Emergency block for a water bottle hole?

Celendine · 08-27-2014, 02:52 PM

My dear, dreadful syrian Juniper has suddenly decided to chew her way out of her cage via a water bottle hole. It's a lovely metre long cage stuffed with deep bedding, lots of chews and toys and an 11 inch wheel, and she gets plenty of time out of her cage everyday, so I'm at a loss for more ways to stimulate her. There are two holes for water bottles in the cage side, Juniper has a water bowl to drink from as she attacks water bottle spouts.

Unfortunately, I'm about to go away for a week on Friday morning. My housemate will feed and water my hams and give Juniper time in her exercise ball everyday, but I'm worried she'll chew right through her cage wall if she's getting less attention than usual and I'm not there to stop her chewing at night!

So far I've tried bitterapple spray on the hole and stuffing it with twig chews (she yanked them out), but no luck. I've looked at washers but I don't think any are big enough to block off the hole? I've attached a picture of the hole and of my destructive little girl :P

I'd really appreciate any suggestions for a quick way to block it off safely before I go away, thankyou!

**kyrilliondaemon** · 08-27-2014, 02:57 PM

What about bolting a chew stick through the hole?

BrainGirl · 08-27-2014, 03:00 PM

You shouldn't have any problem finding washers that size. I buy 1.25-1.5 inch diameter washers to mount my chinchillas' shelves and just get them in the bulk bins at any of my local hardware stores!

Skeever · 08-27-2014, 03:00 PM

Good idea, Kyrillion. My first idea was to put large bricks in front of those areas, but I'm not really sure how effective that would be. The first concern I guess is having someone pet sit for you, since they are not as aware of ham behavior. I'd almost be tempted to put her in an escape proof cage for the short duration? Again, others may have more practical ideas....

Celendine · 08-27-2014, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyrilliondaemon

What about bolting a chew stick through the hole?

Ahh, perfect, you are a genius! I've had of bolt-on wood chew knocking about for ages, I really should of thought of that haha. I've put it on and it fits just right, thank you so much for your help

I think I'll swing by town tomorrow for one for the other hole just in case...

Braingirl - Ohh, thank you, I really must look harder at B&Q, I could only find tiny ones!

Skeever - It is always a worry with pet sitting

My poor housemate is rather scared of Juniper after she escaped and ran under his bed..But I'm giving him a very extensive care sheet with lots of info what what to look out for. I will have to buy him a very nice ham-sitting gift for putting up with her behaviour!

Skeever · 08-27-2014, 03:33 PM

As a guy myself, I personally think merciless mockery about how scared he is of a hamster will do wonders to get him to man up to the situation

That and the fact sheet, and he'll be hamster wrangling in no time!

**kyrilliondaemon** · 08-28-2014, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celendine

Ahh, perfect, you are a genius! I've had of bolt-on wood chew knocking about for ages, I really should of thought of that haha. I've put it on and it fits just right, thank you so much for your help

I think I'll swing by town tomorrow for one for the other hole just in case...

I'm really glad its helped