Hamster peeing on food

[teresascott]

Lately my hamster has been peeing on his food.  Any idea why?  I haven't changed anything (types of food).  He is a year old.

Thanks

[DickieD]

Hamsters seem to do daft things like this, it doesn't seem to harm them. After all, they eat their own poo like many small rodents, it's natural. The last one we had insisted on pouching wet (from pee) sawdust and stockpiling it under his bed. He lived until he was nearly five. As well as the usual hamster food we have always occasionally given them little bits of chicken, lettuce and other fruit. You have to remove this regularly if not eaten to stop it going mouldy. Maybe your hammy is 'marking' the food to show it's his.

[MORELLO]

My young lad has a hamster, and he does all sorts of strange things. The books tell you they are naturally clean animals with good 'housekeeping' qualities. Ours regularly changes, mixes and moves his toilet, food and sleeping areas. Reckon they 'just do'.

[MORELLO]

That's the hamster, not my young lad!! Although he's got his own strange habits...

[KEJ2000]

I have a hamster who *sometimes* uses his food bowl as a toilet.  But, I think he only does it when the dish contains food he dislikes.  Or when the food has sat around for too long and has gotten stale or lost its flavour and aroma, so he no longer views it as "food" at all, but rather as "litter" like the other litter that lines his cage.  Perhaps he just likes the cozy circular shape of the food bowl to sit in.  Also, he tends to stockpile the good food bits in his nest right off the bat, rather than leaving it in his bowl... so that when he does pee in the food bowl, it isn't food that he would ever have eaten, anyway. Perhaps your hamster isn't really peeing on the same food that he seriously intends to eat.