My hamster gnaws wheel bars and falls. How do I stop her?

Some hamsters may continue to chew on cage bars just out of interest even when the rest of the environment is enriched. It can be problematic if Lulu accidentally chews on something sharp and causes damage to her mouth, or if she gets a paw or even her head stuck between the bars. If you've tried enriching her environment with little success, switching to a different enclosure such as a tank or solid side cage may help eliminate the behavior.

Thanks for reaching out about Skittles. Possibly Skittles is attempting to escape and might need more exercise out of the cage. Maybe a hamster ball. Otherwise you need to provide a barrier to prevent chewing on the bars as hamsters can possibly fracture incisors. Good luck.

It may be stress or boredom. Hamsters need to chew to keep their teeth filed down. Provide a variety of chew toys and hides to keep her busy. A wheel is good for exercise as are tunnels that she can move through.

Show this to your sister: Check him thoroughly for injuries, or other abnormalities. Watch him when he eats. If his eating style has changed, he may have a problem in his mouth or with his teeth Most of the time hamsters chew the cage because of boredom, attention-seeking behavior, managing teeth growth, and the simple fun of chewing. Does he have a hamster wheel or an exercise ball? If not, those can relieve boredom. Give him some apple or birch twigs, Willow works too,dog biscuits, carrots to gnaw on. A hard dog treat helps with keeping teeth healthy.  Spend more time with him. Let your hamster crawl around on top of you while you lie on the floor. Hamsters love to explore, and once he has developed a trust in you he will want to climb all over you. Let him sleep during the day. Hamsters are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and are awake and active at night. Waking him up during the day, may cause him irritation. Interrupting his natural sleep schedule could lead to further undesirable behavior.  Check the size of his cage. As a general rule of thumb hamsters need at least a cubic foot of space. If your cage is smaller than that, he will need a bigger cage. Change the furniture in his cage around a bit to make it more interesting for him to explore. A cardboard tube from a roll of paper towel or toilet paper makes an excellent chew toy for hamsters and he should like to use it to hide and play in it. All this may help avoid biting , whether it is cage biting or biting your fingers. This is likely not a medical problem, unless you find an injury or you find that he is not chewing or eating properly or you think he may be in pain. And, unfortunately, sometimes Hamsters can turn into little bite machines. So if your hamster has plenty to chew on as described above, and the cage biting does not stop, you should move him into a glass aquarium, so he cannot keep up chewing bars and ruining his teeth. Be patient, it will take time. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

Her foot has probably been caught in between the cage bars, this may be permanent damage (it often is in hamsters), if it is the recommendation will be leg amputation ( a very simple surgical procedure in hamsters).

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This does sound like she is quite stressed. The good news is that typically this improves on its own just by giving them a bit of space. I would not be too concerned about this. I would recommend you do not handle her anymore today and wait until tomorrow. A bit of space is likely to resolve this issue. Best of luck!

I would say Luna sounds stressed for some reason. Teeth chattering is how many hamsters communicate that they do not want to be bothered or touched. I suggest you refer to the links below for some ideas of what to do for her. You could also try some Rescue Remedy. ( http://www.hamster-club.com/behaviour.asp ) ( https://www.hssv.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Hamster-Care.pdf ) ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bach-Pet-Rescue-Remedy-10/dp/B0030NWZUC )