russian dwarf hamster losing weight

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Hi everybody,
I have a hamster about 7 months old. she comes from a pet store and is a russian (possibly hybrid) dwarf hamster. she has been with me for about 4 months now. in the past few days she has lost some weight. she used to weigh around 48grams, but just now she weighed 43grams (I weigh her almost daily) she does hoard, likes to gnaw, I don't see any strange behavior (not even on the images from the night camera) and I have known her teeth as far as possible and they look normal.
her stool also looks normal.
she has enough food, has a decent supply. i already fed some extra in the past few days.
could there be a logical explanation for the weight loss?
two weeks ago I switched from only bunny nature dwarf hamster expert food to a mix of 1/3 bunny pre and 2/3 getzoo dwarf hamster light food.
 
Is it possible you previously weighed her when she had food in her cheek pouches?

You do not need to weigh your hamster every day. I think that will only make you feel anxious. It is good she is eating and acting as she usually does.
 
Daily fluctuations in weight are quite normal so don’t worry.
I would switch to weighing her once a week & see how she goes over a few weeks provided everything else is normal.
She may lose a little with the change in diet but that should balance out ok with a little time.
She’s still a healthy weight as she is now so unless you notice other changes like drinking more or changes in behaviour or other physical changes she should be fine.
 
elusive said:
Daily fluctuations in weight are quite normal so don’t worry.
I would switch to weighing her once a week & see how she goes over a few weeks provided everything else is normal.
She may lose a little with the change in diet but that should balance out ok with a little time.
She’s still a healthy weight as she is now so unless you notice other changes like drinking more or changes in behaviour or other physical changes she should be fine.
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ok thank you, will keep an eye on her.
 
RainbowBrite said:
Is it possible you previously weighed her when she had food in her cheek pouches?

You do not need to weigh your hamster every day. I think that will only make you feel anxious. It is good she is eating and acting as she usually does.
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it could be, but the 48gram was her normal weight for a very long time, regardless of when I weighed her.I take her out of her enclosure daily, by getting her into a cup, and when I do, I just as easily put her on the scale so I can keep a close eye on it. now I agree with you that daily weighing is not necessary, but I now see that she has lost 1 gram of weight every day for a few days.
 
She's not very old at 7 months old, but I think all you can do is keep an eye on it. A change of food may have made a difference, and as Elusive says, she is a good weight. I find daily weight can fluctuate for all kinds of reasons, but a week by week weight gives a better indication of how things are going.

It is worrying sometimes if we think they have lost weight, but maybe see what it is in a week's time, and as long as she is healthy and active there isn't much to worry about. My Syrian lost a bit of weight recently because I stopped giving him so many sunflower seeds! (He had got perhaps a little overweight!).
 
The Getzoo food will be very different for her & not all hams take to that kind of mix when they have been used to other foods so it might be an idea to cut back on that or you could just give her some of that as an extra, put it somewhere you can see if she’s eaten it or not.
 
elusive said:
The Getzoo food will be very different for her & not all hams take to that kind of mix when they have been used to other foods so it might be an idea to cut back on that or you could just give her some of that as an extra, put it somewhere you can see if she’s eaten it or not.
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the trouble is I never see her eat. she fills her cheek pouches and everything disappears into the multi-room house, where she has hoards her food and eats from.
 
Yes they do tend to do that :) Maybe just go back to the Bunny one for now (mine likes that). And you could try putting some of the getzoo one out in the playpen eg if she has out of cage time and see if she's interested. Although she may just pouch it again!

It's interesting to read this though as I had sent for some of the getzoo dwarf mix when I ran out of food a while back, but haven't used it yet as the Bunny food arrived quicker. I haven't had a good look at it yet.
 
I meant she might just leave it & not even pouch it & hide it away if she’s really not keen & has enough of her other mix.
The Getzoo mix is fine but the German mixes like that are very different to what most of our hams are used to, some are fine with it especially if started young but others aren’t too keen.
 
Yesterday i fed her the bunny dwarfhamster expert food only, without the getzoo.
she gained 1 gram this morning, will see how she does in a couple days, maybe teh getzoo food wasn't right for her.
 
If she’s happier with the Bunny mix you may as well stick with that.
I’d see how her weight goes over a week before you can really tell for sure if that was the issue.
 
It does seem the dwarf hamster light is intended to help with weight loss

"

A light food​


The Getzoo Dwarf Hamster Light Food has been adapted at the request of many dwarf hamster keepers. This food is especially suitable for dwarf hamsters that tend to be overweight or that should receive a lot of adventure food or treats for the bond between humans and animals in addition to the main food.


With healthy protein content for a balanced diet​


For dwarf hamsters a balanced protein content in the diet is essential to have enough energy. In the Getzoo Dwarf Hamster Food Light we have deliberately avoided protein, which has too high a proportion of carbohydrates. In the food we use the high quality protein supplier Gammarus."



So yes probably better to stick to the Bunny Dream - which still needs the protein supplementing quite a bit - they need a lot of protein in the first year of life. I think the Bunny Dream is about 15%.
 
I fed a mixture of 2/3 getzoo light and 1/3 bunny with added gammarus shrimps. I gave her some mealworms and pumpkinseeds for treats.
Will see how she does on only the Bunny food, and go from there.

Maybe i can add some getzoo mix later to finisch the bag, but then maybe mix 20% Getzoo and rest Bunny.
 
She is still lossing some weight. Today her weight is 42grams. (Before the weightloss a week ago she was 48gram)

I am not sure if she is eating (Enough).
She hoards, but eating....?
Maybe i can take some bedding and the hoard out, so i can check on her food intake better?

I gave her some formula (harrison recovery formula) in the past two days, first it helped and she gained some weight, but then she got soft stools en lost weight again. I think the formula isn't a good idea for her.
Still i think she looks and acts perfectly normal.

Her bedding is 20cm deep and she has a multiple chamber room.

Maybe for now it would be best to take the multiple chamber room out, and only provide a simple lay out with about 10cm bedding and some houses, so i can check on her hoard and feeding behaviour ?

Also, what do you think about this pellets?
In the netherlands it is now made without any colourants.

international.beaphar.com

Care+ Dwarf Hamster - Beaphar

A premium, all-in-one food developed alongside vets and nutritionists. The pellets are extra-small for dwarf hamsters and extruded to prevent selective feeding. With added vitamin E, omega 3 and 6, and prebiotics FOS and MOS to support healthy gut function.
international.beaphar.com international.beaphar.com

I've read that this one is good, so i will give this a try to feed alongside her Bunny seedmix.
It can also be cut in small pieces and soaked in water.
 
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Hi. I wouldn't change anything in her cage as that will just stress her and could end up with more weight loss. I think adding a few pellets of an all in one mix to the food is a good idea but I'd get the Science Selective for hamsters. It's a reliable all in one mix and hamsters usually really like it (it has a kind of gravy smell).

Science Selective Hamster
 
I agree about changing anything in her cage, if there is a health problem of some sort the stress of that could make things worse.

Have you checked her teeth are ok?

The pellets Maz linked to are a better quality than the Beapher ones so if you go for pellets in addition to her mix I would use those.

It’s not long since you changed her back to all the Bunny food without the Getzoo one so it may take a while for her to regain some weight, she’s still a healthy weight so I wouldn’t worry too much at this stage.
 
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