# Rats stashing food



## redcoat (Jun 7, 2014)

Hello! I have two rat sisters, Mochi and Boba, who are both one year old this month. We have had them for nine months, and stashing food has never been a problem for them. I think it just started last night. When I put food in their tray, they immediately take each pellet and hide each one. I'm not sure if both of them do it, because when I refilled their bowl just now I saw that only one was taking food in her mouth. I am worried that they won't eat the food, and will starve. I know that this happens with a lot of rats, and I wanted to hear some tips! Thanks!!


----------



## Hedgian (Aug 18, 2014)

I think it's just a normal. One of my rats does it also. He spent an hour taking each thing from the bowl and stashing it a single level down (in the exact same area just a level down..) He doesn't even have someone to compete with considering he and my other rat aren't living together right now (and never have, still working on introductions)


----------



## Hedgian (Aug 18, 2014)

But he did end up eating it all


----------



## sarah424 (Sep 11, 2014)

My girls picked the same spot to stash, they grab some food and run behind their igloo to save it for later. I cleaned the cage today and there was a huge pile of food and treats back there lol


----------



## Cyrix (May 2, 2014)

Rats usually stash their food, especially if they really like it. If you ever forget to refill their bowl and they run out, they'll be more likely to stash the next few times to play it safe. Also, I think our rats at one point realized if they immediately hid all the food we gave them when we left the room, we'd think they were out of food the next time we visited and give them more. We finally caught on when we found several hoards of several dozen pieces each.


----------



## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

One of my girls started stashing the food when I was home an hour late (traffic) to feed them... There were still some veggies, so it wasn't like she didn't have food. Now, I find the whole bowl of pellets piled up in the igloo...


----------



## MOA (Sep 7, 2014)

One of my new boys hides food too but they all do end up eating what they hide, i do check that most of it is eaten before I give them more food.


----------



## Dan203 (Jul 10, 2014)

Every time I pick up the blanket in the free range area a dozen pieces of food fall out. Buddy likes to run into the cage grab some, then bring it out and stash it in the blanket. I just throw it back into their bowl.

We also just got two new boys, that are only about 10 weeks old, I keep seeing them dig hidden food out of their bedding under the ramp or in the corner of the cage.


----------



## redcoat (Jun 7, 2014)

Thanks everyone! Now that I think about it, it probably started when we began giving them new food. We started giving them their old food and they stopped stashing. We think that they don't like the new food, but based on comments above they might, we can't tell. We will keep giving them both.


----------



## AznDonutBoy (Jul 10, 2014)

Its natural for a lot of animals to stash food when they have enough. It's a survival instinct. Humans do it too. We make lots of food and stash it and over time eat from the stash (aka harvest cycles). Its just a good way to survive just in case the unexpected happens.


----------



## redcoat (Jun 7, 2014)

Yeah, true. We think it may be because they are preparing for the winter or something?


----------



## Ratpax (Aug 24, 2014)

I think my girl Ara stashes her food because no one else will bring her breakfast in bed, and she really enjoys breakfast in bed ;D


----------



## Akarah (Sep 2, 2014)

Ratpax said:


> I think my girl Ara stashes her food because no one else will bring her breakfast in bed, and she really enjoys breakfast in bed ;D


Lol! Too cute😊


----------



## redcoat (Jun 7, 2014)

Haha that's so cute!!


----------

