my hammie hides all her food

[ladyjulie]

I have a female syrian and every time i fill her food bowl she takes the lot and hides it in her bed, please help me understand why she does this.

[Juno]

Haha, most if not all hamsters do this. They will come out foraging and then store a lot of food in their pouches (it's actually quite impressive how much) then make 'stores' in their cages of the food. It's just natural to them even though they don't 'have' to, and it's part of what some rodents do.

She'll put it in a store near her bed probably so she doesn't have to go over to the food bowl when she wants something to eat..
Hope this helps, feel free to ask any more questions you have xx

[Hope]

Yep its completely normal. Its her natural forraging instict kicking in, so that no other hammies can get to her stash. Hammies will often have several snacks during the day and having it in there bed is more convienient for them also!

Just keep an eye on her stash, and check that she has pleanty of food - it can be difficult to track how much they are eating when they squrriel it away!

[ladyjulie]

Thank you for your help. so do i just keep topping her food bowl up or just let her eat the food thats in her bed. after a few days her bed is so full with uneaten food.

[SarahJ]

My hammies do this too, but one of them stash's his food in his litter tray! ew!

[ladyjulie]

Do you just keep throwing it away or let her eat it first?

[SarahJ]

I tryed throwing it away once i saw some in there but he just keeps replace it, so im guessing he likes having his food there as what i ever i do to try and stop him it does not work!

[Amethyst_ice]

Noo dont throw it away! Your poor hammy is just demonstarting normal hammy behaviour, they often have snacks throughout the day also so it is natural to have it in the bed because if they had to go foraging in the day that would put them at risk from predators.

I feed mine every other day and when i clean out there is usually only half a teaspoon stored.

If when u clean out there is alot then you are probably over feeding x

[SarahJ]

Originally Posted by Amethyst_ice

Noo dont throw it away! Your poor hammy is just demonstarting normal hammy behaviour, they often have snacks throughout the day also so it is natural to have it in the bed because if they had to go foraging in the day that would put them at risk from predators.

I dont throw it away now, only did it twice then gave up. i didnt think it would be too nice eating food from where he goes to toilet but hes been stashing it there for over a year now so i guess he likes it! they are strange little things sometimes! lol

[Hope]

I think that they do that Sarah to say - keep off this is mine!

Phoebe has a minkey nut in the corner of her cage at the moment behind her house thatshe hasnt eaten yet but she keep going and weeing on it - must be saving that one for later . . . mmmmm yummy!