Stashing FREAK!

[3kaw]

Okay my baby boy (7/8 months) is eating anything you give him!! YES this is what we want!

HOWEVER............ he is a total stash freak! He does this with toys or anything he gets a hold of like shoes/boots LOL

He also does it with food.
I've tried putting a box in the cage for him to use, which he will... except Sadie will use it as a litter box and thats the end of that.

I've tried only putting food in when he's confined to the cage, but there are days they are out 90% of the day, which means he wouldn't eat all day, and he's too young for that.
I've tried specific feeding times, but maybe I'm just missing his hungry time cause he wont eat then.
I dont have the space for an external feeding den. We have used a dog crate but he wont stash in there, likely cause the dogs just eat it if he leaves it there.
So how do i keep him from taking food out of the cage and stashing it in places I can't get too! lol

[Jackie]

Can you possibly block off the spot where he is stashing? I've tried only feeding in cage, but my girls are grazers and prefer to snack all throughout the day. Maybe you could put the feeding den close to where he is stashing?

Honestly, I kinda gave up trying to get Trixie to use a feeding den while free roaming. She prefers to eat her food under the couch, and I've just let her do that. Pixie uses the feeding den 80% of the time, and I usually catch her before she runs off. Every night after the girls are up, I check several stash spots and wash of fresh meat and put it in the cage, and throw out jerky.

[sherrylynne]

Even just a small cardboard soda box outside the cage would likely work wonders for him. Or even a wastebasket turned on it's side, with a towel over it. You can then transfer the meat to the cage after wards. And it does "double duty" when he goes back in

[3kaw]

LOl i would just leave it if he was going under the couch, his favourite is under the TV stand and I can't move that to get at the food

the crate was outside the cage, and the dogs liked the free access to the food he provides. I'm thinking a small box or bin would be the same for the dogs. I'd like to say i could keep the dogs out of it, but not likely the sneaking buggers. They would eat 3times their weight in food if ya let them!

[jacksmomma]

He's going to stash. I think it's unavoidable. I just skip a meal (or two) every few days and anything that has been stashed ends up eaten. They clean up their stashes when they have been given a chance to go hungry

[Jackie]

Yeah, I notice when I feed something they girls don't like, they dig into their stashes