New hamster - Chewy times and pouchey questions.

[Sammybingo]

Hello! Welcome to my first post.
I have a new hamster (I have had one before), she is a long haired syrian called Chewbacca. She has been here since Sunday and is a lovely wee thing. I think very young, as her nails are short and she is quite small.

I have two slightly odd questions that I am not sure if I should be concerned about, but me being me, I am! Worrier +++

1. She doesn't seem to be using her pouches at all. My old hamster used to stuff everything she could in to go hide. I don't mind that this one isn't hiding her food, it's nice and easy for me to keep track of the amounts, and which bits she really likes. But is there some way I can check if she has an issue with her pouches? Or is it likely she just hasn't cottoned on?

2. Eating. She's an odd one. I think she is currently sat eating a cardboard tube I put in for her to play with and chew on. Sometimes she looks like she is properly munching on bits of it and swallowing? Oh wait - I lie, she is currently laying upside down in it trying to chew the top. But anyway. And she isn't really chewing things - this is concerning me, I don't want her teeth to get huge - she has lots of wood, metal bars (a classic) and things to be going at, and isn't bothered at all. Is that ok?

I know I fret!! She seems content enough, she is eating and drinking and playing and interested in noises and climbing around, and she sat in my hand for a few moments today and didn't seem distraught as I would expect. Oh lord, and she LOVES her sand bath too. But I want to make sure any problems I might have with her I nip in the bud now.

Sorry for my long ramble, it's quite nice just to talk about her!

Thanks

Sam

[souffle]

Aww Chewy sound lovely. Don't worry about her not pouching. Not all do and it does take them some time to settle and get into a routine where she will probaly pouch and store her food once she has established a bed, store and toilet area. This can take a while and they often change their minds frequently and you should let her decide for herself.
Hamsters don't really need to actively chew a lot to keep their teeth trim. As long as they are properly aligned they will wear against each other as she eats and keep to the correct length. This is actually surprising long if you ever see her yawn.
Overgrown teeth will present with symtoms such as difficuty in eating, weight loss and often drooling from the mouth so as long as she does not have these then don't worry. Hamsters do not normally need teeth clipped unless misaligned. You can offer her hard dog biscuits to chew if you like and they do usually enjoy these.
Her diet of hard seeds and nuts and maybe some semi cracked shelled walnuts will see her teeth fine.
They all like to chew cardboard and this is fine. She won't be swallowing it but if you watch she is likely chewing it into little bits to soften it and will add it to her nest. She may pouch the bits to take them in to the nest.
Ours like the sand bath too and use it as a toilet.
Don't clean her out too much to start with as she needs her scent to keep her unstressed. I would do a full clean every two weeks with a baby and clean her wee corner every few days. When you do a full clean always put a little of her old bedding back to keep her scent and help her settle.

[Sammybingo]

Aww thank you lots!! I feel much happier about what she is up to now.

Unfortunately, at the moment, her nest is under her water bottle (luckily it doesn't seem to drip at all), next to her food bowl. I think this is also her toilet corner at the moment. I used to say about my last hamster "that brocolli won't p*ss itself" but this is a bit much! Hopefully she will shift around in time.

Thanks for your advice - I forget with a new hammy it is wise to keep their scent, so I shall make sure I do. I will scoop out what I can this evening when she comes out for play time.