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You may notice your hamster storing food. He or she might fill their pouches and then empty the pouch into a ‘stash’ somewhere in a particular corner of the cage often in or near their nest. But why do they do this? And what do you do with the hamster stash when cleaning them out?
Why is my Hamster Storing food?
Hamsters stash because this is what they do in the wild incase food is scarce. It is a very natrural thing for a hamster storing food because they would have had to do this in the wild to survive If you think about it, their natural habitat is desert where they would run for miles at night gathering food to stash away incase their food source ran out. Even though pet hamsters always have plenty of food in their supply, they will still stash instinctively.
Can I clean out the Food Stash when I clean my Hamsters Cage?
My last hammie didn’t used to mind if I just cleaned out the whole cage. I used to put back the seeds from his stash if they were his favourites – such as sunflower seeds!
While some hamsters don’t mind their food being removed because there is always new, most hamsters can be more precious about this stash. In this case, don’t remove and throw away the whole hamster stash because it may stress them out. You can simply remove old or off food, but return what is ok and then maybe add some new to it! Replacing it in the same ‘stash’ corner can minimise his or her stress if he or she might be worried about where it has gone!
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