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[poo]

I have a year and a half old female Syrian who has been relatively unremarkable until last night: has never bitten, very calm and content, has potty trained herself into one corner, eats and drinks regularly; in other words is exceptionally healthy. She's still as active and vibrant as she was when I first got her but she has been chewing lately. A

Comments

[mersipan]

Hmm.

When my ham chews, it means she's bored. I think a new cage would be a great idea - that's ultimately what stopped mine from chewing. She's started to chew again now that she's gotten used to it. If you can switch up the layout of the cage every couple of months or so, that might keep her from getting bored.

Good luck! Good that you found her and that she's okay.

[poo]

I figured that she's bored or unhappy so a new cage is a good idea. Thanks so much!

[daedalsobriquet]

i just replied to another poster that i dont think it means shes unhappy or bored if she chews the bars. hoots does that ALL the time. i think its just instinct. i stick TP rolls thru the bars halfway and she just goes to town shredding them up. She goes through so many a day i have people at work bring me extras!

Another fun thing you can do is put something inside like sunflower seeds or bits of bread, some sort of treat and then roll it all up in paper towels or TP. twist the ends so they are closed and then let your hammy chew its way inside to the prize!

She has a variety of toys and things that i change out every week and yet the TP rolls are her favorite. go figure. :p

[ptps]

Wire cage? O.o; idk though, mine was content with the 7 x 5 inch wire cage I gave her until I accidentally let her practically sleep overnight on the table she was kept on. And when I put her back into the cage she was all "NO DAMMIT LET ME BACK OUT THERE *CHEW CHEW GNAW GNAW*"

In the end I bought a metal pen for her that gives her roughly 12 x 12 to run around in, along with a series of tubes and boxes she can hide and play in. OTL I don't even have to use bedding anymore since she prefers to just have tissue paper and newspaper she can rip up. *stares at the mostly unused, brand-new pack of bedding*

Seconding what daedalsobriquet said though. I find those little plastic tubs that they give you to put milk in your coffee works just as well, if not a little better because they're sort of conical, so there's always a little bit of food left at the end where the hamster can't reach it and they spend about half an hour chasing it around the cage. XD

Hope things get better!