So you adopted a cute hamster, bought the cage, the wheel, the food and some toys and set the cage up and that night when you go to bed...you hear this gnawing noise that starts to drive you completely crazy. You get up to find out what it is only to see little bubbles chewing like crazy on the bars on her cage.
That's pretty much what happened to me.
So why do hamsters chew on the bars of their cage? That's a really good question. The first answer is they are bored. If they don't have something to do at night while they are up, they will chew. Hamsters are nocturnal, meaning they sleep most of the day and are up all night. You have to give them something to do at night while they are awake.
Make sure there is a wheel in their cage, some toys for them to chew on, at least 2 different houses to sleep, hide or rest in, plenty of treats and a full food bowl.
I always bought chew sticks, honey sticks that are food glued together with honey that are in a stick form so they have that to chew on instead of the bars. If you have a wheel in their cage they will run for a really long time, tire out, take a nap and run some more.
If you'd like to know more about why hamsters chew on their cage bars please read my article.
The amazing thing is what you can get used to...it took awhile but I finally stopped noticing the sound of the wheel going round and round and round at night!
ReplyDeleteIt's the same with our puppy. We have to give her things to do when we go out otherwise we end up with holes in the vege garden.
ReplyDeleteIt always intrigues me that hamsters enjoy running on their wheels so much.
I bought one of those silent wheels...I had to keep putting oil on the bars to keep it from squeaking but it made very little noise.
ReplyDeleteI think all animals start getting in to trouble if they get bored.
I thought it might be teething like babies--had no clue it was related to boredom.
ReplyDeleteYeah if you give them enough to do, they won't bite the bars.
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