How can I stop them chewing the cage?

Question
My fur babies are called Kerry and Mindy and they're 16 weeks old.  They've started chewing dirty great holes in the cage.  They have lots of toys and they get to run around for at least an hour per day, so why are they still chomping the plastic base to bits?!
Any advice gladly accepted

Karen

Answer
Hello Karen and your girls :0)

Kerry and Mindy are still babies, and chewing is what they do :0) Especially girls. This is a very irritating fact. You can try to give them flavored eatable Nylabones, found in the dog bone section at any walmart and pet store. These should be giving any way to help the teeth stay trimmed. Wood chews for hamsters are not recommended, first because they are made out of pine, and pine is bad, second, rats just don't like them.

Also, make sure that their main diet is a dry dog food and lab blocks. The lab blocks you can find in pet stores. The seed mixes are not healthy because of the alfalfa pellets, which can not be digested, and the rats pick through every thing and only eat what they like. The lab blocks are formulated for a balanced nutrition, and the dog food gives the extra meat protein rats need.

Feeding these hard foods will help them with the urge to chew.

Also, is their cage big enough for them? They will need at least a 24x 24x 18 minimum cage. I recommend www.martinscages.com they are extremely reasonable priced for quality and size. They will just continue to chew on the cage you have now. They should get better about chewing as they get bigger, but if they are such avid chewers now, they probably will be still when they are adults. This is a natural thing.

I hope I have answered your question. If you have any more, please ask, I am more than happy to help ;0)

Becky