Is my dude just weird?

[Atlasthexplorer]

Very recently my little boy has started to "hide" his food in his sand. He is around 4 or 5 months months, so we are very unsure if this is normal or just him being a little weird? Should we be concerned? The sand is also the place were we have his wheel and he uses it as a toilet as well, hence why i keep taking the food from there, but he puts it back every single time. Is this normal? Is he just weird? Should i set a tiny little bowl for him?

 

[Maz]

Gorgeous robo! Ok so he loves his wheel and he loves his sand and wants his favourite snacks close to his favourite things, is my guess, so yes I'd but a little hide in the sand bath. One of my syrians used to put food in a little ceramic hide and also sit in it to snack. If there isn't room for a ceramic hide then you could try a bowl. Something like this maybe or you could just put a ceramic mug or small plantpot on its side

Dwarf hamster sized ceramic hide

 

[Atlasthexplorer]

Gorgeous robo! Ok so he loves his wheel and he loves his sand and wants his favourite snacks close to his favourite things, is my guess, so yes I'd but a little hide in the sand bath. One of my syrians used to put food in a little ceramic hide and also sit in it to snack. If there isn't room for a ceramic hide then you could try a bowl. Something like this maybe or you could just put a ceramic mug or small plantpot on its side

Dwarf hamster sized ceramic

Thank you so much!!! It is so funny to see him ""hide"" (its out in the open) his food. He definetly has space for a tiny bowl/mug, Im just concerned about him getting sand and his own droppings all over his food

 

[A And Aspen]

Hamsters poos are odourless and are dry and they help the hamster alot. They can use them to mark their territory hence why alot of hamsters will chuck their poo into food hordes and they can use them to orientate themselves in their enclosure. Also if you use a safe, no calcium and no dye sand having sand on the food is fine as it is non toxic. However if urine gets on the food it would be a good idea to remove the soiled food to prevent mold.

 

[Maz]

Thank you so much!!! It is so funny to see him ""hide"" (its out in the open) his food. He definetly has space for a tiny bowl/mug, Im just concerned about him getting sand and his own droppings all over his food

Yes poo and hoards are often mixed - some little poos are emergency food supplies. Robo poos are miniscule anyway And they are more like little seeds and not dirty or smelly. One of my syrians started deliberately moving sand from one area, to his hoard underground in another area. I can only assume he thought it would preserve the hoard longer! Because surely no hamster wants grit with their food! The hoarding though is more about security than actually eating it I'm sure he has a hoard somewhere else that he snacks from.

I think the mug or an enclosed hide would be good and more likely to get his food put in it