My Sarah has become a hoarder !

Sarah is 18 mos old and has developed a new habit.
As soon as she hears me putting the Oxbow in their food bowl - she immediately takes it out and carries it to the bottom level of the cage & stashes it in a little hidey house. Until I caught on to what was going on, I thought that the girls all of a sudden had started eating a lot more food! But the other day I stayed in the room and noticed her taking it out of the bowl & stashing it away. So now her 2 sisters have to go find it when they want to eat!

Wonder what would cause her to start doing this? Crazy rat....

I have one that does that. The funny thing is it actually irritates a couple of the others. I thought spaying her might stop the behavior, but no such luck.

It's instinctual really. When one of mine starts stashing, I always go in and take it out and place back in the food bowl. I can get them working all day long. Some will stop stashing after a while but most don't.
The fact that she started this later in life might be a concern. Keep an eye on her. Check her teeth to make sure they are not too long, see if she's eating ok.

I checked her teeth - they look perfect. She eats like a horse.

I too thought that starting this at her "age" was odd. I get worried when a whisker is outta place ! mg2: It is really pissin' her 2 sisters off when they have to search for the food cuz it is not in the bowl where it is supposed to be. LoL!

Lol At least it ends up being good mental and physical stimulation for the sisters.

jorats said:

Lol At least it ends up being good mental and physical stimulation for the sisters.

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yeah - and to add to the mass scramblings.... I added another food bowl high up by their hammock. Someone is bound to get tired soon!:treadmill:

LOL! Good one.

That's too funny. We were cleaning Clark's cage the other day and picked up one of his hidey houses and he had everything stashed in there - treats, toys, fleece, blocks, everything we give him.. At least he's neat and keeps it in one place.

well ... using 2 food bowls did not help. Sarah is still a maniac stasher.
I found a piece of old apple ( yuck ). I think she was letting it ferment so she could turn it into hooch! :drink2:. I guess as long as no one pees on the stashed food then no loss. I keep moving it back to the top level & she keeps moving it back down. She's my most headstrong rat, but not the dominant. Actually none of the 3 girls acts as dominant. Maybe I don't have one - anyways Sarah is also the only rat I have that will not boggle/brux. She will fall asleep as I hold her sometimes, but no popping eyes & grinding for her. Her mom was the same way.