Syrian Bar Biting on cage

Hank

Hank

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Hi Everyone,
I'm new to the forum and looking for some advice please. Sorry for the long post, just trying to give as much detail for background. I got my male syrian hamster six weeks ago from a pet shop. At first he was quite timid, so I left him to settle in and just talked through the cage. After a while he started to become curious and more confident, he would take treats and let me stroke him. In the third week he seemed happy, so I let him out with some toys for a free roam. A few days later he started to chew and bite the cage bars. I gave more chew toys, all different types, and it was a little better. Then he started to chew and bite again, with more intensity. I wasn't sure if he was using his wheel, so we upgraded to a much bigger wheel, which he did use. All was fine until about a week later, now he chews and bites the cage every day and as soon as I come near the door, he is climbing it. He comes out almost everyday, but he is not tame. He is in a savic sky metro and sleeps in his tunnel. He has about 6 inches of bedding, three houses (one hammock), chew tunnel, and more chews than I can count. He will chew on the toys, but gets bored and heads for the bars. I give him carrots and hard chews as well. He is wearing away his fur on his nose. Any ideas or suggestions please?
 
Hello Hank and welcome to the forum. No need to apologise for your post. The more information the better. Syrians need a minimum of 100cm by 50cm. I looked up the cage you have and saw it is 80cm so this is on the small size for a Syrian. Unfortunately, pet shops do not have the best advice on hamster care and aim to sell their products rather then what is best for the hamster.

The best thing you can do for your hamster is to upgrade his cage. There are bigger cages, glass tanks, tank style cages and the option to DIY something yourself. It depends what kind of style you like really.

It is lovely you have given him 6 inches of bedding and the other enrichment you have detailed.

With carrot, it is best to stick to a little piece maybe once a week as it is sugary. Fresh food is great and hamsters can eat quite a variety of vegetables.

What is your hamsters name? It is so sweet he will take treats from you. He clearly trusts you. :)
 
Hello & welcome to the forum.

As Rainbow said the cage isn’t really suitable for a Syrian as they do need lots of space & it’s difficult to fit much in if you have a large 11” wheel in there too, sleeping in the tubes isn’t good for them either so he would do better with a large house with no base on the substrate, about shoe box size, you can make one from a shoe box if you don’t have a good house for him yet.
I think you will find his behaviour will improve over time with a larger cage & more suitable set up but it can become a bit of a habit with them so until you can do something about the cage it’s best not to give too much attention when they are actually chewing.
A lot of chew toys aren’t really that interesting for them, have you tried whimzee dog chews? They’re like little toothbrush shaped chews & hamsters love them so that might help a bit while you sort things out for him.
 
Thank you so much for the replies, I really appreciate it. I did a lot of research on the cage, I thought it met the requirements, sounds like it wasn't enough, I should have joined this forum earlier! As he is bar bitting would you suggest a tank rather than one with bars? I'm not sure as it talks about ventilation challenges? I've seen another thread that suggests options, so I'll spend more time looking at that as well. He has carrot maybe once or twice a week, but he likes cucumber as well, I won't give him carrot more than once a week now. He was sleeping in his house, but moved to the tunnel, he has a large wooden house straight on the substrate, but isn't interested in sleeping in it, I'll try the shoe box idea. I'll try the whimzee chews as well.
By the way, he is called Jasper and we both thank you!
 
Jasper is a lovely name! Often when a cage is big enough it will stop bar biting. I have a tank style and the lid is mesh so no ventilation issues.🙂
 
elusive said:
Hello & welcome to the forum.

As Rainbow said the cage isn’t really suitable for a Syrian as they do need lots of space & it’s difficult to fit much in if you have a large 11” wheel in there too, sleeping in the tubes isn’t good for them either so he would do better with a large house with no base on the substrate, about shoe box size, you can make one from a shoe box if you don’t have a good house for him yet.
I think you will find his behaviour will improve over time with a larger cage & more suitable set up but it can become a bit of a habit with them so until you can do something about the cage it’s best not to give too much attention when they are actually chewing.
A lot of chew toys aren’t really that interesting for them, have you tried whimzee dog chews? They’re like little toothbrush shaped chews & hamsters love them so that might help a bit while you sort things out for him.
Click to expand...
Hi, I have a quick follow up please on the whimzee dog chews, what size should I get?
 
