Hamster Keeps Biting Cage | Owners' Questions | Hamsters | Guide

Metal bars aren’t very good for your hamster’s teeth - they’re too hard to get through, and they can cause serious tooth problems by breaking them and pushing them out of their normal alignment. If hamsters regularly chew bars, then they can suffer from problems such as broken teeth, misaligned teeth, and mouth and facial injuries.

If your hamster keeps biting the bars of its cage, then there may be some things that you need to do to improve your pet’s life. Gnawing on the bars of the cage can indicate one of a number of things, including boredom, a lack of space, or overgrown teeth.

Bar rub can be caused by a number of factors

For the most part, your hamster will entertain themselves. However, lots of owners recommend that they are brought out of their cage and played with at least once every 24 hours. If your hamster is chewing its bars, then the first thing to do is bring it out of its cage for some play time. Try increasing the frequency with which you play with your hamster for a while, and see if this reduces the bar-chewing behaviour.

Another thing to try is to provide your hamster with something to chew. Hamsters have very long teeth that are constantly growing, and if they don’t have enough hard food to chew then they’ll gnaw whatever they can get their paws on - if there’s nothing else this can mean that your pet may resort to nibbling the bars of its own cage. A possible solution to this is to buy a hamster chew or gnaw. This is a special piece of wood that is safe for your pet to munch on, and allows your pet a more comfortable, safer way of wearing down their teeth.

Finally, if you’ve tried the above two options for a few days, then the problem may be the cage itself. Your hamster may be trying to escape because their cage is too small - if they’re somewhere they don’t want to be, and there’s no obvious way out, then the obvious thing that they’ll try to do is attempt to gnaw their way out.

If none of these options work, then you may want to purchase a large glass cage that doesn’t have any bars. These are often reclaimed aquariums, and thus are quite a good size, but it’s a good idea to get the measurements before you purchase any new home for your pet.

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Comments

Brenda;, 23 February 2023

Please do not advise people to put their hamster in a ball. These are very dangerous. They do not provide enough ventilation, they are stressful for hamsters, and there have been numerous foot & toe injuries, sometimes with toes getting ripped off. These are very very dangerous.

Tuzzut, 18 October 2022

My new winter white dwarf hamsters keep chewing on their cage bars.. I've only had them for like 3 days and I'm not sure what to do. They have this small petshop cage cause my parents wouldn't allow me to get a bigger one. They just say that it's fine and i should let them bite it,but I'm worried about their teeth and such

Malia, 21 August 2022

I got a hamster 3 days ago, I was super excited! My parents had hamsters when they were younger so I thought I was ready, but soon, my hamster started to bite it’s cage A LOT. So yesterday (My second day of having her) it was late at night, (2:00 AM) and I was with my brother near the hamster cage, we were petting her gently and she was fine, but soon later, she started to bite the cage so much. We thought it was normal, so we let her for a bit, but then, we noticed some paint was coming off the bars, I looks from the other side and I noticed the whole entire bar was coming off, I am going on a trip in a few days, and I’m really scared she will escape, and if not while we’re on the trip, she will still probably escape before Summer break ends. I’m really scared, what can we put on the bars to make sure she doesn’t break them? Please answer, I just got her and she’s already about to escape…

Amie, 31 May 2021

I have 2 robos. One just escaped his cage, I have no idea how and I didn’t even hear or notice it happen and was even in the room! I found out that they seem to be running on the wheel as though they were trying to get to the bars to climb them. When I moved the wheel, they did the same, except they fell off the other side of the wheel instead (saucer wheel). In a panicked fear they might escape again, I’ve cooled their playpen around the bars and pray they don’t get out while I sleep. I do feel that the cage is too small but I have to wait a week before I can purchase one...anyone have advice for what I can do in the meantime to ensure they don’t escape??

Choi, 25 May 2021

@Téa still it’s too small for Syrian the minimum is 450 inch squared floor space. Try 30 by 18 cage or bigger.