How so I get my hamster to stop chewing on plastic?

Question

We recently got a Syrian hamster because our Dwarf hamster died of unknown causes and she chews through most of the plastic in her cage. I know they like to chew on stuff to wear down their teeth. There are 2 wood chews, and a salt stone in her cage. We are also feeding her the Extrusion all-in-one pellets. She won't chew on the wood chews and as soon as we gave her the salt stone she went straight for the plastic holder instead. Is there anyway to get her to stop chewing the plastic and lean more towards the items we provided for her? I don't want her getting sick from all of the plastic she is consuming.

Answer 1

maybe it wants to get out.try feeding it different kind of food,if it does not work get a tank for it.

Answer 2

You may want to move her from the plastic cage and put her into an aquarium instead. Some hamsters just have weird habits like that, and it's almost impossible to break them. I would get a ceramic bowl for food too, just to keep her from eating the bowl.

I know you've probably cleaned the cage thoroughly but I'm wondering if the previous hamster's scent might have been absorbed by the plastic and perhaps that might be motivating her to chew it. I think I read somewhere that those sorts of things can happen.

Best of luck to you!

Answer 3

I'm not really worried about her getting sick; she knows the plastic isn't food, and it's probably not toxic anyway. But if the cage is made of plastic, she's going to escape.
You could try putting Bitter Apple or a similar bitter product from the pet store on the plastic. That will make the plastic taste bad, and if you are lucky, she won't chew on it anymore.

Answer 4

Don't use the plastic holders....cut them off somehow. The same with seed treat bars, pull the plactic holders out and lay it in the cage.