I tried it all. I tried changing her toys regularly, playing with her more, gave her wood things to chew on. Last night I went as far as to brush the bars with vinegar. (I know acids are bad for them but I'm getting desprate). She only chews the bars that's the door of the cage. I want to keep her in the critter trail 3 if I can.
2006-10-19 01:03:15 · 10 answers · asked by racer_girl2006 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Because I read that nasty things can happen to them here:
http://www.hamsterific.com/CageBarChewing.html
2006-10-19 01:15:27 · update #1
30 seconds to a minute, it's for his teeth. if longer, it's because he's bored and wants out. sometimes a bigger or 2nd cage cage added will do the trick but most of the time u have to get a hamster ball for them to run in. use tape on the lid because they pop open. let them run til they stop---make sure u r around cuz as i said the lid can pop open---just listen for him u dont have to watch. then put him back and if hes had enough he wont chew again--if he wants more he'll start back--then u can just let him run some more. my girl runs for about 2-3 hrs with hourly water/food breaks. (15 minutes wont work) i know when shes had enough because she doesnt chew and goes to bed. they r used to running in the wild for 5-6 miles and they want this freedom. this is safe freedom. get him a ball---$5 at petstore or even walmart. the best ones have screws in them---mines from meijer. he'll then just chew to let u know he's ready to get out.
what time does yours wake up in the evening? this is when u will have to let him out or early morning. i go to bed at 1am so one of mine runs from 9pm-1am with breaks every hr. my other one is blind so shes not nocturnal & runs in the day.
do make sure he has chew sticks(mine use tiny greenies dog biscuits) & give him the toliet paper rolls and even plain, dye-free toilet tissue---scott. he does need these for his teeth. but i'm telling u that's not why he's chewing when it lasts over 30 seconds & it won't make him stop just as you've seen from your experience. if u can add a 2nd wheel that helps too because my youngest wants to run all night but cant when i go to bed so she has 3 wheels to choose instead.
please don't listen to "the link". chewing is the only way they have to communicate what they want---like a crying baby. u wouldnt wait til a baby stopped crying to feed or change it would u?
2006-10-19 04:28:39 · answer #1 · answered by galaxygurl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because she's a hamster! Hamsters, like most rodents, like to chew. Either this perticular hamster has a preference for those bars (she may have started chewing for some reason, and kept it up out of preference), or she has figured out that is the door and thinks it might make it more likely that you let her out. If it's the latter, then letting her out and playing with her may actually be reinforcing her behavior, and therefore encouraging her to chew.
Perhaps try ingoring her when she is chewing on the bars, and only let her out when she isn't. Or try putting her in a different cage for a while if there is one you can find to use. Or just don't let it bother you. Chewing is what rodents do, and if she cant hurt herself or get out of the cage, she should be ok. (This is assuming the bars are metal and not plastic. Plastic bars are about as effective at holding back hamsters as tissue paper is at holding back speeing bullets.)
2006-10-19 01:15:16 · answer #2 · answered by The Link 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I've had loads of hamsters and ALL of them have chewed their bars... unfortunately theres not a lot you can do, they just chew, and it's usually at 3 in the morniing when you could be doing with some shut-eye. They all had every toy under the sun aswell, so you aren't alone in having tried everything. Don't spray the bars with anything you could poison her lol. They are escape artists and this is probably her main reason for chewing the bars at the door, she wants out. They all do, but thats not coz they dont love us, its coz they can! lol.
All my hamsters chewed their bars 24/7 and none of them died by a tooth through the brain, or broke a tooth, or had misaligned teeth. so dont worry about that site, they dont sound very up on hamster knowledge!
2006-10-19 01:09:01 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
My hamster did the right same undertaking! all the magnificent bite toys, and he or she chews on the steel bars... -_- She did it continuously, by no ability had thoughts injury or something, and that i had her for 2 years till she exceeded from previous age. i individually do no longer think of it motives that, yet once you prefer, there are some issues which you would be able to positioned on the cage which will shop it from chewing!
2016-10-02 11:10:13 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Caroline was right, they chew to get out. I also raised hampsters for a pet shop, and they all chewed the bars if they were in a cage that had them. I finally gave up on cages after I had one break off it's teeth on the door. Luckily their teeth grow constantly, but meantime I had to feed is specially soaked hampster food until it could chew again. It looked funny with stubs, but it also was pitiful. After that I switched to using an aquarium like you keep fish in. I rigged the top of a habitrail to that, but on the others I just had regular aquarium lids (no heater or light, though!). At least I never had a repeat of toothless hampsters, and I didn't have to listen to the rattle at night. I also discovered the aquariums kept the bedding inside better, and were easier to clean and disinfect.
2006-10-19 01:17:49 · answer #5 · answered by The mom 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hamsters are part of the rodent family,their teeth constantly grow so they gnaw or chew. You can try wood toys and logs made up of hamster food "treats" from a pet store but they always seem to like the bars better..hope that helps.
2006-10-19 01:16:28 · answer #6 · answered by blackwolf_927 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some hamsters just come with bad habits like biting the bars. Theres not much you havent tried, but when my hamster chewed the bars i flicked it on the nose, while it was still chewing.. you know cuz when there chewing there nose and chin are usually sticking out. I did this every time i caught her chewing and eventually she just gave up the habit.
2006-10-19 03:15:41 · answer #7 · answered by appy_owner 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your hamster needs something equally as hard or harder than the cage bars to gnaw on. Hamsters are rodents and one of the characteristics of a rodent is the fact that their teeth continually grow. They must gnaw to keep their teeth worn down. I had a large teddy bear hamster in my youth which had a tooth grow into its skull. Of course I didn't find this out until it was too late. He had a tumor in his cheek which helped conceal the problem. Check with your pet store or vet as to what to give her to gnaw on. Maybe they could even nip her teeth and solve the problem.
2006-10-19 01:19:20 · answer #8 · answered by Ibeeware 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
All hamsters chew bars, they probably think that they are escapologists.
2006-10-19 02:54:14 · answer #9 · answered by Kev K 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Racer
All hamster do this, i got my daughters a play plastic one and she has is eat to pieces(not my daughter) her hamster
2006-10-19 01:09:15 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