Hamsters have some unique and sometimes quirky eating behaviors you may notice. Here are some common hamster eating behaviors explained:
- Food Hoarding – Hamsters’ natural foraging instinct causes them to hoard and stockpile food. This includes cramming their cheek pouches full and hiding food in their nesting area. It’s completely normal behavior.
- Nocturnal Feeding – Hamsters are most active at night and do much of their eating after dark. Feed them their main meal in the evening and provide some fresh food overnight.
- Selective Feeding – Hamsters often pick out their favorite foods and leave the rest behind. To prevent an imbalanced diet, monitor what they eat and consider a high quality hamster-specific food over food mixes.
- Messy Eaters – Hamsters stuff and scatter food everywhere! Finding food bits strewn around is perfectly normal. Be sure to clean their habitat regularly to prevent spoilage.
- Rapid Eating – Hamsters will greedily stuff their cheeks to maximum capacity. Despite appearances, this rushed eating is normal and not a sign your hamster is starving!
- Food Caching – You may notice small stashes of food hidden in burrows or tunnels. Hamsters cache food this way instinctively. Just be sure to remove stale cached food when cleaning the habitat.
- Nibbling Behavior – Hamsters nibble and gnaw on foods to wear down their continuously growing teeth. Nibbling hard foods like uncooked pasta or wooden chews is normal and healthy.
Get to know your hamster’s unique eating behaviors! Many seemingly strange behaviors are natural and help enrich their environment.
