why does my hamster block off his tunnel?

[nefosaur]

hi, new hamster owner here. i have two robos who live separately and i’m still learning what all their behaviours mean.
in keaton’s cage, i have submerged a tunnel in substrate so that the entrances poke out. he used to sleep in it, but has now barricaded both ends off with substrate. why has he done this? is he using the tunnel as a stash for food, perhaps? if so, should i clean it out in case there is any fresh food rotting in there? how often do you clean out your hamster’s nests/stashes?
thank you!

[cypher]

This is perfectly normal behaviour, my Chineseys do that all the time!
It is possible the tube is being used as a food stash but that should be fine, you could check it now & then, say every few weeks unless you suspect fresh food is being hidden away. They really don't like it when you mess with their blockades so better to only give very small amounts of any fresh wet food like veg so it all gets eaten rather than stashed, if you only give very small pieces of veg it does tend to dry out rather than go mouldy if it does get hidden anyway.
I check the nest every few weeks & only clean it if it's smelly at all, if a ham doesn't pee in the nest then I will just replace a little of it but never all at once.
Food stash is the same really, you can replace it every now & then if it looks old or if any fresh food has been added to the stash but mostly they tend to eat from it & replace it with fresh mix themselves so no need to clean it often.

[nefosaur]

thank you! that’s good to know. i have been giving tiny fresh food portions because i don’t think they had any at their previous home, so hopefully it has all been eaten and none has been hoarded, and if it has then it’s reassuring to hear that it would likely dry out instead of rotting. i won’t disturb the tunnel then- until their monthly clean out.