Hamster not that fussed about food, pouching, or hoarding!?

[daven]

We have a long haired male syrian called Toby that we bought from Bourne Valley Hamster at Christmas. He's great - so gentle and happy to be handled (well ... I say happy - he doesn't complain but I always get the feeling he'd rather be elsewhere!)

I think he's pretty chilled and happy from what I can see.

I've got more of an observation than a question - our previous hamster would pouch EVERYTHING that was put into her cage and hid it in a hoard.

Toby essentially ignores food. He's healthy and he's eating. He quite likes chicken, will eat strawberry, does a bit of nuts etc.

But he doesn't really pouch stuff - when we get him out he sometimes will have a few nuts which he pops out to eat, but never fills his pouches with stuff (other than to transport bedding, so I think they do work OK).

Also he doesn't have a noticeable hoard - when I clean him out there'll be a few bits here and there but not much at all.

If he's disturbed while eating he'll generally just drop the food and ignore it. And although he will eat food from my hand, or if I put it in front of him, he's very much-take-it-or-leave-it.

We've taken to saying "food isn't his love language"!

Also he doesn't generally gnaw things (tried wood, lava, whimzees, cardboard etc etc).

Does this sound odd? I'm struggling to find anything I think he really enjoys - food or otherwise.

It would be nice to get him out to play and do something I think he'll enjoy!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts

[Celestial]

I don't know much about Syrians so I can't answer your questions. I hope you get an answer, and I hope it's just how Toby is, rather than it being a red flag.

I'm sure that if you keep trying you'll eventually find something he likes doing!

How old is Toby? If he's really old he might be less interested in food and stashing than if he were younger.

[cypher]

I've had hams who are obsessed with food & creating the biggest hoard possible, hams who eat very little & hoard hardly anything & just about everything in between so basically they are all different & it's probably just the way he is so I wouldn't worry about it.
I have heard that some breeder hams can be a lot more laid back & less active than pet shop hams although I can't say from experience.
Some hams just aren't interested in chewing either, as long as they are eating a good diet that's not a problem as eating their normal food is enough to keep teeth trim.
As long as he seems content I really wouldn't worry about it.

[Fluffagrams]

My pet shop hamsters have always liked to hoard food but some of my breeder hamsters, particularly the boys (who tend to be more laid back on a whole) don’t seem to bother. Whether that’s because pet shop hamsters have had to compete more for food in the pet shop or what, I don’t know but it’s definitely something I’ve noticed too.

Some of my breeder hamsters are laid back to the point of laziness, they don’t show any interest in wheels or having playtime in the playbox, they’d rather just sit somewhere nice and snuggle up.

[daven]

Thanks for the replies!

I think he's happy enough so won't worry. I used to enjoy our previous hamster pouching everything in site, and it's a bit of a shame not to be able to lure Toby with food, but he is who he is