# Rat constantly stashing food but not eating / picky eater



## Severknot (Jun 19, 2009)

It seems weird that my rat basically is always out looking for food but when i actually feed him, he just stores it but doesnt eat. Occasionally we eat nearby and he comes and trys to get a peice, then we give him some of his treats and then he just stashes it and comes back. After we're done eating he continues looking for food even though he has alot in his cage for about 20 mins before he just stops.

I dont get his behavior. Occasionally we will give him small scraps since hes so focused on getting one, he takes it to his cage, eats a bit and then stashes and comes back for more. Its like he doesnt believe he has enough food in his cage. I like the lil guy but its pretty annoying giving him fresh food only so he can ignore it and me end up having to throw it away. He does eat some of his normal food but even after its like its never enough and he either ignores it or wants our food. I stopped eating near him but even so he smells the food and basically investigates me to find it.

I thought rats werent picky eaters? this one is.. had to go through several rat blocks / food before we finally found a one he eats. I read on another forum that i should just leave his dry food in, not give him anything, and force him to eat it because he will be so hungry.. then he should learn to eat it.

I did get him from a breeder but i cant get in contact with them anymore so i dont know what they fed him. I can tell he lost alot of weight, he has some excess skin on him.. so i really dont know the story on him other than he is picky and likes to store food.

This could be rat behavior but out of all my other 8 rats ive owned, this is the first one whos giving me this issue.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

He is just more of a stasher than most. They show up in your rat groups every once in awhile. He sounds like a compulsive stasher. I have a few here now, including a youngish former mom, who as soon as i put any harlan blocks in her bowl, she's grabbing and running with them. I know where their stashing spots are, so I usually check before adding more blocks ;D


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## Severknot (Jun 19, 2009)

Guess its more of a normal oddity then? eh ohwell i love him to much to get mad

i forgot to ask though, this one boggles like every day when you pet him and occasionally when petting he starts wagging his tail, after some research it somes its debatable on wether its aggressive or happiness, has it been nailed down on what it really is? he seems pretty content when i do it and he starts wagging his tail, but still you never know.



lilspaz68 said:


> He is just more of a stasher than most. They show up in your rat groups every once in awhile. He sounds like a compulsive stasher. I have a few here now, including a youngish former mom, who as soon as i put any harlan blocks in her bowl, she's grabbing and running with them. I know where their stashing spots are, so I usually check before adding more blocks ;D


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## Corpseflower (Jun 12, 2009)

My Larry and Jinxi do the same thing. They try to take all the food out of the bowl and store it in the corner of the cage. Then Casper will squeak because he likes to eat out of the bowl. :


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## Lea (May 15, 2009)

One idea would be to feed him baby food, which he will have to sit there and eat out of the bowl. You can try different kinds and see what he likes, get some with chicken in it, that could help put some weight back on him.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

The tail wagging is from intense emotion, either anger, fear or happiness. If he is approaching you and boggling at the same time, he's a very happy boy


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## fighterboy10 (Aug 15, 2009)

lilspaz68 said:


> He is just more of a stasher than most. They show up in your rat groups every once in awhile. He sounds like a compulsive stasher. I have a few here now, including a youngish former mom, who as soon as i put any harlan blocks in her bowl, she's grabbing and running with them. I know where their stashing spots are, so I usually check before adding more blocks ;D


Exactly my sister has a hamster that is just like that. My rat is not much of a stasher he takes the food runs of and eats it in private its just his personality basicly dont give him too much food and you should be fine and give him scraps like you have been.


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## lovetaralyn (Aug 14, 2009)

One of my first rats Lola did this, she would always run and stash her food but she would always return for it at some point lol


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## Spider (Mar 19, 2007)

My Free-Ranger Alice is the worst, she immediately empties the food bowls and hides them all over.
Someone once told me this is because a Rat comes from a big litter or a situation where food was scarce, and there was competition for food. So they grow instinctivly thinking beyond "just eating" .
Its funny but these Rats are usually thin.
Spider


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## js6stone (Aug 7, 2009)

One of my first girls was a stasher. I have searched desperately for the pic of her pile and I can't find it. :'(
I would clean the cage, put in a new bowl of food and within 10 minutes it was empty! Most of it would go into the house but she was even known to hide it in her litter box. After a couple days I'd figure she was running low and would put more food in the bowl. Then a day or so later when I went to clean the cage I would find a HUGE pile! Looked like she hadn't ate anything! I got this rat from a crowded tank at Complete Petmart. Her sister came from a small pet store and never had that issue. Our new girls don't hoard at all. It's nice to know if they have food or not. 
*going off to look for that pic again*

Found it! You can see her holding it like, "Please don't take my food!" LOL


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## maddy (Jul 27, 2009)

u can get this cat food called applaws (don't know if u can get it in the states yet) its 80 percent meet and 20 percent water
that's what i'm feeding my rats on at the moment because they're all going through major groath spurts and need the extra protene


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

maddy said:


> u can get this cat food called applaws (don't know if u can get it in the states yet) its 80 percent meet and 20 percent water
> that's what i'm feeding my rats on at the moment because they're all going through major groath spurts and need the extra protene


Eeegh, too much protein! Rats are supposed to have up to 20% protein when pregnant, nursing or as babies who need it. Yours is a LOT more than that, and you are actually taxing the kidneys with too much protein.


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

Awesome picture! 

My Apie stashes everything after checking to see if I got more to offer. If I have one treat for each rat, she won't stash hers but eats it on the spot.
It is very funny to see her think: "OMG, that is a good treat. *grabs it*. Let me double check...does she have more? No, so quickly eat it in this safe corner then, before my sisters get a hold of it."

Or
"wow, good treats,*grabs one*. Let me check...does she have more? OMG, there's a ton of it. Quickly go upstairs and hide this one in my box where no one will find it. So, safe, now downstairs to grab one more!" *runs downstairs (in the FN) as fast as she can*. 
Repeat until everything is "safely" put away in Apie's pantry.


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## Coolspruce (Mar 29, 2009)

js6stone said:


> Found it! You can see her holding it like, "Please don't take my food!" LOL


Wonderful picture. Thanks!


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## Lea (May 15, 2009)

That picture needs an LOLrat caption "*It's Mine ... all Mine!*" ;D


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