Need some help here with a hamster

[CameozMom]

I am getting ready to move into a new apartment with very thin walls....and here recently, my pet hamsters have taken to chewing on their cage. It is very noisy, and I was wandering if anyone had some tips to keep them from biting the cage. They have a few wood sticks in there, and an empty toilet paper roll to chew on...it doesn't look like they chew on it much, but it has been chewed on. Does anyone here have any suggestions on to what I can do, or if there are any good types of "chew" toys to buy for hamsters? Thanks!


Susie

[shellonabeach]

Hi,

Sharing a room with 13 hamsters can at night be a little noisy for me also!!

I have found that hams ignore wood chews/sticks completly, but they do like hard edible chews (you can buy edible nylabones for this - ensure they do not contain garlic, charcoal, BHT or BHA) I buy hard edible hamster sticks which attatch to the side of the cage. The only problem is they are quite noisy when they destroy them and they only last a few hours at most (they hoard it all).

They do have a wheel I suppose so that isn't a problem.

The only real solution I can think of is expenive and is to house them in tanks/plastic storage bins so they have no bars to chew on. You could also try weaving paper in and out of the bars to stop them. Some people buy nasty tasting products such as "bitter apple" but I think that is a little mean as hamsters chew on the bars not only in wanting to escape but to also wear their teeth down.

[wolfsoul]

You could try using bitter apple spray :) I heard it doesn't work very good on dogs, but that it works great on rodents.

I'm not sure if this is good for hamsters, or if it will distract them from the bars, but my rats just LOVE dentabones. They also love rawhide. :D

Welcome to Pet Talk!

[tikeyas_mom]

my hamster do it to. I have 3 sharing my room lol. they can be very noisy at night. so I give them each a peice of raw hid or a dog biscuit. good luck keep up updated.

[Bathsheba069]

Don't give hamsters any type of rawhide chewbone (i.e., for dogs)! It splinters off into hard, very sharp pieces that, if ingested, can puncture the insides of their mouths, or worse, internal parts!

Please use wooden chewsticks or dog biscuits instead!

We have to take care of our little furry friends!

To CameozMom:
You might consider moving your hamsters into an aquarium. Each of my "kids" have their own (and we live in an apartment). They're easy to clean and nice for watching your hamsters. Just make sure they have plenty of other stuff to chew on and that it doesn't get too hot inside. (Since there's obviously less airflow than a cage)

[CameozMom]

Thanks guys! Those are all very good suggestions! Where do I get the bitter apple spray? I looked at Petsmart, but they didn't have it...but then again, I only looked in the "small animal" department...I didn't look anywhere else...could it be somewhere else?

I will try the dog bones....I'll get them from the grocery store, so I can go ahead and try them...Petsmart is about 45 minutes from me right now. If all that don't work, I'll do the aquarium thing.

Thanks for the info! It's been really helpful! And thank you for the alert on the rawhide bone Bathsheba069...I never knew that! Thanks for bringing it to our attention, and I'll also spread the word to other hamster "families"!

You guys are the best! :)

Susie

[tikeyas_mom]

Originally posted by Bathsheba069
[B]Don't give hamsters any type of rawhide chewbone (i.e., for dogs)! It splinters off into hard, very sharp pieces that, if ingested, can puncture the insides of their mouths, or worse, internal parts!



maybe I shouldent anymore :eek:.

I thought since it was ok for rats it was ok for hammies, but Now that I think about it, they shuv EVERYTHING in their pouches and if they shuved raw hide into their pouch it might hurt...

but I really suggest getting dentabone or maybe a pack of milk bones :) hammies rather chew on spomthing edible then a cage or wood chew.