Baby dwarf hiding fresh food

[Jessi]

My baby dwarf hamster is 7 weeks old. She loves red pepper but I'm worried she may be stashing it in a burrow she's made in her bedding.

She's only been home four days. Is it ok for me to go through her house and burrow? I don't think I can check her burrow without it collapsing as it's so tiny. I don't want to stress her out but I don't want her stash to go off and make her ill.
Thanks

[Cinnamon Bear]

Hi, I am always leary too to give veggies and wonder how much of it they have stashed. After being with you for only 4 days she probably just nibbled on it and left the rest, if that is what happened. I wouldn't go through her nest at this point.

Did she leave most of the red pepper that you gave her alone or is it all gone? I'd wait another week before going through her nest. Maybe you won't have to if she just took a nibble

[Jessi]

Thank you! She has taken it all from her bowl -I broke it into tiny pieces for her - she has had maybe a fingernail sized piece over the past few days. She does look like she is eating it when I feed to to her from my hand though. But was worried just in case she is hiding any of it - would it be better not to give her any fresh food at all?
She spends quite a while in her food bowl and appears to actually be eating it but she's so tiny I think she probably has hidden at least some. Will it be very dangerous to leave it if she has hidden most of it?
Thanks for your help

[Cinnamon Bear]

If she has stashed some of it I'd check it in a few days, give her at least a week to settle,
even with the red pepper. Chances are that you won't find any when you look. She probably will have eaten it all. If not, it won't grow moldy so fast. I wouldn't give her too many veggies being this small as you don't want to upset her stomach and give her loose stools. I would say once every few days, they like cauliflower, broccoli and romaine & kale lettuce too.

I would just check the next morning after you get into a routine but this early on it might scare her to have her nest checked.

[Jessi]

Thank you that's really helpful.
I will hold off on any more veggies for now. She as just as happy with sunflower seeds (which she shells!) and mealworms that I pick out of the food mix in her bowl!
Any tips for food I can use for taming without making her fat/over feeding her?

[Cinnamon Bear]

Sometimes you can use their own seed mix as treats. I like to use millet too. I put a string of millet seeds in a plastic bin and watch my WW dwarf go crazy eating & attacking the seeds. Meal worms are good too, your dwarf if it's a Russian dwarf might like dried crickets. Sunflower seeds in the shell or pumpkin seeks are also good. I'd stay away from sugary snacks. What species hamster do you have?

[Jessi]

She's a Russian dwarf. She looks more winter white than Campbell's to me but she's probably a hybrid!
https://youtu.be/tASmC0Vt-6w
https://youtu.be/Lpdf7aRjhOc
Can't manage to upload any photos for some reason but here's a couple of videos of her

[Cinnamon Bear]

She's so cute, definitely more on the Winter white side.
I actually just say I have a WW hybrid.

So you probably know they are diabetes prone. Watch how much she's drinking but don't obsess over it lol

She looks exactly like Chloe, see my siggy

I'd like to get another agouti WW with hopes it doesn't bite, if she doesn't bite, count it as a huge blessing

[Jessi]

She has nipped me once but it was my fault. She nibbled my finger and I jumped. When I put my hand near her again she nipped me twice but I stayed very still and then moved away and she hasn't done it again since. have been really surprised how brave she is!!!

[pinkneon]

Fresh veg needs to removed the day after it is given to stop it going bad and making hamsters ill. Most hamsters will eat it straight away, but you will still need to check the cage and remove anything that she hasn't eaten. I don't feed fresh food inside the cage for the reason that if my hamster buries it I'll never find it again!