RainbowBrite said:
Jasper is a lovely name! Often when a cage is big enough it will stop bar biting. I have a tank style and the lid is mesh so no ventilation issues.🙂
Click to expand...
Thank you! This is really helpful.
 
I buy xx small whimzees but you can also buy x small.
 
Hi, i get the xs toothbrushes.
One of my Syrians lives in the Savic Plaza and has a 12in but bites the bars to let me know that he wants out.
I push some cardboard tubes or sheets of cardboard through the bars to keep him occupied while he waits for his freeroaming turn.
 
Jasper really is a lovely name!
Male Syrians do tend to settle better than females once in a larger cage & aren’t quite demanding so he may be fine in a barred cage if it’s large enough. It’s never easy to know really but tanks can have their own disadvantages too so I’d be inclined to go for a barred cage personally.

For a Syrian the small whimzees should be fine, the xx small ones are better for dwarf hams.

Have you tried him with other veggies too, they often love broccoli, green beans, peas, red peppers among other things, I give mine a bit of veg daily.
 
Hello and welcome. Syrians vary in personality and behaviour a lot. Some Syrians would not bar bite in this cage. You’re correct that a lot of pet charities quote that size as a minimum for hamsters. We recommend 100cm or bigger as do some hamster rescues now (eg something like the Savic plaza). With 80 x 50 as a minimum.

It sounds like you haven’t had him very long and he’s still settling in? Also you mentioned he was nesting in the tubes - this happens a lot. Taking the tubes out usually does the trick if they have plenty of substrate and a house to sleep in.

How long has he been in the cage? Bar biting is basically caused by either stress or just wanting to get out. Stress can be caused if the cage is cleaned out too much as it removes all their familiar scent and then the feel like they’re on a strange place or invaded and want to escape. If their wheel isn’t big enough they may not use it and get pent up energy so want to escape.

So there can be a number of reasons for bar biting but they are usually related to stress and that can relate to cage size.

It can also cause huge stress if you suddenly move them to a bigger cage now. And if he’s a baby - too much stress in the first few weeks can lead to wet tail. So if deciding to upgrade him it’s something that needs doing carefully.

I can see you’ve already upgraded his wheel. And he’ll enjoy that. Did you take the tubes out yet? That may have annoyed him a bit for a few days but it’s necessary.

I’ll wait to see how long he’s been with you and what cleaning routine you have before saying anything else.
 
Beryl said:
Hi, i get the xs toothbrushes.
One of my Syrians lives in the Savic Plaza and has a 12in but bites the bars to let me know that he wants out.
I push some cardboard tubes or sheets of cardboard through the bars to keep him occupied while he waits for his freeroaming turn.
Click to expand...
That's a great suggestion, that will stop him putting his little nose through!
 
Hank said:
Thank you so much for the replies, I really appreciate it. I did a lot of research on the cage, I thought it met the requirements, sounds like it wasn't enough, I should have joined this forum earlier! As he is bar bitting would you suggest a tank rather than one with bars? I'm not sure as it talks about ventilation challenges? I've seen another thread that suggests options, so I'll spend more time looking at that as well. He has carrot maybe once or twice a week, but he likes cucumber as well, I won't give him carrot more than once a week now. He was sleeping in his house, but moved to the tunnel, he has a large wooden house straight on the substrate, but isn't interested in sleeping in it, I'll try the shoe box idea. I'll try the whimzee chews as well.
By the way, he is called Jasper and we both thank you!
Click to expand...
I did the same when we got our first hamster - but I got a much worse cage than you did! Technically that cage is a minimum for Syrians but it can get a bit cramped with Syrian sized toys and wheels etc. most items sold for hamsters are only big enough for dwarf hamsters.

