My hamster has started pouching all her food!

Cocothesyrian · 11-27-2016, 03:53 PM

Last night my little hammy put everything in her food bowl into her pouches and walked about for a good hour maybe more before emptying them, she has never done this before she was pacing trying to think of where she wanted to empty them she looked a little panicked, she did empty them but I've just came up to check on her and she is doing the exact same thing tonight, nothing has changed in her cage everything is all the same.
She does always take the food to her little hide but never keeps the food in her pouches for so long just wondering if its normal?

PumpKinSpiceLatte · 11-27-2016, 06:31 PM

How long have you had your hammy? And/or how old is she? It might be something that has to do with that

I just hope this isn't a neurological problem

cypher · 11-27-2016, 11:39 PM

Have you cleaned the cage or touched her nest or the spot where she normally stashes her hoard?
She may just have been looking for a new place to make a stash, if she seems fine otherwise I wouldn't worry.

Cocothesyrian · 11-28-2016, 03:54 AM

Ive had her since September and the pet shop said she was was 3-4 months old, she just randomly started doing it two days ago.

Pebbles82 · 11-28-2016, 03:57 AM

Has she depouched it yet?! As Cypher says - if you've just done any cage cleaning she might be scared a predator has found her hoard and is trying to keep it safe. It's best not to remove their hoard when cleaning if you can - unless it's pee'd on and then if you have to take some of it out, then replace it in the same place with new food

If you haven't done that, then maybe her hoard is full and she's looking for a new place to hoard food. If you have plenty of depth of substrate she should find a place somewhere, but maybe you could add a heap of substrate in a pile somewhere in a corner and she might decide that's a good place to bury a hoard.

Cocothesyrian · 11-28-2016, 03:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

Have you cleaned the cage or touched her nest or the spot where she normally stashes her hoard?
She may just have been looking for a new place to make a stash, if she seems fine otherwise I wouldn't worry.

I spot clean and fluff her cage up every night and have done since i got her back in september I might not do it for a couple of days and see how that goes i never touch her stash because she hides it in a toy thats like a little hide

Cocothesyrian · 11-28-2016, 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Has she depouched it yet?! As Cypher says - if you've just done any cage cleaning she might be scared a predator has found her hoard and is trying to keep it safe. It's best not to remove their hoard when cleaning if you can - unless it's pee'd on and then if you have to take some of it out, then replace it in the same place with new food

If you haven't done that, then maybe her hoard is full and she's looking for a new place to hoard food. If you have plenty of depth of substrate she should find a place somewhere, but maybe you could add a heap of substrate in a pile somewhere in a corner and she might decide that's a good place to bury a hoard.

Yeah she has debouched it but last night she paced for ages finally put it in a hide and the about 30 minutes later she then went and put it all back in her pouches and started pacing again, she keeps her stash in a toy so i never touch it. I ended up turning the lamp off and trying to be as quiet as i could to see if it was that.

pinkneon · 11-29-2016, 03:23 PM

Does she have a hideaway? You can use anything that's safe, but an enclosed house would be good. She'd probably stash her food in it as well as sleep in it

Pebbles82 · 11-30-2016, 09:16 AM

I would only spot clean every few days and not fluff up her cage for a while. They like sorting and rearranging things themselves a bit, so the daily disturbance might be stressing her a bit. If you use a litter tray for a toilet you might not need to spot clean as much anyway

I have this one and put chinchilla sand in it. You put it in the corner/area they have chosen as a wee corner.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamster-cor...=hamster+potty

Also as pink neon says - if you give her a good sized house/hide she will probably hoard in it - often under their nests if the substrate is deep enough.

It works well if the house is open underneath and directly on top of a good thick layer of substrate - they often bury the hoard under their nest and then don't worry so much about it being disturbed. A shoebox house is a good fix - cut the base out and a hole in the front for a door and use the lid as a lift-off flat roof - so you can check inside without disturbing her nest or having it fall apart (you leave the house where it is and just lift the roof off).

If it's a big enough shoe box house you can fit the litter tray in the corner opposite the nest - with a bigger house they sometimes move the wee corner inside the house and do their bathroom things and food things all in the house.

Cocothesyrian · 11-30-2016, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinkneon

Does she have a hideaway? You can use anything that's safe, but an enclosed house would be good. She'd probably stash her food in it as well as sleep in it

she has 3, she is still doing it but has moved her stash to her other cage i have two attached with tubes