help!

[fizz59]

My 9 week old hammie constantly chews at the bars of the cage, to the point where there is a sore spot developing above her/his nose.
He/she has tubes to run through, a salt lick, a fiddlestick and a wheel, so it can't be boredom. I also give him/her 1 hour time out in a ball.
How can I prevent him/her making this sore spot any worse.
My next question is whether I have a male or female. The shop told me it was a male, but it still doesn't have the large rear end, that my other hammie had at his /her age. But I can't feel any teats either
Would appreciate your help

[me01]

i sugest you get a cage that onlyhas bars at the top and not at the sides (where your hamster can't chew them) and plastic along the sides then your hamster won't get any more sour spotts andi would suggest you take him/her to the vet. let me know how it goes :angel:

[Tumbledown]

Bar chewing is pretty normal all of my hamsters have done this.I also think one hour in a ball is a bit too much,they can become exhausted.I usually give my hamster ten minutes at a time,you can give them a few runs in the ball,but I let my hamster rest between them.He is not very fond of the ball anyway and after a few minutes stops running and tries to chew away out of it.

[dosergirl]

Mine have always chewed bars too. There really isn't much to be done about it.

[LilSnooPydOG]

Bar chewing is fine. It doesn't neccessarily mean they're bored, some hammys just prefer chewing the bars. By sore spot, what exactly do you mean? Is it bald or does it just look sore? Because that would probably be from the head rubbing against the bars when he/she chews. I don't think you really can prevent this.

1 hour does seem like a long time in the ball. My hammy runs for about 20 minutes unless I'm cleaning her cage. For when I'm cleaning her cage, after about 10 minutes or so I let her get some water and give her some food. She usually rolls over to a corner in my room and falls alseep, so she's not wearing herself out.

Male or female. It is tough to figure out with some of them, LoL. What kind of hamster is it? I think it's easier to tell them apart on syrians, and dwarfs can be tricky. See if this helps: http://www.petwebsite.com/sexing.htm

[WaaX]

if you really dont want your hamster bitting at the cage, spray some bitter apple spray on the bars, that should stop it from chewign on them, but hamsters chew on the bars to help wear down there teeth since they are ever growing.

[LilSnooPydOG]

if you really dont want your hamster bitting at the cage, spray some bitter apple spray on the bars, that should stop it from chewign on them, but hamsters chew on the bars to help wear down there teeth since they are ever growing.
Some hamsters seem to enjoy the taste of that stuff, but it is worth a try. Where would you buy it, though? I've never seen it, but have been wanting to try it. When Snoopi's chewing gets too annoying (which it always is, LoL), I place her chew bar in front of the door. It surprisingly works, she went to chewing the wood instead. It's also quiet that way, too, so I love the idea! :D

[SapphireWolf]

I've seen it at PETsMART before, and have contimplated getting some, but I never because I really have no reason for it

[LilSnooPydOG]

I've seen it at PETsMART before, and have contimplated getting some, but I never because I really have no reason for it
I guess I'm just not looking hard enough. Believe it or not, it took about 10-15 minutes for me to find the Aspen bedding at PetsMart. I thought they didn't have it because I just could not see it. There was a little shelf and I was looking at one side but it only had pine and cedar. As I was about to leave, I glanced at the other side of the shelf and found the Aspen. How pathetic am I?

I might have to look for that bitter apple, though. Snoopi chews on the bars all night, and it seems the only time she doesn't is when I'm awake. Right before I go to bed, she decides to chew on the bars. I wake up at multiple times in the night and I hear her either runnong in her wheel or chewing. I wake up for school, and she's done. Oh, what torture.

[WaaX]

Some hamsters seem to enjoy the taste of that stuff, but it is worth a try. Where would you buy it, though? I've never seen it, but have been wanting to try it. When Snoopi's chewing gets too annoying (which it always is, LoL), I place her chew bar in front of the door. It surprisingly works, she went to chewing the wood instead. It's also quiet that way, too, so I love the idea! :D

i would imagine at any pet store since its used for dogs mainly, so yeah, try a pet store and ask them if they have it, if not a pet store, try a vet

[Axiomkid]

Your Hamster is Bored if your using a Critertrail just go out and buy more tunnels for your hammy i went out and got some and now my hamster us so busy crawling and crawling it forgot about chewing on the bars

[fizz59]

Thankyou for all your replies.
Misty has tubes running all over her cage, but she doesn't seem interested in them.
It's not the bar chewing that bothers me, she doesn't make a lot of noise doing it, it's the spot above her nose that worries me. It's not sore, just going a bit bare at the moment, but it will get worse the longer che chews, right?
I am putting her in a plastic storage box which I have filled with sawdust and lots of toys to chew on and to climb in and through, but all she does is to try and climb out of it.
By the way she is a 10 week old syrian silver grey.

[LilSnooPydOG]

I would imagine that the spot would get bigger as she continued. There's nothing wrong with that, but I too would want the hair back.

That was smart to put her into one of those. Just make sure you have lots of air holes drilled in it. After a while she might not want to chew the bars anymore, but I had two hamsters who chewed on them every night, all night. They never grew a bald spot, though.

I hope you get all this figured out, lol! :wave: