Little Syrian hoarder!

Richard · 09-01-2011, 03:00 AM

Yup, Cyril is hoarding in his house. Now, I know that is normal for them to have a small larder in their homes, but Cyril's is out of hand. He has a window and a door to his house, the door is clogged with bedding so he goes in and out of the window and the larder is towards the back of the window. However, it's now so huge that it keeps spilling out onto the platform and when I give him some food each morning, he takes the lot in one go to store.

Is there any way I can stop him hoarding quite so much? One possible idea I had was take his house away and have him bed in the corner at ground level. I don't want to do this because he likes his penthouse on the top layer and he won't be as active moving about as he is now. Plus, when it gets colder, I want him in a house so he can keep warm.

All ideas are very welcome

MzWiz0915 · 09-01-2011, 03:04 AM

Perhaps just feed him less food? Some hamster owners on here feed their hamsters every other day to prevent their hoarders from wasting food in their stockpile. I feed my hams each day, but once they've got a decent stock hoarded away I only give them a small amount of fresh bits to get their nose going and keep them happy

Richard · 09-01-2011, 03:09 AM

Thats a good idea about every other day. This morning though I was a little behind with things and he was sitting on his bowl looking at me and waiting to be fed lol! I could try that and report back with how we get on.

MzWiz0915 · 09-01-2011, 03:36 AM

Giving him just a tiny amount of food would ease his insecurities, if he starts to think he's not going to be fed regularly the hoarding will become worse because of anxiety.

Holly's Mum · 09-01-2011, 03:17 PM

When I realised how much Holly was hoarding (and how much weight he was putting on !) I cut back on his food quite a bit. I still give him a bit every day, but I keep a close eye on how much is in his hoard, and every few days I take it all out. It's always mixed up with his poops anyway, so I think it's a good idea to do that.

Richard · 09-03-2011, 07:14 AM

I've cut his amount down both yesterday and today to see how much he keeps hoarding, I'm hoping it comes down because I've also now seen he's trying to sleep but food is falling on top of him. He's as daft as me...

calabriataste · 09-12-2011, 12:01 PM

I fill Roberto's bowl once a week and he keeps taking food during the time until the bowl is almost empty. He's got lost of food in his house which he will never eat!!

I clean his house once a week because is all mixed with po, although they don't mind I think is a bit unhygienic... after this he goes back to the bowl and takes as much as his cheeks can take... jajajajjajaja

Richard · 09-12-2011, 01:34 PM

I wish I could teach Cyril how to just take what he needs like Roberto does, I'll get there one day but until then he keeps on hoarding. I know what you mean about unhygenic though as Cyril goes for a poo in his house as well, but I've found Cyril is good at keeping his house in order, maybe Roberto is too.

samincittagazze · 09-12-2011, 02:05 PM

Oh bless him! I've just finished Max's cleanout and as soon as he realised I'd stolen his food store, he was cramming the stuff from the bowl in as fast as he could! I only feed every other day too, as I found I was just wasting mass amounts of food unnecessarily.

AliKati · 09-12-2011, 02:06 PM

It's their natural instinct to hoard, as they do in the wild. However, once they know there will always be food, they might relax a bit more. But every hamster is different. My little boy eats his treat till he doesn't want anymore and then just drops it wherever. My girl-hamster, on the other hand, is a neat little madam, and everything must be picked up and put into her food bowl. Then she chooses her favourites (the really good stuff) which must be brought to bed and put next to her, so she can nibble in bed. LOL