food in wheel

Question
hi, we just received our hamster from Santa.  He likes to place all of his food and bedding in his wheel.  How can we stop this behavior?  Thank you, Jonathan and Stuart Little(Our Hamister)

Answer
Hi Jonathon,

There isn't really much you can do other than taking out the wheel!!! It is a habit for rodents to store food in a certain place, and also to use one particular place as a toilet, and this can be difficult to change.

If it really does bother you i would take the wheel out and maybe only put it back in for an hour at a time, and then take it away again. This may encourage him to put the bedding/food somewhere else, and so eventually you may be able to put the wheel back in again. Also you could try putting in more toys, such as a house and toilet tubes to distract him, although he will porbably put his bedding and food in these.

Just remember that hamsters will always put their food in their bed, it is a habit all hamsters have, and you can't change that!!

Hope this helps,
Charlie.