Curb behavior of hamster nesting in wheel?

Question

Hello, I am a new hamster owner- I have had a female Beige Golden hamster the past 5 days. It is a good sized cage with an upper level, a curved slide leading up to a detached wheel that rotates also, and I just recently added some new tubes. I also added a little wooden house...yet she keeps attempting to store her food and make her nest inside of the wheel...which is very noisy. I took the wheel away for one day to allow her to nest elsewhere - she did & all seemed well. Then once I reintroduced the wheel, she took a few turns in it, then grabbed all her food and brought it there. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to curb this behavior? Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

she/he likes to put the food there put the hamster in the closet or the bathroom

Answer 2

If you provide a proper nesting and sleeping quarters for her and put a few fluffy soft white Kleenex in it, and a few bits of seeds or dry food in there she will use that. Remove the nesting material from the wheel and keep placing it in her sleep box. I made one from little snap together children's colored building blocks, about the size length of her body if you stretched her out. They will quickly make that their home if you entice her with that privacy, because they love privacy when they sleep!

Answer 3

Hamsters are creatures of habit. Once they start something, they keep it up. Try to turn the cage around to where the wheel is at the opposite end of where it usually is. Also, clean it very well so that she won't smell her food residue.  When you turn the cage around, put the wood house in the area she is used to going to for the wheel.

Answer 4

I had the same problem.  I took the wheel away for 3 days and as soon as I put it back she put her nest right back.  I ended up making her a bin cage with a different type of wheel.  Then she stopped.