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Pebbles82 · 03-19-2020, 08:17 AM

He will go a bit frantic if there is no food in the bowl. It is their instinct to forage and hoard every day. He will be hoarding it somewhere - they eat very little. So put 1 tablespoon out each day. Don't leave him with an empty food bowl or he'll panic. They like routine also and to know the food will be there about the same time each day,

I should just leave him to sort himself out. Hoards can be left for a very long time - until a substrate clean needs doing - and then you'll find it and can "prune" it if it's a bit large ie take the bottom half out that is the oldest food but always leave some hoard behind and add some new food if you've had to remove some).

That is good news he is nesting outside of the potty but he may get stressed if you keep checking too much and start having some abnormal behaviours. I would just check the potty every 3 or 4 days - if it's used/peed in, empty it and replace the sand. Otherwise I would resist lifting the lid or he won't settle easily. If it's a bit whiffy for a week or so it won't do any harm. In about a week when you check his potty, see if his nest is whiffy - if it is you might need to remove a bit of it but put new strips of toilet paper out next to the house so he can rebuild it. Eventually he will just be peeing in the potty and his nest will stay clean.

03-19-2020, 08:17 AM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: New hamster. He will go a bit frantic if there is no food in the bowl. It is their instinct to forage and hoard every day. He will be hoarding it somewhere - they eat very little. So put 1 tablespoon out each day. Don't leave him with an empty food bowl or he'll panic. They like routine also and to know the food will be there about the same time each day, I should just leave him to sort himself out. Hoards can be left for a very long time - until a substrate clean needs doing - and then you'll find it and can "prune" it if it's a bit large ie take the bottom half out that is the oldest food but always leave some hoard behind and add some new food if you've had to remove some). That is good news he is nesting outside of the potty but he may get stressed if you keep checking too much and start having some abnormal behaviours. I would just check the potty every 3 or 4 days - if it's used/peed in, empty it and replace the sand. Otherwise I would resist lifting the lid or he won't settle easily. If it's a bit whiffy for a week or so it won't do any harm. In about a week when you check his potty, see if his nest is whiffy - if it is you might need to remove a bit of it but put new strips of toilet paper out next to the house so he can rebuild it. Eventually he will just be peeing in the potty and his nest will stay clean.