suitable cages for chewing syrian?

[peridotgreen]

Im looking to get a new cage for bar chewing hammy

What are the best ones? Ive considered zoo zone but would like to know if there are others

Thanks

[Pebbles82]

Does he chew anything in particular? (eg bars, wood, plastic or just everything?!) Very chewy hammies can even chew a hole in a Zoozone, so a glass tank might be better.

If it's bar chewing though, a bigger cage can stop that (if he's not in a particularly big cage right now). What cage is he in at the moment?

Bar chewing is usually a sign of stress (if feeling cooped up or something else in their environment isn't right). Or it can just become a habit, but people sometimes find it stops when they have more space.

[Scargirl]

Scarlet was bar chewing before I got her her new cage too. Go to amazon.com and search for the:
WARE Chew Proof Critter Cage
You might be considering a bin cage, but, like the zoo zone, chewy hamsters can chew too. A ten gallon tank would be good. Scarlet has the WARE Chew Proof Critter Cage. It is a really good cage and I have a few toys, an 8 inch wheel, a small igloo, and thinking about adding a sand potty. Can you post us a picture of your existing cage? And the demensions?

The WARE cage is about 2 feet. Tip: The demensions are measured from the outside. The outside measurements (which is what you get pretty often) are 1 inch bigger than the inside. The WARE cage is 25 inches. So that means, on the inside, it is actually 24 inches.

[peridotgreen]

Its generally the bars :/

and atm hes got IMAC fantasy, i think he does need a bigger cage but also something that minimizes the importunity for bar chewing. Hes recently changed his bedding so it now covers a big corner of the cage which equals to less room

[Pygmypuff]

How many levels does your IMAC fantasy have? One its own or with just two levels it's much too small for a Syrian hamster. It's most likely he's frustrated in a small cage and that's why he's chewing the bars, but it's also possible he's just a bar chewer!

You could possibly get another 1 or 2 levels for the IMAC, however that could sum up to quite a lot of money. Cages like the ZooZone are fantastic but can also be quite expensive. The Langham hamster cage ( Amazon.co.uk: langham hamster cage ) is relatively cheap for it's size but could be chewed through, so it would depend if you were willing to take that risk.

Personally, I would recommend a Detolf hamster cage. The Detolf cage is a glass tank made from an IKEA piece of furniture called the Detolf, which you make as per instructions just without adding the shelves or lid. As you have a Syrian, I would recommend you then make a lid following this tutorial on ErinsAnimals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYzD...192909&index=7

There are plenty of other great sized hamster cages out there, just look up rat cage or hamster cage on amazon and you can find them

[Pebbles82]

Hi there. Sorry to disagree with Scargirl but the cages mentioned are too small and so is a 10 gallon tank. Are you in the US or the Uk as that would help with cage recommendations.

The Imac Fantasy is about the smallest you would want to go and many people consider them too small. They're not ideal as you can't get much depth of substrate in them or have much space for a Syrian sized 27cm wheel. As Pygmypuff says, they do best with bigger continuous floor area and less height.

If you have space for a detolf it would be great! No bars to chew and plenty of space and cheap to buy - £40 in the Uk and $60 in the US - but you do need to make a lid for them out of wood and mesh so there's a bit of diy involved. And they are pretty big - 163 cm long!

To go back to the chewing - if it's bar chewing it's probably because of environment. The key word is 'enrichment' with hammies. Give them as enriched an environment as you can. This includes - space (one continuous space, not lots of smaller sections), depth of substrate - hamsters that have deeper substrate to dig in are less stressed, cage set up and things to relive boredom within the cage set up, a suitable sized wheel so they can run without back pain.

It's like an anxiety stress thing chewing bars usually. Let us know where you are and we can suggest solutions! There are cheaper cage options in the Uk than the US but tanks are cheaper in the US and you can get lids for them as well!

A Zoozone could be a solution if it is bar chewing and she's not the kind of hamster who chews everything in site (eg plastic toys, wheels, houses etc). But the bigger Zoozone 2 is best. The top would need meshing as the bar spacing is 2cm.

I'm guessing you're in the Uk if you're thinking of the Zoozone. A cheaper option would be an Alaska or Barney cage.

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_...r_cages/284288

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_...r_cages/189303

Both will easily fit an 11" or 12" wheel.

She is unlikely to bar chew in a bigger cage like those, but if you don't want to take the risk then a Zoozone 2 could be a good option or a glass tank, or a detolf.

The Alaska is just over 80cm wide and the Barney is 100cm - both meeting the Uk RSPCA minimum recommended size of 80cm by 50cm. The smallest you would want to go for a Syrian is 70cm by 50cm and that wouldn't be big enough really in my opinion. The Zoozone 1 is about 70cm but wouldn't have the height to fit an 11" wheel, whereas the Zoozone 2 will fit any Syrian sized wheel.

This is our Syrian's cage. It's 80cm x 50cm but I reckon 100cm would be better, as it soon gets cluttered when you put Syrian sized toys in! The base holds 15cm of substrate. If you went for a tank you could put even deeper substrate in and your hammy could dig tunnels! That keeps them happy. Ours can just dig tunnels in 15cm of substrate but not very deep or far. The zoozone is also good for deeper substrate. It actually can work out cheaper or no more expensive, using more substrate because the underneath part stays dry and you just spot clean the top part and need to do big cage cleans less often. If your hamster uses a potty tray you can get away with only doing a big cage clean every 2 months and just spot clean (ie remove and replace the odd wet handful) in between.

http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/ch...l?sort=3&o=134

[flowerfairy]

I agree with Serendipity.

My last hamster was a right bar chewer. I moved her in to a five x two foot double story rabbit cage and she was totally fine. I know that isnt an option for eveyone but I had it spare as it was so totally rubbish for rabbits (they are in a shed/aviary now).

Bar chewing is often frustration and boredom. Harvest did have a chew round the doorways and did climb the mesh a bit but lots of toys and chews soon helped her settle.

[Pebbles82]

I think basically it drives them a bit mental being cooped up in a small space and they are trying to chew their way out!

[peridotgreen]

its quite difficult, i might go for the Alaska one which is £32 and take the risk, rather than spending more and risking it

[velma]

I have a kerry small pet terrarium which is 75cm long. It's a glass tank so no chewing space! It's very heavy but I like it. But as the others have said, it may be be bar chewing due to lack of space.