Dory is what the girl at the petstore called a "Russian Black Bear" We've had her for probably 5 months. She's entertaining to say the least. It doesn't matter how much exercise she gets (wheel, ball, etc) or how many things I give her to chew on, she always seems determined to get out of her cage. (We use a 10 gallon aquarium, and she's managed to chew most of the plastic from arund the top. We keep cans of food on top of the mesh cover to keep her in.)


Any ideas how to keep her to be less bored? Or what her problem is?

Thanks,

Michelle

She's probably bored, a 10 gallon tank really isn't that big.
I've never heard of a 'Russian black bear' before, I assume it's a dwarf? Although with the 'bear' bit it could be a syrian (sorry that I dont know)
Dwarf hamsters may be small but they have alot of energy!
I always kept my dwarf hams in a zoo zone 1, so a cage of at least 70x40cm base size.
And syrians in at least an 80x50cm cage.

Does Dory have a wheel that's at least 6.5"? (or 8" for a syrian)
And does she have plenty of toys so she has things to play with?

I really do think it's boredom in a cage that's way too small.
Could you get a bigger cage, doesn't have to be expensive as you can make a bin cage out of a plastic storage tub.

theres no such thing as a russian black bear, i would be very interested to see pictures of her so we can tell you just what she really is

as for keeping her entertained, a 10 gallon tank is just simply too small im afraid, you need a minimum of a 20 gallon long based tank

as for ways to keep her entertained, we could help more if we knew what she really was, as black bear is a pet store name for black syrians, but russian dwarfs (winter whites and campbells) are often called just russians in pet stores

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