[Ria P]

I can only tell you what I do. I visually check my hamster's nest for fresh food that may have gone mouldy when he sits on my partner's belly and isn't watching every couple of days. I've never found any so he eats it when fresh. Dried food keeps anyway. I guess I'd replace it with a piece of the same food in the same place in the nest. My hamster wouldn't come to my hand at first because he found the smell of my handcream offensive and then he had issues with my scented handsoap. I followed advice from this site and washed my hands with unscented soap especially purchased and my hamster accepted treats from my hand then. They can be fussy little things. He nibbled my finger once which was my own fault because I had handled cheese. I had to give him a tiny piece of cheese then or I would have had a very disappointed hamster. So yes, wash your hands.