My hamster won't chew anything I give him!

[saranyoll]

Hello! I got a Syrian hamster almost a week ago and he seems to be settling in very well apart from the fact that he won't chew me anything I give him! He can open sunflower seeds, but he won't chew toilet paper rolls, homemade chew sticks that I rubbed carrot and raspberry juice on or shop bought seed chews that I've hung on the side of his cage so he can easily reach! Does anyone know why this might be? Thanks

[SKB_Hamsters]

Hamsters can be very picky on what they decide to chew on - and some can be bigger chewers that others. Normally I have to try many different types of chews, made from different materials, with my girls to find out what they prefer to chew on.
Have you tried your hamsters with a whimzee chew? These are a favourite of hamsters . Whimzees are dog chews but are safe for hamsters as they are vegetable base - my hamsters have loved them!
My hamsters never chewed on cardboard tubes unless I had folded the end over and had stuffed them with treats. So you could try this to encourage him to chew and it also it acts as enrichment too.

[AmityvilleHams]

Whimzees are definitely a good idea as mentioned(sometimes sold as Antos in the UK,but as long as the ingredients are the same as Whimzees they're fine).I'd get a few different shapes just in case,that way if one shape isn't appealing you have others to offer.I think each shape has its own benefit though,for example the toothbrush shapes work well to hide small seeds in while the alligator is more long lasting.

I'd suggest trying to stick high quality natural biscuit style treats on wood sticks as well.This has been a favorite of my Syrian,but you do need to be extremely careful with treat ingredients as always(no unspecified biproducts of any sort such as digest,derivatives,generalized liver or animal liver,animal fat,biproduct meal,or meat and bone meal of any sort,etc along with no artificial dyes,no artificial flavors,no artificial or processed sugars(maltodextrin,dextrose,sorbitol,etc),no propylene glycol,and also no BHA/BHT/ethoxyquin and or "E&C approved" additives(loophole term that allows usage of BHA/BHT/ethoxyquin without specifying)as these are known to cause cancer).Of course,treats shouldn't be from China or irradiated either!Keep in mind that anything shared with dogs or cats must have absolutely no corn or wheat nor any wheat relatives(buckwheat isn't wheat however and would be fine for dogs and cats).