Chewing bars in a big cage

That is so sweet. What a lovely childhood memory. 😊
 
I had a look on those two sites you linked and all the cages are very small :( It is difficult when there's no real choice. You could try adding deeper bedding - which will also mean less clean outs, and see if he stops chewing the bars. But sometimes it becomes a habit. The other thing that can make them bar chew as well, is if the wheel is too small, and it's uncomfortable for them then so they don't use it and get a lot of pent up energy. Which wheel does he have?
 
Maz said:
I had a look on those two sites you linked and all the cages are very small :( It is difficult when there's no real choice. You could try adding deeper bedding - which will also mean less clean outs, and see if he stops chewing the bars. But sometimes it becomes a habit. The other thing that can make them bar chew as well, is if the wheel is too small, and it's uncomfortable for them then so they don't use it and get a lot of pent up energy. Which wheel does he have?
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Plastic, 20 cm. Couldn't find anything bigger at that time. And yes, it's too bad that around here petshop aren't really into rodents/birds and so on. Dogs and cats are the stars. When I see people buying those really small cages for any animals is so sad...
 
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elusive said:
These are the toothbrush chews

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I had found exactly these on a local pet shop. Was kind of surprised to find them. He chew a bit, but he was sleepy and didn't want to insist, we'll in the next days how interested he is.

But I have another curiosity. Let's say I have that 1m cage or even longer. Why should he stop chweing the bars? For him is just another limit. And from what I've seen with him, he's like a kid that was told not to do something but he still does and with this new cage it would be just another limit he would like to bend and still get out.

Also, he gets time on the couch so he can explore/run and he has about 2-3m of running and climbing space so he is not staying only in his cage, he gets lots of attention anyway.
 
Chewing the bars can become a bit of a habit which is why it’s best to try to resolve the issue as soon as you can.
A larger cage with more space, bedding, enrichment & a large enough wheel will encourage natural behaviours & activity which should stop him from chewing the bars.

Glad you found the toothbrush chew.
 
I agree with Elusive. Bar biting is usually done out of boredom or stress. With a bigger cage and enrichment your hamster will have so much to do and hopefully he will forgot about biting the bars. :)
 
Could you make a bin cage? That would probably mean cutting the ends off two bins and then glueing them together to make a larger one.
 
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Maz said:
Could you make a bin cage? That would probably mean cutting the ends off two bins and then glueing them together to make a larger one.
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Not sure, never had the idea. Not sure how would look or function
 
I’m not sure if we have a thread on how to make a bin cage on here, I’ll have a hunt around.

You need a large strong plastic storage bin with a securely fitting lid then you need to cut a panel in the side & top which you cover with mesh, usually attached with cable ties.
I have one & it works really well.
 
I have some good news. I don't think I need to change the cage. I've slept in the room that he is in and I only heard the wheel, no bar chweing. Usually I can hear the chewing from the room near this one. For now he seems distracted and I guess if I give him constantly new toys to play with on all 3 levels of the cage, he'll be ok. Also, he still doesn't dig, even if he has where to do it. I made even some tunnels myself and he is not that interested.
 
That’s good that he had a better night & enjoyed running on his wheel.
The cage is still too small & not really suitable though & giving new toys won’t compensate for that so I would still recommend looking into a larger cage to give him the best life you can & avoid any issues in the future.
 
That is really good news that he has stopped bar chewing. If you avoid cleaning him out too often then hopefully that will continue. Regular big clean outs can cause the stress that leads to bar chewing as well.

He still needs at least 6” depth of substrate - if nothing else then to ensure you don’t need to clean him out too often. And can just spot clean mainly.

Meanwhile hopefully you can give him plenty of out of cage time in a playpen eg :)

I know it is very difficult when there just isn’t something available.
 
Maz said:
That is really good news that he has stopped bar chewing. If you avoid cleaning him out too often then hopefully that will continue. Regular big clean outs can cause the stress that leads to bar chewing as well.

He still needs at least 6” depth of substrate - if nothing else then to ensure you don’t need to clean him out too often. And can just spot clean mainly.

Meanwhile hopefully you can give him plenty of out of cage time in a playpen eg :)

I know it is very difficult when there just isn’t something available.
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Can't really find that beding thing you guys recommended. Will search for it.
Now it has about 6" of sawdust from petshop but he's not really that curious to dig as other hamsters I had. He tries to dig in the sand bath, but I won't risk puttin deep sand bath in the cage. It was more full than it this now and he sneezed everytime after the sand bath with his nose full of sand and won't risk getting him sick this was.
 
If the sand caused sneezing then perhaps it was dusty. I am not sure which brands of sand you have in Romania. I use Komodo sand which is not dusty. Reptile sand without calcium or dyes can be used too.

Some hamsters will not dig unless they have deep bedding. :)
 
I don't find the exact brand on any site. We are basically buying most of our stuff (for hamster or degu) from Fressnapf. I've that it's a german site or somethign, but we have lots of stores in Romania. They don't really have much for rodents. 80% of the store is about cats and dogs, 10% for birds and 10% for rodents (guinea pigs, hamster, squirrels etc). And the sand is from this store, in a bucket. We used it with a previous hamster and she enjoyed it for baths.

The bedding has now about 15cm/6 inch but maybe it's kind of new for him and still adapts. I'll try to help him with some more tunnel underneath, but it will push him to do it. In the past I had like 10 hamsters and 2 gerbils at different points in time and most of them were digging no matter what, but this little guy is just calmer than any other hamster I had. I had hamster who were basically cardbard choppers, every piece of cardboard and even wood sometimes was gone in hours.
 
Aw, he does sound different to your other hamsters. They can all have such unique personalities. 😊It would be lovely to see a picture of him.
 
I was looking on the site you mentioned and they have some nice things for hamsters like tunnels. I like this cute mushroom hide.
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