Do all hamsters store food??

[ZzIszy]

I have noticed that Syrian hamsters seem to pick up all their food in their mouths them go and store it somewhere else, I have never seen or discovered my winter whites doing this why is that??:confused::confused:

[Skeever]

They all do, or at least CAN do it. I've seen my two Syrians change their pouching habits over the months. With winter coming, I think they actually tend to pouch more and hide it. I can tell because they eat less when I'm handling them, prefering to pouch it and pretend I didn't see 8-[ Then they get suddenly interested in going back in their cage....

But Syrians don't as a rule hoard all their food. Some just do more than others, and in a few cases, all of it. It's not the usual though. You'll discover how much they do hide on the first complete cage clean. ;) You have been warned....LOL....

[ZzIszy]

Thank you very much and when I fully clean out the cage i'll see!

[Pebbles82]

At one time I think Charlie used to store ALL his food - but that's because he liked to eat in his own private dining room rather than on public display. He still does mostly, unless it is something he gets all excited for, like a bit of roast chicken and then he will eat it there and then and doesn't care who is watching to see he is not using his knife and fork.

[greysome]

Lol Serendipity! Hazel Nut does tend to pouch some food to eat later though she seems to use her bowl as her main stash and just has another so she doesn't have to get up to eat during the day (though occasionally, you can hear her chewing away inside her nest). That said, the couple of times I didn't cover her food/food bowl with hay, she pouched the entire collection so I think part of it may be a matter of whether or not they feel the food is "secure" where it is. She does nibble a bit on her food in front of me but will then pouch it and come up to me as if expecting a treat.:rolleyes: She will eat hay in front of me without pouching it though so I guess hay isn't much of a delicacy in her mind.:D

[Mousenibbles]

The word hamster comes from the German "hamstern" which means to hoard! So generally, yes XD

[NiceCrocs]

Generally, yes, but some won't hoard as much. My syrian would always take all her food to her nest, and my robo used to only take a day's worth at a time or so. But once the weather changed, they switched! Now my syrian only hoards a handful of food, but my robo takes her whole bowl away to her nest! They're still eating about the same amount, but their stashing habits completely reversed for some reason!

[Teddy001]

Teddie ( Syrian) doesn't hoard very much food. her average stored food, consist of a few peanuts, a few seeds, and sometimes, a chew, although she does pouch a lot and will carry the food back to her nest. Candy, (dwarf) pouches but doesn't store anything (?) makes it easy to monitor how much she eats, and what she eats. Is this abnormal? Lol. Guess, she feels confident there's food for her each day, or she likes empty pantries?

[Thin Lizzy]

You'll be very surprised when you clean out the cage! The way they store their food and where, also how the nest looks. Such clever creatures, the first time I saw the nest, I was truly speechless at how beautiful it looked, the piles of food - mine occasionally have about 4 piles each, that's why it's good to check daily!
But, the winter months they store more and eat a bit more than usual.