Do i throw out my hamsters stored food?

Question

whenever i clean out my cage there is PILES of uneaten food do i throw it out? the food they have is the Fiesta seed mix, whenever i give them a little piece of lettuce i throw that out when their done, but what do i do about their food? the last time i cleaned their cage i just took all the bedding out, and put new bedding on top of their stash? is that ok?

thanks!!

Answer 1

Don't  take away their stash, that's wrong.

Answer 2

It is wise to always through out old food when you change their bedding.I clean my hamsters cages out once a week. If you have 2 or more to a cage it it wise to clean their cage 2 times a week. I through out their food storage at this time as well.I do this for several reasons.#1 they wont eat old stale food.

#2 it can attract gnats and other unwanted bugs. #3  their food can end up wet and sour when this happens it will attract flies.the fly's then start laying eggs and then you have maggots in hours.Also a uncleaned cage and the wrong bedding can cause wet tail in hamsters.This a bacteria that is found on the tail end of your beloved pet. Thank God that i have never had this problem.I have 2 hamsters at this moment.They were both unwanted until they happened to find me.I have a Syrian teddy bear named Dutches and a Syrian dwarf named Penelope.The later I got  from our local pet shop as they where going to feed her to their snake. I talked him out of it as she was injured. Some kid had drop her cage and then stepped on her  splitting open her rib cage.i have had her now for about 2 weeks and is healing great.she even will let me pick her up with out taking off my hand. So I now have 2 hamsters.They both are little joys to hold and are really friendly.Of course I would not be friendly if some giant stepped on me.   :) I hoped this has helped you out.

Good luck with your tiny bundles.

Answer 3

YES!  Throw it out it goes bad really fast and it is just taking up space, unless you have a pregnant female there is no reason to leave it in for anymore than between cleanings.  If you have a pregnant female leave it in, and just throw it out every 2 cleanings, also if you have a pregnant female you will have noticed that you have to clean the cage a little more often.

Answer 4

rodents store food. ALL THE TIME! i think its funny.

keep the store there untill you clean the cage. then remove the old food, and give them some more storing food.

its a natural thing for a hampster to store. don't remove it unless it it totally nessisary

Answer 5

if the food is perishable, i.e. lettuce, carrot, cheese, it should be cleaned out daily

if the food is dry, remove about half once a month

hamsters just feel better when they have backup food

Answer 6

yes you would throw out the food because he only puts it under there so you will give him new food so empty it and put new food in! my hampsters used to do this till i gave them the right amount of food so they dont have to hide the rotten food

Answer 7

Throw out all the perishable food like lettuce but the dry food like seeds etc. can be sun dried for sometime to remove any moisture on their surface that can be caused while they are stashed in the bedding and can be returned back to the cage when clean. You can in fact even return the food to the same place where your hamsters normally stash it after you finish the cage cleaning.

But make sure you sun dry the dry food since it can attract bacterial growth when kept in the cage like that for a long time among the soiled bedding.

Regarding the cage cleaning -

Once a week you should do an elaborate cleaning of the cage including washing the whole cage and all components like tunnels, food dishes, water bottles, wheels etc with soapy water and a mild disinfectant and drying them thoroughly before laying out fresh bedding and putting the hamster back in. So the stash has to be definitely removed when you do the once in a week cage cleaning.

Just putting new bedding on their stash without proper cage cleaning once a week is not hygienic.

Answer 8

Well I mean, I guess it would be okay to throw it out if it is rotting. (seed mixes can rot once and a while.) But to throw it away just because is kinda wrong. Imagine someone  throwing away all of the good stuff in your food bowl. Wouldn't that get frustrating??

Answer 9

Throw out perishable stuff e.g. bread/fruit and veg e.t.c when they seem to have done with it.  Dry stuff should be ok for a month, but then I woudl only throw out half of it at the most.  Also, when you clean your hamster out, it's wise to keep about a handful of their old bedding (I keep part of the nest) in the cage so that their scent is still in there, then it doesn't stress them out as much when they get back in.

Answer 10

YES! throw it out. and just give it new food when you are done cleaning it's cage.

Answer 11

They hoard their food. They stash it. If you take it away they'll have nothing to eat.