A hamster question?

Question

my hamsters just gobble everything up without chewing,we gave one a food stick(about one centimeter and a half long)and he put the whole thing in his mouth!why are they doing that?is it a bad habit or is it normal?

Answer 1

no its ok they just store it in their cheek pouches and they will take it back out later. :)

Answer 2

it's a normal thing for a hamster.  they store their food there to eat it later.  hamsters like to make stashes of food.  sometimes even if their food dish is empty they can still have food stored throughout their cage.  

my hamster stores it in his pouch and goes to his nest and puts all the food there.

Answer 3

The hamster is storing it in its pouch and will eat it later.  Not to worry about this.  klh

Answer 4

Your hamster,is not eating it, he is putting it in his pouches as instinct , saving the food for later incase there is no food around.(instinct)

Answer 5

Normal. He is putting it in his cheek pouch. Mine did that too! I don't know why its called a cheek pouch because they are really far back!!! Its kind of gross, but that's just what they do.

No need to worry.

Answer 6

Nothing's wrong with that, he/she's storing the food she/he will eventially put it down or eat it.

Answer 7

I HAVE A HAMSTER 2 THEY DO THAT SO WHEN U DON'T FEED THEM OR IF THEY GET REALLY HUNGERY THEY STORE FOOD IN THEIR MOUTHS WITH ARE CALLED POUCHES WHERE THEY STORE THEIR FOOD AND THEY SPIT IT OUT AND THEY HAVE FOOD 4 LATER!

Answer 8

He is not eating it.  He is putting it in his pouch and will take it and bury it in the cage to eat/gnaw on later.

This is normal behavior for a hamster.

Answer 9

its k my snowy and browny do that but browny is gone now i owned hamsters for like 2 weeks but poor browny was bitten by a dog and died well though on topic they have cheex pouches look so irregular but cute.

Answer 10

This is "normal" behavior for pratically every animal in the family of what is known as "rodentae"...Latin for rodent. This means mice, chipmunks, squirrels, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, etc.......They all do this to one extent or another. They are NOT eating it when they store the food in their cheeks. Think of it as a purse. It is stuffed inside ONLY to carry it from point A to point B....(usually in an area closer to the nest). When they arrive at the place where they want the food, they simply open wide and rub their cheeks and the food spills out. Since these animals have a small brain, they sometimes forget where the hid the food when they get hungry...which probably explains where there are so many trees in the USA...Many started as walnuts, oak (acorns) and many other species.

This practice doesn't hurt them, but if you are concerned you can always break the food pieces into smaller bite sized portions before placing it in the cage.

Answer 11

its normal. they do ths all the time.

Answer 12

I do NOT agree with Shantal.  Hamsters do NOT do that when they aren't being fed properly.  

Hamsters store food in cheek pouches for later.  They will take food to their bed to have it for when they feel like eating it.  

I've seen them sit at their food bowls and stuff their pouches so full they cannot crawl up their tubes to their beds.  It's normal behavior for a hamster.  

Just relax and enjoy watching them stuff things in their pouches..it gets quite funny seeing what all they'll store for later.  I gave one a half of a cookie, and she stuffed that whole thing in her pouch.