Hamster chewing

Question
Hello. i have on hamster, and he ALWAYS chews on the bars on the cage and its realy annoying and loud. Is there any way to prevent this?

Thank you for your time

Answer
Hi Katherine

Some hamsters always chew on the bars of their cage - sometimes they get a ridge on their noses where they have been chewing so much. Hamster's teeth are growing all the time and therefore they need to chew, but they can also chew through boredom.

Make sure there is some wood for him to chew. You can buy wooden chews from the pet shops or give him treats that are stuck to sticks so that he has to chew to get them off.  Also make sure there are plenty of things for him to do: wheel that is large enough (a lot of standard wheels are too small for adult Syrians and therefore you need to upgrade this to a larger wheel, otherwise they won't use it as it hurts their back), climbing frames, tubes etc.

Apart from the above, there is not a lot you can do.  Several of my hamsters chew even though they have plenty of other things to do, it is just in their nature.

Regards