Hamster not eating much

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Mahika

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Hi, I got a Syrian Hamster and his name is Happy. I love him a lot. These days he has been acting weird, he is not eating much and just sleeping. I’ve kept toys for him in his habitat, a wheel and a sand bath as well. There is muesli for him and water in a bottle. I take him out every day for atleast 1 hour and give him a massage and try to make him active. What else can I do?
 
Mahika said:
Hi, I got a Syrian Hamster and his name is Happy. I love him a lot. These days he has been acting weird, he is not eating much and just sleeping. I’ve kept toys for him in his habitat, a wheel and a sand bath as well. There is muesli for him and water in a bottle. I take him out every day for atleast 1 hour and give him a massage and try to make him active. What else can I do?
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Welcome to the forum Mahika and Happy. Happy is a lucky hamster. Syrian hamsters do tend to sleep alot. If he is running on his wheel, eating and using his sand bath, he should be OK. Can you get a pet cam to see what he does at night and if he is active and energetic?
 
Hello :-) As Socks Mum says, it's fairly normal for them to sleep a lot (hide away) until the middle of the night. A new hamster will also be quite timid so they may not always be asleep - just hiding away a bit. They tend to gain more confidence about being out and about in the cage after a couple of weeks. How long have you had him? However you said he's now acting weird, so maybe you've had him for a while and this is a changed behaviour? When you say you get him out and give him a massage, is he active at that time or lethargic? It is one thing for them to sleep until gone midnight (normal) especially in colder weather - they are sensitive to the cold. But when he's out of the cage he should be alert and active. If he's quite lethargic then he may be unwell. Is it cold where you are? There is a thing called torpor when hamsters get too cold and can't be roused. The key to avoiding that is to keep the room temperature above 16 degrees celsius (ideally 18 to 22 degrees). It can get very cold at night sometimes when heating is off, so then you might need to insulate his cage a bit or even have a bit of heat for an hour during the night.

That is one possibility if he's lethargic. If it isn't cold then he may be unless. But I'll wait to see what you say about how he is when he's out of the cage. Does he have plenty of bedding depth and material to make a cosy nest with? Strips of torn up toilet paper are the best nesting material.
 
Maz said:
Hello :-) As Socks Mum says, it's fairly normal for them to sleep a lot (hide away) until the middle of the night. A new hamster will also be quite timid so they may not always be asleep - just hiding away a bit. They tend to gain more confidence about being out and about in the cage after a couple of weeks. How long have you had him? However you said he's now acting weird, so maybe you've had him for a while and this is a changed behaviour? When you say you get him out and give him a massage, is he active at that time or lethargic? It is one thing for them to sleep until gone midnight (normal) especially in colder weather - they are sensitive to the cold. But when he's out of the cage he should be alert and active. If he's quite lethargic then he may be unwell. Is it cold where you are? There is a thing called torpor when hamsters get too cold and can't be roused. The key to avoiding that is to keep the room temperature above 16 degrees celsius (ideally 18 to 22 degrees). It can get very cold at night sometimes when heating is off, so then you might need to insulate his cage a bit or even have a bit of heat for an hour during the night.

That is one possibility if he's lethargic. If it isn't cold then he may be unless. But I'll wait to see what you say about how he is when he's out of the cage. Does he have plenty of bedding depth and material to make a cosy nest with? Strips of torn up toilet paper are the best nesting material.
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I meant to add - as for not eating much - it may seem that they don't take all their food, but they build hoards and tend to snack from their hoards. So we don't actually see how much they eat. Does he get a piece of fresh veg every day? They love that. If that isn't eaten I'd be worried. Just a tiny piece no bigger than their ear :-) Cucumber or broccoli are favourites here.
 
I’ve had him for 4 months now. When I give him a massage, he feels very relaxed and comfortable and after a few mins he yawns and starts to walk and get active. I’m in Bangalore, India. The temperature here is around 18-19 degrees at the night. No he doesn’t have too much bedding depth.

In his habitat, I’ve kept torn tissues on one side where he sleeps, and in 3/4rd part there is wood shavings. With some toys, sand bath, some food and water.

I think he is bored of his food, I sometimes give him pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cucumber or carrot, coriander, persimmon rarely, a small piece of bread, chapati, with his muesli.
I don’t know what else can I give him. I add vitamin c or multivitamin drops in his water as well.
I want him to stay healthy and happy.
 
Socks Mum said:
Welcome to the forum Mahika and Happy. Happy is a lucky hamster. Syrian hamsters do tend to sleep alot. If he is running on his wheel, eating and using his sand bath, he should be OK. Can you get a pet cam to see what he does at night and if he is active and energetic?
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Thank you so much.
 
He's gorgeous and looks very healthy :-) Some male syrians can be really quite lazy! But they are often the most affectionate or sensitive as well :)

I wouldn't put vitamin drops etc in his water. It shouldn't be necessary as long as he has a suitable hamster mix each day and a tiny piece of veg each day. The main thing they need in the first year is protein. It's usually recommended not to add anything to their water or it can put them off drinking it sometimes. Commercial hamster food has fortified vitamins added already as well.

So his hamster mix should have about 18% protein or more. Wood shavings aren't the best to use - especially if it's not clear what wood it is but also if they're not kiln dried, they will be high in phenols, which are bad for hamsters. Even kiln dried wood shavings still have a certain amount of phenols.

Is there any other bedding you can get? Paper based beddings are popular.
 
I use these wood shavings and this is his food.
 

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Chipsi classic are one of the better wood shavings and they're kiln dried and part spruce :-) The Hamster mix is not a bad one - it is a little low on protein at 15% so I would supplement his protein for the first year of his life. In his second year, 15% is ok. So you can supplement with fresh food - maybe a bit of hard boiled egg twice a week, and a couple of nuts a week (eg half a walnut). He will love the fresh food as well. Again just a tiny bit of egg, so they eat it all and don't pouch it. So maybe a walnut one day, egg the next day, miss a day, egg again, miss a day, then walnut again.
 
Maz said:
Chipsi classic are one of the better wood shavings and they're kiln dried and part spruce :-) The Hamster mix is not a bad one - it is a little low on protein at 15% so I would supplement his protein for the first year of his life. In his second year, 15% is ok. So you can supplement with fresh food - maybe a bit of hard boiled egg twice a week, and a couple of nuts a week (eg half a walnut). He will love the fresh food as well. Again just a tiny bit of egg, so they eat it all and don't pouch it. So maybe a walnut one day, egg the next day, miss a day, egg again, miss a day, then walnut again.
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Thank you so much. This was really very helpful for me. I appreciate it Maz
 
I'd stop using the vitamin drops in his water as well :-)
 
Welcome to the forum, your photos of Happy are just adorable. If you’re able to get some paper based bedding, I’m sure he’ll enjoy this. Are you also able to buy any flax or millet seed sprays, most hamsters really enjoy those too and if you offer them from time to time, they’ll add some extra variety for him.
 
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