What do I do if a hamster won't stop chewing the cage?

Question

plastic cage

It is a plastic cage and it chews on the wheel at night. I tried putting a plastic guard on it so the hamsters can't get in there at night, but they chewed through that too. I have wood chew sticks for them, but they won't touch them. WHAT DO I DO?????

Answer 1

the simple answer: hamsters WILL chew the cage -- being rodents who need to chew to prevent their teeth from growing too long, they will chew on anything and everything within reach of their teeth.

providing wooden blocks may help a little -- but i've found that this never fully stops the cage chewing. if they are chewing through the cage, you may want to investigate alternate housing for your rodents -- an all metal cage, for example. also, if they are chewing through the bottom (i.e., the tray piece, as opposed to the bars, assuming you have the standard metal-bars-attached-to-plastic-tray-type cage), make sure there isn't something on the other side (e.g., food) that the hamster can smell and is trying to get to -- my rodents did the most damage to their cage when i made the mistake of leaving their food too close to the side of the cage.

always remember --hamsters (as are ALL rodents) are built to chew, and there is no way to stop them. providing substitutes can help, but will likely not stop the cage-chewing completely. attempting to prevent them from engaging in a behavior so central to their nature will likely be ineffective at best and result in neurotic or unhealthy animals at worst.

if your concern is that they will chew their way out of the cage, reinforcing the chewed on area with metal (which they will chew on but can't chew through) should be sufficient to keep them from getting out -- if it's too far gone, you may just have to invest in a new cage (i suggest a reasonable sized metal bird cage, lest the same thing happen again; glass/acrylic aquariums will also work, but they can lead to health problems due to the limited air circulation). if you're just worried that they shouldn't be eating plastic -- you're right they probably shouldn't swallow it, but usually they don't -- generally you find all the shreds right in their bedding. if it's just annoying -- put the hamster in a different room, because it's not going to stop :)

Answer 2

Hamsters, rabbits, Guinea pigs, mice, rats, squirrells, beavers, ferrets etc. are all in the same family, which means they all have the same tooth problem. On average, a hamster's (or any other one of them) teeth can grow up to six inches a year. If that hamster never wore them down, those teeth would eventually grow long enough to pierce the throat, which only means one thing, death. The reason your hamsters chowing down on its cage is to try to continually wear down its teeth, so they don't grow out of control. The hamster has to continuously chew to achieve constant wear, it often doesn't matter what. You probably don't have enough things for it to chew and that's why its using its cage. I'd recommend for you to go to your local pet store and see what they recommend a good chew toy. I'm sorry, I've never owned a hamster or any rodent for that matter, so I can't recommend a good chew toy. Hope I helped.

Answer 3

Try treating the wheel surface with something like red pepper (ground or try Tabasco sauce) in water(capsacin)- non-toxic, but irritating when he chews. He will need something to chew on, and there are several things you can try. First, try APPLE wood, if you can find it. It tastes better, and most small critters love it. Milk bone dog biscuits are a very palatable substitute, as are beef bones (the kind sold in the pet stores for dogs). Carrots are good, as are white mushrooms. A mineral block is also a good idea anyway. Another option is a cow hoof. All of these items satisy the gnawing requirement, and provide trace minerals, proteins, and vitamins. Good luck!

Answer 4

Hampster's teeth are constantly growing and they must chew things to keep them at the proper length. Your hammy needs chew toys, the pet shop should have them, little blocks of wood and whatnot that he can wear his teeth down on. It will help a lot, though he'll likely always chew the plastic to some degree.

Answer 5

It can get annoying and all you have to do is give him something to chew on. If you already have things in the cage, than what you need to do is put vitamins (liquid) on the cage bars and the hamster will stop.

Answer 6

put somethin inside the cage for it to chew on. my hamster use to chew on the cage so i wrapped a piece of cloth around the part it chewed and it stopped them for a little bit

Answer 7

Give him a piece of wood to chew. I read that in my daughters hamster care book.

Answer 8

You should try a different brand of chew blocks and if that doesn't work, you should get a metal cage.

Answer 9

tiny blocks of wood are good on their teeth
available:any pet store

Answer 10

yank his teeth out the little blighter