I stopped feeding Socks treats through the bars, as well as upgrading his cage and he stopped bar biting. He did it alot when he first arrived and his cage had half chewed loo roll inners all over it for a few weeks.
How do you add deeper bedding without modifying a cage? You have to in order to allow for the bedding depth.
They look good, thanks!
Mochi has loads of enrichment, places to hide a three chamber house, sprays, treats and a playpen. I can’t help thinking that if he’d been a boy as we originally thought, he’d be happy, so it’s a bit of a blow to have to rethink everything now and get a bigger tank.
I think you have a point with the bar biting. She does it a lot when we’re there and I’ve noticed when I go in at night to check on my daughter once she’s gone to sleep, Mochi’s really chill, either pottering around or running on the wheel.
If you want deeper bedding then yes you do need to make some modifications but that can be as simple & cheap as some cardboard it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.
Mochi has a dig box, lots of places to hide, a 3 chamber house and regular treats and also a playpen which she can use every couple of days. She doesn’t like any chews whatsoever apart from cardboard! (I’m not in a position to upgrade at the moment either). I read somewhere that hamsters are on heat every four days!! What have I let myself in for?!I added a LOT of enrichment to Blossom’s cage which has helped to calm her down enormously, although she is still a little crazy when in heat. I added a dig box, boredom breakers, deeper bedding throughout her cage and lots of different textures to chew. Time out in her play box helps at these times. Unfortunately I’m not currently in a position to upgrade her cage to a larger one, but the increased enrichment has definitely helped. I’m sure a combination of space and enrichment will do the trick with Mochi
That’s good to hear - why do you think barred cages are better?
Cages and tanks both have their pros and cons I think. So it might come down to what you prefer and what you can get.
www.thehamsterforum.com
Have a look on the let's see your cages thread and you'll get lots of ideas. I don't think anything wood would be a good idea though, for a chewy female syrian.
Apologies as you clearly already know how to set up a cage and have a lot of enrichment but it shows different available larger cages and enclosures as well
www.thehamsterforum.com
www.thehamsterforum.com
Perfect, I’ll take a look, thanks!You might want to have a look at Jas’s thread if you haven’t seen it, Hank had very similar issues thinking she was male, small cage & lots of bar chewing but she changed so much with the right environment & care & is such a lovely hamster, a great example of how well these things can turn out!
Jas, the hamster formally known as Jasper
Hi everyone, I thought I would start this thread for Jas, just to keep everyone updated. For those who haven't seen my other thread, I got Jas(per) in January, and I wish I had joined the forum before I got her. I was told I had a male syrian, and that the Savic Metro was suitable. Turns out...
I got the Alaska from Ebay. I won’t bother asking for a refund, but I will tell PAH that they need to be more careful. We love Mochi and wouldn’t swap her for the world now that we have her, but it is very annoying.It's very annoying isn't it, when you thought you had a male hamster. I don't think Pets at Home sell the Alaska - which isn't available new these days - so no chance of a cage refund. You could possibly complain and get a refund for the cost of the hamster, but that wouldn't be very much!
You've had lots of options on here so time to think things through a bit
Cages are limited by the amount of bedding depth unless you put something inside the bars, but there are various ways to achieve that without buying perspex panels, so it doesn't have to be too expensive. I had cardboard originally and then got perspex panels later, so I didn't have to buy everything at once - but I think they were a good investment because they can be used again in future and will last a long time.
Cardboard inside the bars probably wouldn't work very well for her though as she could just chew it off! Chill n chew mats might work better. Perspex panels are great - but it does add to the cost.
But really it is about more space in the cage - especially at night. I do think the bar chewing is when they want to get out. Other times it's for attention, if they have just been out for example. But ultimately it's because they don't have enough space for a suitable environment in the cage.
There are quite a few second hand ones available. It would be a good upgrade and then you could see if it's enough or she needs bigger. The chill and chew mats are a great way of being able to add deeper bedding - you just tie them to the bars inside with sisal string. You could always sell it again if she needs bigger but Jas has settled in hers Mochi will probably always need a lot of out of cage time though.