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Old 12-08-2016, 12:21 PM   #1
Rads
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Default Stopping feeding

Do not be alarmed...!

I am considering reducing the volume of food Pip gets as she stashes so much I would like her to eat her stash well it's actually stashes though I feel cruel thinking about it.
She will get fresh items daily as usual but reducing the volume of hamster mix until she scoffs her stashes.

Any thoughts anyone?
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Old 12-08-2016, 12:50 PM   #2
Hamsterita
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Default Re: Stopping feeding

I'm not an expert, but in my honest opinion I don't know why you say that would be cruel, as long you provide her enough food to eat and hoard.

Blacky is picky, and I can't give him tons of food without control, because that way he only would eat what he pleases and he would leave behind several bits (actually he already does it). I feed him fresh food all nights and mornings, and I don't let him pouch them If I can, because he KNOWS when I check his hoard to know If there's something there rotting, and he doesn't like it at all, so that way I don't have to check so often.

But sometimes I check that his stash is enough, and sometimes I only feed him with the mix every couple of days. His bowl is never empty. He always leaves the rounded black/dark green bites of the harry hamster mix (and now he must have half of the bowl full with those). It's kinda funny, because at the very beginning he pouched those too, and I noticed that he didn't like them because I could see a lot of chunks of that kind when I cleaned, but now, he doesn't even pretend that he wants them. He's not interested at all and he leaves them there. When I see that he is grabbing those too, I add more mix. You can figure something like that checking her hoard. If she has more than two handfuls of mix ( that's an example) you can reduce the amount of food or something.

As I said before, I don't have experience in hamster care, but it's logical, that way you can make sure that she's eating what she should (all kinds of bites), and that she's eating fresh mix, and that her hoard instincts are covered.

Last edited by Hamsterita; 12-08-2016 at 12:55 PM.
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Old 12-08-2016, 12:52 PM   #3
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Default Re: Stopping feeding

How often do you feed her? I started giving Luna food more regularly because I wanted to make sure she had plenty when it's cold, but last clean out her stash really was a huge horrible mess of uneaten food, as she wasn't hungry for more...

I wouldn't feel too guilty! Try feeding her less after a clean out and check up on the stash the next week? Then you know if she's stashing too much.
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Old 12-08-2016, 12:52 PM   #4
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Default Re: Stopping feeding

I've got two girls that stash a lot and I've yet to find anything to slow them down on a long term basis and found that giving them less actually meant they'd clear their food bowls even quicker (maybe they thought there was a famine or something so needed to stock up). Is she fed in a food bowl or scatter fed because some people have said that scatter feeding has slowed their hams down. I tend to give my girls their food in small boxes as it not only slows them down because they have to get into the box but also gives them something to do.

Let us know how you get on.
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Old 12-08-2016, 02:30 PM   #5
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Default Re: Stopping feeding

They do hoard most of their food In my experience they like to eat from the hoard and have it near their bed so they can snack in bed

So it's true, if you put a lot of food out, it will all get hoarded. I wouldn't reduce it too much or she will panic that there is a food shortage and start peeing on it maybe. Or pooping in her food bowl. Maybe just reduce it a little bit, gradually. I'd say a level tablespoon a day is about right, but I sometimes let that go two days.

Although it seems like a waste, they do like to have a big hoard in winter.
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Old 12-08-2016, 04:28 PM   #6
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Default Re: Stopping feeding

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
They do hoard most of their food In my experience they like to eat from the hoard and have it near their bed so they can snack in bed

So it's true, if you put a lot of food out, it will all get hoarded. I wouldn't reduce it too much or she will panic that there is a food shortage and start peeing on it maybe. Or pooping in her food bowl. Maybe just reduce it a little bit, gradually. I'd say a level tablespoon a day is about right, but I sometimes let that go two days.

Although it seems like a waste, they do like to have a big hoard in winter.
Pip has her hamster mix in a bowl and I scatter feed her sunflower hearts and pumpkin seed treats so she forages, she doesn't stash the sunflower hearts she scoffs those, both her stashes are across the cage from her bed/house she normally takes plenty of nibbles to her bed with her, I can hear her nibbling in the evening before she gets up...
If weighed the stashes would be approx. 500grams about a half bag of harry hamster mix..
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Old 12-08-2016, 10:47 PM   #7
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Default Re: Stopping feeding

I've also found that cutting back food can make them hoard even more in famine mode silly things & females always seem to hoard more than males which is a natural instinct & understandable but that is a huge stash!
Rather than cutting back on her mix I would scatter feed the mix & cut back a bit on extras like the sunflower & pumpkin seeds & anything else you might give (things like porridge, meat, nuts etc) & see if she eats some more of her mix rather than hoard it all.
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Old 12-09-2016, 01:49 AM   #8
pinkneon
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Default Re: Stopping feeding

Rads, out of interest how much do you feed? I used to give Sweep 2 tablespoons of food, but found he ate hardly any of it and stashed so much I have no idea how he had room for him I reduced this to 1 tablespoon plus the extra bits which I found I was feeding more often, but he actually ate it rather than stashed the entire lot. Of course I made sure he wasn't loosing a lot of weight, and he seemed happier with a smaller amount of food more often, rather than a large amount less often. I also would give him folded up cardboard tube parcels with his food in once a week or so to make him REALLY work for it, which he loved and he'd sit and eat it (rather than stash it) once he'd got into the package! I found we were wasting a lot less by giving less food more often.

Do you scatter feed or bowl feed? Can't remember!

ETA - I just wanted to add that Sweep did stash food too, but it was a lot less and he actually ate the stash!
You could also try the tough love method, of not giving her any more until she's eaten what she has maybe? It's hard at first but they quickly learn!

Last edited by pinkneon; 12-09-2016 at 01:54 AM.
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Old 12-09-2016, 03:15 AM   #9
flowerfairy
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Default Re: Stopping feeding

Kashi makes mahoosive stashes (Stashi). I cant bear to cut down on her food as it is something that she loves to do! None of the others do it to the same extent.

Kashi is always spider hamming around her cage asking for food.
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Old 12-09-2016, 05:42 AM   #10
Juliebrei
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Default Re: Stopping feeding

Zelda is a massive hoarder too. I know it may feel cruel, but she has food. I would stop feeding her all together and wait till her stash drops to a reasonable size, and then scatter feed her after that. If you are nervous she will get hungry, check the stash daily so you know she has food. I haven't fed Zelda for a week and her stash is still going
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