russian dwarf hamster losing weight

She obviously likes the Bunny mix & I think it would be better for her, personally I don’t rate the Beapher food highly, the question still though is why she is just hoarding it & not eating it.
Have you checked her teeth yet? I guess if she can eat the Beapher then her teeth are probably ok if it’s a hard pellet like the science selective.
If you keep stopping the Bunny she may also hoard it more, grab it before it’s gone!
You could try giving both for a while & see how that goes.
It’s difficult to keep a check on their hoard without being too invasive really but try to keep an eye on it & see how much she’s hoarding.
Did she have a hoard while she was just on the Beapher? If they have to start from scratch with a hoard they will take quite a bit more food than they need to eat, that’s just natural instinct.
 
She does not seem to hoard the Beaphar at all. Last weekend i gave her the Bunny mix (20gr total) and she hoarded all of it, (she did not have a hoard before i started the Bunny mix). after that i gave her only Beaphar.
I think it is natural for them to have a hoard, so maybe feed 10gr Bunny every other day, and provide Beaphar unlimited?
That way she will eat both.
I have tries to check her teeth before, bit as far as i could see, everything looked fine.
 
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It is important that they do have a hoard, if they don’t have one like when they’re new I always give more food, maybe twice as much as normal for a few days or so then once they’ve started a hoard I go back to feeding a normal amount.
This is probably what she’s doing.
So it would probably be best to keep giving her both, a normal amount of the Bunny mix now she’s hoarded some & the pellets as well.
 
She clearly really likes the Bunny mix if she's hoarding it. They do tend to eat from their hoards mainly, so yes it's important they have a hoard, so she can snack whenever she feels like it, in private. But also it makes them feel more secure.
 
I just fed her 15gr Bunny mix, she hoarded it all in 30minutes, she also hoarded the 4gr Beaphar she had left.
The bowl was completely empty. I added a new bowl with 15gr Beaphar.
I think a russian dwarf should eat about 5gr a day ? So from the Bunny mix she has enough now for 3 days, and she can eat from the Beaphar when she needs more.
Now that she has a new hoard, i think i start with feeding a teasppon Bunny mix daily, starting tomorrow evening, and give unlimited Beaphar.
does this sound like a good idea ?

I just don't understand why she feels the need to hoard everything at once. It doesn't look like she is eating (enough) feom it to maintain a good weight.
 
I dont think you need to weigh the food because you cannot be sure how much is eaten and how much is hoarded. I scatter one teaspoon of food a day for my dwarf hamster.
 
Hoarding is such a strong instinct for them & some do hoard a lot more than others, I think if she hadn’t had a hoard for a while then it’s understandable & natural that she will hoard more now.
I wouldn’t worry about being too precise about it, about a teaspoon a day is usually enough but I just tend to top up food, scatter some & put some in a bowl when it’s needed.
 
She already hoarded the 15gr Beaphar i gave her yesterday evening.
She now has a hoard of at least 15gr Bunny and 15gr Beaphar. Maybe even more.
Should i continue feeding a teaspoon Bunny daily?
I cannot see her hoard without destroying her tunnels.
I don't understand why she keeps hoarding and also lost weight while she has plenty of food.
There must be a reason for her too hoard this much, will it stop at a point?

She seems happy and healthy otherwise...

Someone adviced to give her more light, because it might be too dark for her now it is fall and cloudy and rainy days are here, and that could cause her behaviour and weightloss..... will see if it helps.
I now have a light on her tank, on from 7.00 - 22.00.
 

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I would not have a light on the tank. You dont need to worry about light because the room having natural daylight is enough. She may find a light on her tank a bit too bright.

Have you been able to check her teeth at all?

She may be hoarding all her food at first and then eating from the hoard. That is okay and natural behaviour.
 
All I can say is, it is perfectly normal for hamsters to hoard everything and their hoards get bigger and bigger. Some are enormous,. Some cover the whole cage base under the substrate. If left long enough. This was the case with our robo and yet his hoarded food was always clean and dry (as was his cage - he was very neat and only pee'd in one place).

It's their natural instinct and helps them feel secure. She has plenty of food. If she is losing weight then yes it could be a tooth issue and maybe a vet visit is in order for a check up. I'm sorry I can't remember if you've already seen the vet or not.

I agree about not having a light in the tank. Hamsters live in the dark so I can't imagine lack of daylight would affect their eating habits, Aritifical light could be much too harsh also.
 
It is very hard to check her teeth, for what i could see they look fine... any advice on how to check them better?

The room is quite dark, there ia not much natural daylight when it is cloudy outside and her tank stands in a dark corner in this room. Someone told me this can effect her behaviour, because she might think that winter is coming, what coukd cause the extreme hoarding behaviour and loosing weight.
You don't think this is the case here?
 
I see what you mean. Is it dark most of the time at this time of the year where you live? It would be better to have a light on in the room during the day, rather than in the cage though. A vet can check teeth for you. Also, as you're concerned about continuing weight loss, it might be an idea to see a vet anyway.
 
Yes it is cloudy most of the day and a bit dark in her room. I will see if i can place a light next to her tank,instead of on top of the tank.
I will monitor her weight, if needed i will take her to the vet.
i don't have an exotic specialized vet nearby, can any vet check her teeth?
Thank you!
 
I agree about the light, if it’s really dark then you could try to create more ambient light in that part of the room so she gets a little more indirect light but even that isn’t really necessary as long as she gets some sense of night & day her circadian rhythms will be fine.

It might be worth taking her to the vet to get her teeth checked if you can’t do it, it’s not the easiest thing to do I know.

I really wouldn’t worry about the hoarding at all, as long as she’s eating enough then that’s not a problem & I wouldn’t disturb things trying to check on her hoard.
 
Again, I wouldn't put the light next to her cage as it's a bit direct again. Could you just have a lamp on in the room somewhere (ideally not too close to the cage as hamsters eyes don't really like bright light).
 
I will see have that helps. Should it be bright white light, or is warm (yellow) light also a good option?
 
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Have you ever seen her yawn? That is when you can get a look at their teeth sometimes :) If one of the bottom ones is broken, or twisted or overgrown to high, it could stop her eating properly. It's usually one of the first things to check with weight loss. They also have back teeth, which aren't so easy to see except by a vet, and can actually get toothache in them, like humans (although this tends to be in old age).

Do you handle her much at all out of the cage? I don't like the idea of suggesting scruffing a hamster to check their teeth as that needs to be done correctly and even some vets don't like doing it these days. They often give them a whiff of anaesthetic and then have a good check.
 
Veer said:
I will see have that helps. Should it be bright white light, or is warm (yellow) light also a good option?
Click to expand...
Personally I prefer warm yellow :)
 
I have her out off the cage for a few minutes daily. She lets me pet her, sits in my hands, and i already had to cut her nails a couple weeks ago and she allowed me to do that.
 
I dont know if this helps but, it is really dark here now in the mornings. I put a light in the room as I cannot see well otherwise. When it is brighter I turn the light off. So, perhaps you could just put a light on when you need the light.
 
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