There was actually some scientific research done that showed hansters stopped bar biting altogether once a cage got to 100cm. And most people find hamsters don’t bar bite in a 100 cm cage.

I have a highly active maverick Syrian at the moment in the 100 cm plaza. He doesn’t bar bite - but he will do it for attention when he wants our late at night and can see me! But that is only for a minute or so once a night.
 
Maz said:
It can also cause huge stress if you suddenly move them to a bigger cage now. And if he’s a baby - too much stress in the first few weeks can lead to wet tail. So if deciding to upgrade him it’s something that needs doing carefully.
Click to expand...
You’re right Maz, cage changes can be stressful but I don’t think they need to be if done carefully, retaining all the old substrate from the current cage & making sure there are plenty of safe spaces in the new cage & not too much open space, I’ve never found cage changes much of a problem tbh.
It sounds as though he may be more stressed in the current cage & as the tubes will need to be removed if he stays that will cause stress too.
 
For now just get rid of the tubes - add a bit more substrate (filling the base almost to the top) and weaving some cardboard as Beryl suggested - may help him settle down. Plus having him out once a day for out of cage time in a playpen area or fenced off part of the room for some out of cage time.

Is he bar chewing constantly ? It’s a horrible noise and bad for their teeth.

Just seen Elusives post above :-). And I agree with that. I was just suggesting how to settle him a bit meanwhile :)

A cage change can be done carefully - it’s important not to do it cold Turkey and not clean anything first. I still think they need at least two or three weeks in the original cage before upgrading though.
 
Have you seen the cages article on the home page? It gives some pros and cons and at the bottom is a list of all the currently available suitable cages - bearing in mind the comments about which are ok for which species. We recommend 100cm for all species but 80cm can be ok for dwarf hamsters. I have had a Syrian in something like the hamster sky but he was a very shy Syrian who seemed to prefer that. Which is not the norm.

I have the Savic plaza for our Syrian and our Robo.

www.thehamsterforum.com

Choosing the best Hamster Cage

We have a large list of suitable and recommended hamster cages to choose from. Choosing the best hamster cage is very important. It needs to be large enough - ideally 100cm x 50 cm or larger and it needs to have plenty of enrichment - a good...
www.thehamsterforum.com
 
Cages are expensive and it’s not easy when you’ve just spent a lot of money on a cage, to hear a different one would be better! However the hamster sky sells well second hand! A lot of people like them for dwarf hamsters.
 
He is about 3 months old. He's been in his cage for six weeks, moved into the tunnel three weeks later. I did make a mistake the first week and cleaned everything, but he didn't seem to mind. I don't do that now. I clean his toilet area every couple of days and a slightly bigger clean once a week, but I don't remove everything, so he still has familiar scents. I haven't taken the tunnels out, as I didn't want to stress him out, but if you think that will help, I can try it. I was thinking of putting a section of the tunnel on the floor, as I think he feels safe there, would that be okay? I did buy a tunnel nest, which he enjoys going through, but just removes the bedding and doesn't sleep there.
So, could the tunnels be a problem, should I take them out now, or leave if I can get a new cage quickly enough?
 
Maz said:
For now just get rid of the tubes - add a bit more substrate (filling the base almost to the top) and weaving some cardboard as Beryl suggested - may help him settle down. Plus having him out once a day for out of cage time in a playpen area or fenced off part of the room for some out of cage time.

Is he bar chewing constantly ? It’s a horrible noise and bad for their teeth.

Just seen Elusives post above :). And I agree with that. I was just suggesting how to settle him a bit meanwhile :)

A cage change can be done carefully - it’s important not to do it cold Turkey and not clean anything first. I still think they need at least two or three weeks in the original cage before upgrading though.
Click to expand...
He starts of nibbling, then it gets harder, that's what is concerning me. It also doesn't matter if he has been out of the cage, he will still do it?
 
I’d take the tunnels out now and pop a shoebox house on the fooor of the cage as elusive mentioned. If they find a place that’s large and dark inside they move in and build a big cosy nest there. He may be temporarily miffed about the tunnels disappearing but it might even shock him out if bar biting :-)
 
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