My hamster's tooth is white and he's biting the cage. Should I worry?

Thanks for reaching out about Stitch and including a photo. The picture does not include evidence of bumble foot, which is also not common in hamsters due to soft bedding and does not seem overweight. A veterinary visit is recommended to assess your concerns. Monitor activity, food and water intake. Good luck.

I would make sure bubbles has a large enclosures with plenty of toys to play with. Sometimes hamsters can have a lot of built up energy due to limited space. If he is eating,drinking and defecating normally I would not be concerned. However if he continues to have odd behavior or starts acting ill I would recommend taking him to a vet for an exam

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!

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 using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Heavy breathing is unlikely to be due to her teeth. Bar chewing is not good in general so it is a good idea to maintain enough things inside of the cage that they can safely chew on. If you are concerned about how she is doing at this time, I would recommend that you have her evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Good luck and have a great day!

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.

Thanks for reaching out about Greg. If you are referring to he was dropped from a distance, and then tried to bite, he could be painful. If you mean he is falling over on his own, it could be he is neurologic. If the problem persists, a veterinary visit is needed. Monitor for appetite and activity. Good luck.