My Hamsters Chewing Her Way Out Of Her Cage!

[TheLottiediarys]

Hi guys!
As per usual I've got a dilemma,

My Syrian Hamster Daenerys has managed to cause some serious damage to her cage,
She's in a detolf cage which is an ikea glass cabinet with the door removed turned on its side for a tank style cage, it's got wood on both ends with glass.
This is supposed to help bar chewers as there's nothing to chew and my god was she a chewer in her old cage!

So she's been in it a little while and there was a small hole that should have had a plug? In one of the wooden ends but somehow I didn't include it when I built the cage,
She's become obsessed with this small hole and has made it slowly bigger and bigger,

I've tried everything to distract her,
Burying it in wood shavings,
Putting toys, treats, her wheel in the way
But nothing stopped her

She's now chewed through the wood completely in a small area which has alarmed me alot
She's somewhat safe if she did escape because the room is closed so the cats can't get it but obviously i don't want her to escape in the first place!

Any ideas what I can do to fix this?
I've put a large wooden nesting box in the way that she shouldn't be able to move for now but if she can I don't know what I will do! :/ :/

 

[*kate*]

No idea how you can stop her!

My Daughter had an indoor rabbit cage for her hammy and she managed to chew her way out of the thick plastic base and spent a lovely night roaming the bedroom!

 

[Piggy mum]

Maybe you could try putting a heavy stone sort of thing there so she can't move it at all? My hamster was always escaping- she always managed to open the door on the wire cage I have no idea how?!

 

[Hops_in_Heaven]

I have a russian dwarf, and he initially gave me some cage troubles too. We put him in a wire cage, and he just kept climbing up the bars to the top, letting go a dropping to the ground. I was afraid he'd give himself a concussion, or something.

I bought a terrarium from the reptile section of the pet store. It's glass, with a mesh top to allow airflow. He can't climb the bars, or escape. The cat can even sit on it without it collapsing.

Our only issue with it was making sure he has water. You can't exactly hang a bottle in there. We got a small, heavy bowl for his water, but he was digging under it and tipping it over, for a while. He'd tip it over, and fall asleep in the soggy bedding like a poor abused thing. Then he'd pick up a piece of bedding and suck all the water out of it, if he was thirsty.

Our solution was a glass container (you know, for storing your leftover food?), which we'd lost the cover for, and put in in the cage upside down, creating a flat surface for his water bowl. He isn't strong enough to move it, or dig underneath it, so now he can always have fresh water to drink.

 

[TheLottiediarys]

So far the nesting box seems to be working
I check everyday and she hasn't moved it which is good

Hamster can be really weird sometimes
I know sometimes cage chewing can become obsessive which isn't good!

 

[Freela]

Hamsters can be dedicated chewers... and single-minded in their obsessions sometimes! I know we are struggling with ours right now because she wants to chew the water bottle spout which leads to her dumping all the water! Blocking it with something heavy is a good idea... use that little body size against them!

Hamsters have such weird little personalities sometimes! Ours is both obsessive and deeply suspicious... she seems to worry more than a little rodent should! LOL!

 

[jayne]

You need to have the hamster out more because I have a hamster and when she is in her cage she will chew but when I pick her up she will go to sleep on me and I think it because they scare to be on there own
Try having hamster out more,hope this helps you

 

[TheLottiediarys]

You need to have the hamster out more because I have a hamster and when she is in her cage she will chew but when I pick her up she will go to sleep on me and I think it because they scare to be on there own
Try having hamster out more,hope this helps you

Hi there!
I agree being held and taken out of her cage more may help her stop chewing,
But Daenerys has had a very cruel life before I adopted her a few months ago,
She is very afraid of human contact,
And isn't ready to have my hands in her cage yet,
So holding her isn't an option yet.

She has come very far, she will come out from her nest while I am in the room, which is an improvement from last month when she wouldn't come out of her nest while I was in the room, she would just stay hidden till I left,
And she will take treats from me through the lid of her cage, (she is in a detolf)
But if I open her cage she is frightened
And won't come out of her nest,
She won't take food from me in her cage at this point, I cannot possible touch her yet because it is too frightening for her.

We are working slowly with her to improve her contact with humans but i have to take it at a speed she is ready for.

I am very proud of her progress up until this point but I don't want to back track by forcing her to do anything before she is ready.

From what I can gather she was used as a breeding Hamster and was left in a small cage with other Syrians which caused horrific fighting,
When I rescued her she was covered in blood from a fight.
Very sad but understandable why she doesn't trust humans before me.