Buttercup is Eating his Chamber House!

[hotglue01]

Hi all,

I hope all is well! Things with me and my beautiful ham Buttercup (known by all who've met him as Butters <3) are very well. His 1-year Gotcha Day is coming up and I can't wait to celebrate!

One thing Butters has started doing lately is chewing his chamber house. It's an edible wood for hamsters, which is fine, but it makes a really loud noise at night and it's starting to keep me up. I always give him a Whimzee about once a month or so, but he's stopped eating those; he just hoards them after a few nibbles. I also got him an edible hanging wreath with Timothy hay balls and wood, but predictably, he hasn't touched it in lieu of eating his own house (lol). He has lots of other things he can chew around his enclosure, like a sweet-grass edible maze tube, millet snips...

Is there any way I can dissuade him from this habit? I don't feel good about it.

Thank you!

[ForgetfulBreeze]

Hi all,

I hope all is well! Things with me and my beautiful ham Buttercup (known by all who've met him as Butters <3) are very well. His 1-year Gotcha Day is coming up and I can't wait to celebrate!

One thing Butters has started doing lately is chewing his chamber house. It's an edible wood for hamsters, which is fine, but it makes a really loud noise at night and it's starting to keep me up. I always give him a Whimzee about once a month or so, but he's stopped eating those; he just hoards them after a few nibbles. I also got him an edible hanging wreath with Timothy hay balls and wood, but predictably, he hasn't touched it in lieu of eating his own house (lol). He has lots of other things he can chew around his enclosure, like a sweet-grass edible maze tube, millet snips...

Is there any way I can dissuade him from this habit? I don't feel good about it.

Thank you!

I would take out the hideout, and wait a week to put it back in.

Sometimes I've noticed that hamsters chew when they are stressed, but I doubt that's the case if he isn't ripping apart more than one thing. Maybe it's an obsession/bad habit? I've noticed my hamsters do that sometimes when either they are bored, or if they just get into it. So, I would reccomend taking it out for a period of time. I know this chamber hideout is important for him, but I still would take it out if it's disturbing you and destroying the hideout.

[hamsworth]

When a hamster has started chewing on a plastic hut, I'll take it out and probably won't give it back. Or I'll wait a few months to see how if they gnaw at it again.

But for a wood thing? Usually I've left it in. But I also haven't had a hamster non-stop gnaw on wood that much. I agree about taking it out and putting a different wood hideout in its place for now.

When one of my hamsters died, the other hamster (kept in the same room in a different tank) seemed to get stressed out for a few days. He started to chew a lot on a plastic hut, so I took it out. If it was a coincidence, I'm not sure. I also noticed that that same hamster chewed on things a lot more when he was younger but sort of outgrew it when he was older and didn't chew on things as much.

[hotglue01]

Hi again!

Bumping this because Butters is back at it (he stopped for a few weeks...). I think I have to take out his multi-chamber house for a little bit. Any idea of what I could replace it with? He has several other hides throughout his enclosure, but this is obviously his favorite...

Thank you!