My gerbils always did this – I think they’re trying to protect it and save it for later 😉

Though I would strongly recommending not using litter in his cage so that he can bury it in the first place. It’s much easier to litter train (and much cheaper!) to use fleece blankets in the cage and just use litter in the litter box. Then if he dumps his food, it’s easy for you to sweep it back into his bowl (or just let him forage for it on the floor if he wants) and you won’t waste food anymore.

My little girl Monkey litter trained at 8 weeks old. It definitely helps if there isn’t any litter in the rest of the cage, trust me!

Both of my buns litter trained immediately – they can learn at 8 weeks old. My baby bun never had an accident and was using his litter box from the day I brought him home.

Keeping bedding on the bottom is actually encouraging him to *not* use the litter box. When you decide he’s old enough and take the bedding away, the habit of going anywhere in the cage may already be too ingrained to break. I would take it away now and I think you’ll see a drastic improvement in his litter habits. And you won’t be throwing away food that he loses in the bedding.

Just take everything out. He’ll be fine on the plastic – many buns actually prefer to sleep on cool hard surfaces. Since the floor is absorbent, he’ll realize that peeing there isn’t a good idea. Poop is no big deal – just sweep it up and put it in the litter box. For pee, soak it in a tissue and put the tissue in the litter box, then clean the area well with vinegar. Once he gets his litter habits under control, you can use fleece blankets. I like to buy fleece by the yard from a fabric store and I cut each yard into 3 pieces.

thats funny hiding the food. lol