# Syrian hamster is acting strange - is this normal?



## Puggles77 (Jan 18, 2016)

Hi!

I bought a Syrian hamster on October 5th in 2015 and my little cutie is now 7 months and she is called Chi Chi.

Over the past week her behaviour has changed and she's become a little madam! She is constantly clawing the inside of the house, the bottom of her cage and even her little pouch. The cage she has is 3 storeys with the bottom part filled 2/3 of sawdust for her to burrow. She has loads of toys, which I switch up when I clean her out - always had a tube and pouch and she loves them.

I don't know what's gotten into her, it looks like she's going mental and wants to get out. Whenever she's up I always open the cage up and see if she wants to go inside her ball or run around on the bed. She lets me hold her and give her strokes - she's never bit me. 

Last night I didn't get any sleep at all because she kept taking the slide which connects a bridge from her house to the 3rd storey. She was continuously nibbling and clawing at the slide, removing it and throwing it off. I kept putting it back on because if she fell off from that height I was frightened shed hurt herself. So I stayed up with her until she eventually went to sleep, but I woke up to the slide off! 

I cleaned her out this afternoon and she ran around in her ball no issue - Soon as her house was cleaned she seemed very content and happy. But now she's clawing the inside of her house and biting the bars. 

I don't know what's up with her lately. I haven't changed any of the food, bedding or how I handle her. 

Has anybody else had this issue?


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## MrJsk (Mar 14, 2014)

http://thehamsterhouse.com/hamster-info/hamster-behavior/why-do-hamsters-chew-bars/

This explains why hamsters chew bars. It also gives you a good list of suggestions of how to make them stop!


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## kodakkuki (Aug 8, 2011)

What size is her cage? I know you say 3 storey, but a hamster needs much more floor space than you'd imagine! 
Does she have a wheel? What size is it? I've found my Syrians need a 12inch wheel to allow them to break fully into a run rather than a fast walk- seems to burn off so much more energy!


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