Food storing - help!

[Van Diemen]

Teddy has been storing ALL his food.

I am unsure what to do, I've been refilling his food bowl daily - but it seems like a terrible waste of food to me, but I can't just not feed him, because his stored food is all hidden, so I won't know when he's run out.

Any suggestions??

Also, I have a water question. I bought this stuff from the pet store with vitamins and such in it, which is really good for hamsters tummies and reduces the chances of wet tail significantly. It gets mixed into the water.

Here is my question: If the water is in a bottle with a one way valve - does it have to be changed every single day?

I ask because the stuff that mixes in the water is REALLY expensive and i'll blow my budget epically if I have to put more in every day. I was thinking surely the water stays fresh for a few days, because it's no different to having it sit in the pipes under the house?

Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[Lynternette]

I put ProC in Dusty's fresh water every night as recommended by P@H. I only use a mouse sized bottle to keep the cost down. You could try scatter feeding him to see if his hoarding improves. Off hand I can think of five larders for Dusty. I looked up the origin of hamster. It said - from the german hamstern, meaning to hoard. I think that says it all.

[Aimee2]

Sorry no help with food storing but is the powder supplement called pro c probiotic?

[Van Diemen]

Thanks Lyn, I didn't think of getting a smaller bottle lol.

Yip that's the one Aimee

[Aimee2]

I use the same and just sprinkle a tiny tiny bit on the food every time I fill it up. I think maybe you would use less?

[Van Diemen]

I thought of that, but I'm paranoid lol. He stores literally ALL his food. I would worry he's not getting the right dose if I gave it to him that way, like it would rub off or just never get eaten

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

I wouldn't worry too much about him storing the food Van Diemen, his basic instinct is survival so he wont be starving himself and is probably snacking on it throughout the day. He may even just be filling up his pouches once a day and then slowly working through that food without you noticing
What I would do though is clean away half of his store, not all of it as this may stress him out, and then feed him less every day. If you notice his store is still filling up feed him every other day instead until the store stays at an even level I only feed my hams every 2-3 days because otherwise they wont eat it all so don't feel bad about it.

As for the Pro-C it isn't needed if you have a healthy hamster and most people don't use it. I use it for Pippy as the vet recommended it to help keep her calm but she is not a healthy ham, it also helps because of her diabetes since she has a bit of a bland diet most of the time. I sprinkle it on her food though as it can make their water taste really nasty. If you are worried about it not sticking to the food add a bit of warm water or gravy to it first not so its swimming just so the food is damp enough for the Pro-C to stick and add just half a scoop, it will last you longer this way and still work fine. The gravy may also encourage Teddy to eat his food there and then!

[Aimee2]

Yeah there is that but I guess a little is better then nothing. I don't think its something they need, rather that its something that's good for them. But then my ham only stores a bit of food nightly, then eats it during the day so I know he's getting it. Does your ham store their fresh food?

[p_anda]

The supplement is unnecessary in my opinion...if you feed him a varied and balanced diet, he'll be perfectly fine without it. Unless he gets sick or a has a bit of diarrhoea, don't give it to him. You should change the water in his bottle at least every 4 days, and that's the very least. Ideally it should be changed every day or every other day. The water goes stale in it after a few days and becomes a breeding ground for nasty bacteria.

Teddy is probably still getting used to his new home, and he's 'saving up for the future'. Hamsters need time to get used to being fed regularly by you, until then he will store as much as he can get away with. You should not throw away his hoard on a daily basis [unless it's fresh food] because it will just make him go into a panic mode and he'll try to store even more. Ideally you should keep his hoard for a month and only throw it away if absolutely necessary, i.e it has mould on it.

[Van Diemen]

Thanks Erin that is total genius!! I would never have thought of doing that lol - so glad I found this forum!

He hasn't had any fresh food yet Aimee tonight will be his 5th night with me, I'm going to give him a little bit of carrot tonight because the pet store said he'd already had that.

Thanks p__anda I want to keep him on it until he has been tamed. He is only a little baby and I've never owned a hammy before so we'll both be experiencing a little bit of stress till everything has settled down lol. I read that stress can make them ill so I just want to make sure he has everything he needs to make the taming experience as easy as possible for him.
Thanks for the advice on the water, I was thinking once every 2-3 days - glad to hear someone voice the same
Haha yea he is storing for a famine! If only he knew about the giant bag of musli next to his cage!!
I shall leave most of his hoard untouched. Thanks