hamster behaviour

Question
I have a 6 week old Syrian which I bought 5 days ago. He is housed in Superpets critter trail x and is constantly taking all his food and bedding into the wheel and spending all his time there. I have emptied the wheel on numerous occasions to no avail! I have now taken the slide away so he can't get in the wheel but he manages to climb up and swing his way in.....and then goes back and forth filling it with food and bedding. There is a proper sleeping area with the cage yet he prefers the wheel, hence making tons of mess when he decides to run miles in it. What can I do to keep the wheel for exercise only?

Answer
Hi Laura

Based on my experience with hamsters I'm afraid there's not a lot you can do about this.  Some always seem to do this, and it is hard to snap them out of it.  Even if you were to put another wheel in the cage he'd probably do the same there.  You could try one or two other toys/houses/tubes in his cage and see if he will decide to relocate to one of these.  Can you remove his wheel for a day or two - this way he'll make a nest elsewhere  - then you could reintroduce the wheel for a short time each evening for the next few days and see if this snaps him out of it.

I've been kept awake by hamsters who do this as I hear their food hoard rattling around all night!
Regards