Rescued female syrian, underweight

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Princess Crazy-Locks

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Hi,

I have recently taken in a female syrian hamster, she was bought from a pet shop, by the original owners, a couple of weeks before Christmas 2021 so she'd be approximately a year old, give or take a few weeks. I knew she'd been malnourished because she was on typical herbivore seed and grain mix her whole life. Since she's been with us she's been introduced to fresh veg and proteins (meal worms, hard boiled egg and unseasoned, cooked meats) alongside a seed and grain mix. I found a female syrian hamster growth chart and weighed her the other day. According to the chart, because she's definitely over 15wks, she should weigh between 170-220g but she's weighing in at around 140g. What can I do to help build her up and get her within the "healthy weight range"?!?!
 
Hello and welcome!

Charts are only a guide and like humans, hamsters vary in size and weight.

She's not underweight at 140g. As long as she is eating and active with everything functioning as it should and she's not losing weight and her teeth are ok, i wouldn't worry.

She may put on weight yet and it's probably better for a malnourished hamster to put on weight slowly.

Sunflower seeds can be a bit fattening and a pinch of brown linseeds daily are very good for fur and skin.

One of my Syrians weighs around 150g and has always been slim and athletic. He's 2yrs 3mths now.
 
Hello and welcome here.
I agree with Beryl’s advice.
The only thing I would add is that as the weather gets colder you could add a tiny amount of porridge to her diet as a treat. If you have any porridge oats in stock, it only needs a teaspoon of oats mixed with water and then microwaved for 20seconds or so. I used to leave this treat in a tiny treat bowl near the nest entrance in the evening. The smell of the warm porridge always brought him out but just make sure it is warm and not hot when you put it in the cage.
 
Beryl said:
Hello and welcome!

Charts are only a guide and like humans, hamsters vary in size and weight.

She's not underweight at 140g. As long as she is eating and active with everything functioning as it should and she's not losing weight and her teeth are ok, i wouldn't worry.

She may put on weight yet and it's probably better for a malnourished hamster to put on weight slowly.

Sunflower seeds can be a bit fattening and a pinch of brown linseeds daily are very good for fur and skin.

One of my Syrians weighs around 150g and has always been slim and athletic. He's 2yrs 3mths now.
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Thank you, I've been so worried!

I shall relax a bit and just keep monitoring, she's very active and has plenty of varied food in her hoard.
 
Hello and welcome :-). Second all the above. They can vary in size hugely. 120g for a small Syrian would not be unusual. And a very large Syrian can be 300g or more!

The hamster mix itself is quite important too.

If she’s over a year old now, then a good muesli mix with about 16 to 18% protein would be good. Which one are you using at the moment? Are you in the U.K. or US? Or elsewhere? There are a few good mixes and various supplements.

As well as weight, it’s about how the hamster feels. Does she feel like a bag of bones or reasonably filled out? Hamsters do generally tend to feel a bit bony, especially after they get to the one year mark, but you can generally tell if they seem about right or too thin.

I had a hamster who needed building up once after having teeth problems and had lost weight. So high calorie treats and extras help build them up. One of the best things for this is hemp seeds, linseeds and certain nuts which are high in healthy nuts. Pecan nuts have the most calories. Giving half a shelled pecan nut once or twice a week will help and they tend to love nuts!

Hemp seeds are quite high in calorie but they also contain just about every vitamin and mineral needed so they’re a good natural vitamin balancer. Brown linseeds are very good for their coat condition and eyes. Hamsters usually love hemp seeds and linseeds and lick them up. I usually have them on a separate little dish - eg a small jam jar lid - just s pinch of each daily in separate tiny piles. Some days she might eat one pile and not the other.

Looking forward to meeting your hamster as well. Do post a photo of her! :-)

Edit posted at the same time!
 
Another thing to check is her teeth - sometimes as they get older, their bottom teeth can get overgrown and they can’t eat properly. This is usually when they are more 18 months to 2 years but it’s possible earlier if you don’t know her previous care. A way to check is have a look when she yawns!

Another thing about the extra treat supplements is it enriches their life and makes them happy! They look forward to them appearing - it appeals to their foraging instincts to find different bits of food in different places. As well as putting the linseeds and hemp seeds on a separate dish, I put an extra treat out daily on top of a little hide or on the house roof - either a nut or a few pumpkin seeds usually. And I also put the little bit of veg in a different place too although that’s not essential.

Just a few tips :-)
 
Beryl said:
It sounds like your hamster is very well looked after and a lucky girl to have been rescued by you.

