Percy the hoarder

[Kezziah]

Hey- just after a bit of advice. Percy has become incapable of having any food in his bowl and has to stash literally everything. I tried scatter feeding and he goes round immediately to collect it all and put it in his bed!

He gets frantic and panics when I pick up his house to remove some and i feel cruel not putting food out knowing he has loads... he actually sits on top of his food tower when it is empty looking forlorn..

Here is the litter terror in action, removing every bit of food from his bowl

http://i44.tinypic.com/2z8afrn.jpg

Any tips?!

x

[Lougarry]

I'm sorry, I don't, Kezziah, but would be very interested in others' replies as Dinah does the same. She has a hoard in a house and an enormous midden where she chucks everything she has rejected!

[fluffymunchkins]

I know Bacardi doesn't leave any food in his bowl either :roll:
I rarely lift his house and I don't feel the need to remove any, as I know the amount is just right for him (2 teaspoons every other day).
Maybe reduce Percys food if he has more than this, as he may be taking advantage if he gets more than he needs x

[Hamtastic]

Many of my seven hams do this. I'm not too bothered by it. I give a large amount with good variety every 3-5 days. They should have other things to do beyond stalking their food dish, so I don't reinforce hoovering their food daily. Seems to work okay. They get excited about fresh food and on the offdays they get to entertain themselves on other ways. I offer veggies and live mealworms and nuts as treats.

Nothing to be done about hoarding at least some food in nests, it's a natural and healthy survival instinct.

[racinghamster]

Hamtastic is right. It`s their way of doing whats natural and storing food in their `lair`! I would feed every two/three days to be honest as my chinese female does this, although I have to say since she decided to move her nest last month, she comes out, pouches what she needs and takes it back to her nest, but I havn`t seen a seperate hoard for a couple of months now, so she seems to have changed her habit a little and only seems to pick out what she wants to eat now, or sits in her dish and has a nibble.

Percy is gorgeous and he knows what he likes! :mad:

[tilda_hagstrom]

Jerry takes all food and puts it in his sand box, were he also urinates, so I have a real problem every time I try to clean the sand from urine, the food bits get stuck in my "sand cleaning thing" and it's so enoying..!

[CAB]

4 outta my 7 do this. one of them empties her house and makes an open nest and fills that full of food. its natural to haud. ive given up with bowls with them, just scatter feed, atleast it keeps them busy a lil longer

[p_anda]

Princess does exactly the same, I think it's pretty normal, they're hoarders after all.:) She takes all her food to bed with her...once I found about 2 ounces of food stashed in a tube, it was like a solid mass, completely blocking off one entrance.:D

[Kezziah]

Thanks guys! I knew it was normal its just annoying- i want to entertain him by scatter feeding. I do it before bed and his little face appears out of his bed, five seconds later he has collected it all.

Have started scattering linseed in the hope that its smallness might take him longer to find. No such joy!

Thanks for all your input :)

[p_anda]

You could try scattering really tiny seeds, such as millet, sesame, linseed, etc., that way he'll take a good half an hour to collect it, also you could try burying his food in a plant plot with bedding, [press down quite hard on it] so he has to dig it out, I do both with Princess and it seems to entertain her

[Kezziah]

I like the plant pot idea! He would love that :)