Thank you!

[Jaspal]

Thank you for making Mars and me so welcome to this forum. She is a cutie but she's also a serial carpet biter!
We love to see her running around out of her cage, but we can't stop her from biting the carpet.
Any helpful suggestions would be grateful.

[Ria P]

Does she always bite in the same areas? If yes, you could put an old rug or a blanket down or distract her with cardboard.
I had a hamster who stripped wallpaper, always in the same corner so i put sheets of cardboard up. He had twice the fun then by tearing up the cardboard to get to the wallpaper.

[Jaspal]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Does she always bite in the same areas? If yes, you could put an old rug or a blanket down or distract her with cardboard.
I had a hamster who stripped wallpaper, always in the same corner so i put sheets of cardboard up. He had twice the fun then by tearing up the cardboard to get to the wallpaper.

Thanks Ria for your suggestions. I've tried putting down pieces of leftover carpet and covering the areas with strong cardboard, but she just lifts or pushes the offending covers out of her way!
Mars is surprisingly strong!
My main worry is that she is perhaps swallowing carpet fibres.

[Lilafernim]

I have the same issue but like Ria said it’s the same corners. In the end I put a square tub lid down and put a weight on top of it. Putting anything over it works really as long as it’s heavy enough.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by Jaspal

My main worry is that she is perhaps swallowing carpet fibres.

I worried about that with Henry the wallpaper stripper but i don't think he ever tried to pouch the wallpaper because i never found any in his house.

I don't think a hamster would eat paper or carpet but maybe pouch it for nesting material. The carpet biting and digging is more of a means of trying to escape or to find out what's underneath the carpet i think.

I had a foster hamster called Maureen the shredder who would very enthusiastically chew and dig the carpet near a door. Any obstruction like a toy, cardboard etc she would simply push out of the way to get on with her mission.

Hopefully someone will come up with some ideas.

[My my my Delilah]

This is what I’m worried about with my hamster. I haven’t got her yet but will be allowing her to free roam for an hour or so each night. I live in a rented house. If it was my house I’d get oak flooring laid.