It is so easy to worry about our hamsters. I do it all the time.
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Awww thank you! We need to build her a permanent (suitable) enclosure but we are doing our best with what we have availabke, in the mean time x
 
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There are a lot of diy cages to build with tutorials online and on youtube. Are you in the Uk or elsewhere? In the Uk it can actually work out cheaper to buy a cage rather than diy sometimes. Unless it's a bin cage. Check out Beryl's bin cages on here! She has some great ones. Or you can find second hand Alaska cages which are a good size for a Syrian - maybe for about £20. You can't get them new any more unfortunately. The Hamster Heaven can be good for a Syrian as well, especially if she gets out of cage time with your family, and not as huge as some. Although something slightly bigger could be better if she's an active Syrian. The Alaska cage is about the same size but a little bit taller so an 11" wheel fits in better. Oh and check out Beryl's hamster heaven set ups too!
 
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Thank you, everyone, all of your advice, guidance and reassurance is greatly appreciated! I'm kind of new to using forums and such but I knew I needed better resources to give Rainy what she needs!

I will be posting lots of progress pics (from day to and ongoing) once we've got her set up "properly", to some degree.

I was always taught to think that hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs and rabbits were (essentially) stupid...Rainy enlightened me on that within a couple of hours of landing with us and most of my recent free time has been taken up with "hamster research".

Thank you, again, for accepting us into the community, we all love you all! X
 
Please don't feel that you can't post pics of Rainy because you haven't set her up "properly" yet.

I've rescued many hamsters and know what kind of cages they usually come in. I didn't always have the space available and compromised quite a few times with hamsters living on my bedside cabinet in cages equivalent to a tent.

Mainthing is that Rainy is with you now, she's safe and she's loved. The rest will follow.

Maybe we could even give you tips on how to improve a cage that's not ideal.
 
Thank you, I'm not sure if I posted this yet but we're waiting on delivery for this kit and a sack of play sand, this evening (I avoid amazon, like the plague, where I can these days but between Rainys essential needs and my own limitations, I succumbed to convenience 😞 Screenshot_20221022-124827_Amazon Shopping.jpgsterday. Having said that; she did get spoiled rotten whilst I was hoping to find suitable lower budget materials20221022_184549.jpg
 
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He he - they go under blankets thinking you won't notice they are sneaking out the other side!

I also realised quite quickly that hamsters are sensitive little things who have feelings! I felt so guilty when I realised I had bundled our first hamster like a parcel, from a small cage to a bigger one, without considering that would be a massive shock!

The most important thing is that they learn to trust you - which I'm sure she will. Then you can have a real bond and a routine.

Yes they can be extremely intelligent sometimes - they can have you sussed out - they respond to tone of voice and they can cleverly trick you! Other times they can be extremely stupid! Like climbing high and then just dropping because they can't see to get down! The other thing they can be is very contrary! Like do the opposite of whatever you want. But that's often because most hamsters you get are still toddler! At 6 weeks old you have a 5 year old child on your hands lol!

By 6 -9 months is a nice time - they're kind of teen/young adult then. By 1 year they're in the prime and middle aged. They can start showing signs of aging from 18 months on but most don't show much until about age 2. They still stay active but may have stiff legs eg.
 
I've seen people use those type enclosures for guinea pigs as they're large. Just had a thought though. Do you know how tall the sides are? A hamster will always find a way out if there's anything to climb on near the edge. If it's for a cage it would need a lid on but assume it's a playpen :).

I have a playpen that's 30cm tall at the edges and our syrian can't get out. Except - he found a way to climb on top of a toy in the middle of the playpen and hurl himself at the side, hang on to the edge with his paws and climb over LOL. I kept wondering what this thumping noise was - it was him throwing himself at the side and missing. I removed that toy and he gave up doing it. But they do need supervision when in a playpen as if they think you're not looking ..........................He then climbed the back of the wheel and climbed out that way. He only stopped trying to get out when I gave him a 12" flying saucer in the playpen as well as the wheel - he loves that and doesn't try to escape now.

Ours is a particularly active gregarious syrian though, for a male - some are more laid back and just go to sleep. Females are often very active and gregarious!
 
Full disclosure; (given my prior ignorance) my ideal companions would be ferrets. We were signed up to receive kits from a breeder this past summer but they had a false pregnancy so no kits arrived. We've been preparing for them for several years now and have suitable available mesh to make a hamster proof topper for the pen. Thanks to my Dads influence and my lack of physical ability to drive, we also have a good stock of ex-furniture components that were otherwise waiting for a trip to the local tip...universe is weird like that innit?!?!
 
Princess Crazy-Locks said:
Full disclosure; (given my prior ignorance) my ideal companions would be ferrets. We were signed up to receive kits from a breeder this past summer but they had a false pregnancy so no kits arrived. We've been preparing for them for several years now and have suitable available mesh to make a hamster proof topper for the pen. Thanks to my Dads influence and my lack of physical ability to drive, we also have a good stock of ex-furniture components that were otherwise waiting for a trip to the local tip...universe is weird like that innit?!?!
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It was like it was meant to be. I am sorry about the kits though.
 
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