biting cage

Question
Hi. I have a dworf hampster who sometimes at night goes into a frenzy, biting the bars of the cage. Her two parents also did this sometimes. I've tried to stop her once or twice but she's just frenzying. I've learned to live with it and put her in another room at night but I'm wondering if there might be something wrong? Or could you help answer why she does it?

Answer
This behavior is normal in all hamsters housed in a wire cage setup.  It is natural for hamsters to try and find escape routes, to the hamster he thinks he may just be able to bite the bar of the cage open.  If you would like to discourage this behavior try to rub some fresh garlic on the bars being bitten.  Chances are the hamster will just ignore the bars for a little before going at it again.  If this really is a nuisance for you, I would recommend housing the hamster in an all glass terrarium with a wire screen lid, and make sure that if your hamster climbs atop the highest item in the terrarium that there be at least 2" of clearance between the hamster standing on the item and the top of the cage (this will prevent them from grabbing onto the screen lid and trying to bite it).  Good luck!