New and have lots of questions

[Rosepetal2002]

Hey,
I've had a lot of questions regarding my new 8 week old Syrian Hamster Lola, within the past few weeks of owning her and that's how I stumbled across this forum. So I thought it'd be a good idea to join so all you hamster experts can help me out!
When I was around 10-11 I had two Dwarf Hamsters who lived in a tank and lived long happy lives. However looking back on them, there was definitely some things I did wrong. So for Lola I'm trying to do everything well.
She lives in the
'THE GROSVENOR LARGE RAT AND HAMSTER CAGE WITH SHELF - BLACK - SINGLE'
with Aspen substrate and paper bedding. I feed her the 'natures touch hamster food' which I know should be fed with an additional mix but I need recommendations on the best ones available in England.
In her cage she has a 6.5 inch silent spinner wheel, but she is fairly small at the moment so currently she doesn't arch her back, again I would love some nice wheels recommended for when she grows.
My immediate concern is that she chews the bars in her cage at night and she has gnawed the black coating off the bars. When I researched bar chewing, websites, videos and forums say it is most commonly:
- Too small a cage (I think the one I have is big enough)
- Boredom - I don't want to over whelm her with new toys and stuff as she hasn't even been in that cage a week yet but during her next clean I will add more toys
- apparently she'll grow out of it as she gets older in 4-6 months.
But i have heard how bad it can be and i don't know what to do! (I've tried olive oil it didn't effect her)
Feel free to ask me any questions and provide me with advice on anything I'm doing wrong. It'll be largely appreciated as I am a new Syrian Hamster owner.
Thank you, Rose x

[Tazius]

Hi Rose,

Our Syrian is a bit of an oldie now, but we've had him in the Alaska cage for the past 2 years. It's a little bit bigger than yours so I think just double check the dimensions of your cage to make sure it meets the minimum size for Syrians (I can't remember off the top of my head) so Lola has plenty of space.

We've also had him on the Trixie wooden wheel 12" which is an absolute dream. It's completely silent and a good size for Syrian.

I wondered how many toys you currently have in the cage and what type? Hamsters love having lots of variety, especially toys which they can chew! It's also good to have lots of levels, hidey holes and enough substrate that they can dig through.

[cypher]

Hi & welcome to the forum
For food I would use Harry Hamster mix, it's the most commonly used mix for syrian hams, will have all the nutrients your ham needs & is enjoyed by most.
For wheel ideas have a look here.
Guide to suitable hamster Wheels
I always think it better to have a little too much in the cage rather than too little, too much open space or lack of enrichment so I wouldn't worry about overwhelming her with toys, not knowing what you have or what your set up is like it's hard to know what to suggest but do make sure she has lots to do, hideouts & plenty of deep substrate to dig in, many actual chew toys get ignored in favour of bars but most hams love whimzee dog chews so they can help with bar chewing, you can also try scatter feeding or hiding her food around the cage as that will keep her busy with natural foraging activity.
You may find more useful ideas for bar chewing here.
Managing Bar Chewers