Is Chompy normal or unique???

[delbert]

I feed chompy (dwarf hammie) a tablespoon of harry hamster mix every day.
Gave her some Thursday morning and by evening she had pouched/hidden/eaten the lot (even the pellets)

So I gave her a little more Thursday night so she would have some to last her the night and by morning he dish was completey empty.

Tonight, as soon as i put a spoonful of food in her bowl she has emptied it in the space of an hour making several visits to the bowl and he bed.

This has been going on since Thursday so Ive checked her bedding and shes got a mountain of food. not a mole hill, its literally a mountain.

Should I keep feeding and filling her bowl or leave it?
I dont want her to go hungry or for her to panic that shes not getting any food.

Also what is best, Harry Hamster food the bits are quite big, my pet shop does their own version with much smaller bits, does it make a difference?

thanks

[purple_x]

It's in a hamsters nature to make stores of food so that's what she's doing.

Dexter does that, as soon as I feed him he will come and take the lot to his bed.

Just feed her a small amount daily and leave it at that, you know you're putting food in there so she wont starve/think you're not feeding her.
If you carry on filling the bowl up she will just keep taking it to her store and when it comes to clean out day you will end up throwing loads away.

[Pickalilly]

Don't worry, if she has some in her food store, then she will easily know to eat it if you don't add any more to the bowl. If she has a lot in her food store, then she will stay hidden there all day, because she knows she doesn't have to come out at all to get a yummy meal!

[amyXlovesXhamstersX]

I'd just leave it, because if she has stored loads then she wont go hungry! Just check her store and when its running low then give her some food, thats what i did when i first got Ruby and she stored everything but now i give her the right amount every day so she only has a little store

[selene16]

Artie stores all his food, within a short amount of time his bowl is always empty lol. I just say it's so he can lye in bed and have midnight snacks.

It's always good to know its normal though The first couple of days I had him I put in extra not realising he was storing it all. I thought he was just one hungry hammy.

[smellll]

This thread has surprised me! Do most hamster owners feed their hammys in a bowl? I am used to rats and always scatter and hide their food in their cage to more accurately mimic what is natural for them. I got a beautiful little rescue Syrian girl a couple of days ago and have been doing the same with her food. I feel it gives here more to do too.

[Womblehands]

I do a bit of both.. their main food (harry hamster) I put in a bowl so i can monitor what's being eaten and what bits they are leaving and i hide other bits round the cage such as pumpkin seeds, monkey nuts, yoghurt drops etc

[Gillzy]

I scatter Sen's food because she's a particularly active lil ham, and seems to enjoy foraging. What I put in her bowl (usually once a week) she tends to leave - I guess she sees this as a special food store. And just takes her fave pieces out of it. I hand feed her treats as it works towards bonding

[StarlightSerenity]

When I give Luna food through the bars she puts it in the food bowl

She does have a food store, I think her small food bowl (she has two) is her secondary food store. Strange animal.

[Gillzy]

Aw that's cute. I think Sen sees her food bowl as a bit of a scrap food area. When I gave her a corn on the cob to eat (dried) she took all the corn off it in one night and dumped all the kernels in her bowl haha!