't work then I highly recommend switching to a different type of cage without wires or else a glass aquarium.

Hamstermama

[souffle]

I would agree that it is important to stop the chewing. It seems that some hamsters are chewers and some are not. We own one barred cage and half the hamsters put in the cage have lived long and happy lives, the others discovered chewing and were moved into duna tank cages. One hamster chewed so much one night she actually made her nose bleed so they seem oblivious to even pain when they are obsessed with it. You just cannot seem to stop them once they start. The only way we have found it stop them is to block off the area where they chew so that they cannot get their noses through to do it. They usually only chew in one area so if they dont start in another you can stop them by putting a sheild of something on the bars. Something like smooth ceramic tiles can work in some cases. Keep a close eye on your hams and watch their teeth which can become broken on the bars.

[lau200]

I have a hamster who bites bars, Summer does it in frustration when she doesn't get a treat. slowly she is stopping the behaviour. in some hamsters it can be a sign of frustration and boredom, if there are not enough toys or are not housed in a big enough cage.

[mrsblloyd]

Toffee did this for quite awhile and especially in the same spot. We have, not too long ago brought him a suspension bridge that is made up of ladders and rope and a playground that you clip together with tunnels and slide that he can go through and climb over ( he loves to climb - I have never known anybody who loves climbing as much as him) and now we hardly ever see him chewing bars he really has nearly completely stopped - just a sneeky quick one now and again.

I think with him it was just keeping him entertained and not bored - giving him new and exciting things to do.

Goodness knows what hamsters did before all these lovely new toys were made for them?

Good luck.

[Holly]

I had the same thing with Mocha and ended up changing his cage about three times to stop him ...it really does seem to be down to individual hamster personalities though as we have two other Syrians whose cage set up includes a large wire cage each - and they don't chew at all!

[Basia]

This may sound like a stupid question but does she do it when you are not around? Difficult to tell I know.
My hamsters will often chew the bars like crazy when I am around but when I go out of the room I know they stop because I can't hear them chewing any more. My female is absolutely the worse of the 3, she wants to come out all the time, even if I have only just put her back in but if I leave the room she will settle down and start to run on her wheel or play with her toys.

[BubblesandSqueak]

Hamsters do this when they just need to chew on something or are bored.

Try buying a toy, which is for chewing e.g some wood, maybe?

Try taking her out of the cage, play with her for a while, set up some courses!