Won’t empty cheeks

[Danibear18]

Hello, we’ve had our hamster - Peanut for 6 months on Saturday night I left the cage door open after giving her a treat and she escaped for the first time She was only free for a maximum of 4 hours as we heard her in the kitchen, pulled the bottom kitchen cupboard panels off and called her… she came straight out from behind the washing machine and walked straight out and into my hands

When she came out she had her cheeks filled with some sort of filthy tissue. Thankfully she spat it out quite quickly once we got her. Since we put her back in her cage she filled her cheeks with bedding and food to the absolute maximum capacity. It’s been 24 hours and she still hasn’t emptied her cheeks and I’m starting to worry. Is this normal? Is it a sign of stress? She ate some mini corn earlier and I’ve seen her drink. She is also letting me hold her and stroke her. I’m not sure how long I should wait until I should be concerned.

 

[Maz]

Hello I think you were a member before is that right? If so I'll reconnect your old account with your new one.

Peanut sounds like a real handful! It's good she spat out whatever she pouched. It sounds like now she has some kind of stress thing about not having had a nest for a while, when she was behind the washing machine. She is maybe a bit disorientated and anxious about food and bedding.

24 hours does sound like a long time to have her pouches full, but I'd see how she is tomorrow. It could take her a couple of days to settle down again. Do you know where she's sleeping?

 

[Danibear18]

Yes that’s me My previous login details weren’t recognised so I created another account. I hope that’s ok.

So glad the forum is back Just in time for the next time I needed to ask for advise too

She went straight back into her bed which is under a wooden arch and slept there as normal but without emptying her cheeks. She likes to cover the top of it with her Kaytee to make it dark and soundproof. I just can’t get my head around how huge her cheeks are at the moment. I’ve never seen them this big!

 

[Maz]

They do look very full. It's as if she is waiting to find the right place to depouch. Have you tried having her out of the cage for a while - playpen eg? Maybe she is waiting to go back to her new nest behind the washing machine before depouching. I would try not to worry too much. If she's out of the cage for a while she might depouch. If not I'm sure she will at some point.

I'm trying to find your old posts so I can reconnect your account And yes it's fine to open a new one - everyone had to do that and I reconnected their posts up after.

 

[Danibear18]

I used to have a hamster and post called Nibbles the Ninja who sadly didn’t live very long. Then I think I opened a new one for Peanut who started off a boy the turned out to be a girl

We’ve had a very eventful hamster journey so far

 

[Maz]

Ah that's right

 

[Maz]

All done Your old account and posts are reconnected with your new one.

 

[Maz]

Basically she is probably very disorientated. They tend to only depouch when they are "home" and she's maybe not quite sure where home is at the moment. How long had she escaped for?

 

[Danibear18]

She escaped at some point between 2am - 6:30am, I don’t think she was free for very long and as soon as we realised when we woke, we located her almost immediately behind the washing machine and she came straight back out to us. Thankfully we’ve built trust with her so she strolled straight out when we called her, and it was honestly like she was excited to show us what she had found

I put her in the sink to check her over and make sure she hadn’t hurt herself and she depouched all the dirty stuffing immediately. Put her back in her cage and she immediately had a drink and some food. Then that evening (Sunday evening) she filled her cheeks with bedding and food and hasn’t emptied them since.

She has been handled quite a bit, had a run around and still is full to the brim!

 

[Maz]

Hmm. So she was only out overnight for one night. And back in her cage to sleep during the day. And it's just tonight she's filled her pouches? Maybe see how she is tomorrow. How did she escape?! That's maybe the main thing - to make sure she can't achieve it again. Did she open the cage door or something? I once forgot to close the cage door and went to bed and the hamster was still in the cage next day!

 

[Danibear18]

Yes exactly that. She escaped Saturday night, was back in her bedroom Sunday morning to sleep. Filled her cheeks Sunday night and still hasn’t emptied tonight.

I stupidly left the cage door open after giving her some mini corn through the top hatch. I was trying to do too many things at once, hence being up till 2am She isn’t very good at climbing so I was gobsmacked she actually managed to get across the roof to the opening! Can’t tell you how much I wish I had a camera to see this all unfold.

 

[Maz]

Ah they are crafty and will find a way to get to the roof! She probably woke up Sunday night and wondered where she was, after her adventure the night before. It's possible she emptied them and filled them up again maybe.