Not Eating...

[ChocoMintAnswersSincere]

A little background: I have a Syrian hamster who just turned 1 last Thursday. He's perfectly healthy, nothing wrong with his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, fur, or skin (or so i think, nothing seems wrong but I'm not a vet). He's playful and curious, however he has been running on his wheel a little less than before, but I assume that's just because he's getting older. If I let him run around outside of his cage (in a hamster-proofed room) he runs around and looks at everything and then usually chooses one or two toys to be his favourite for that free-roam session (I usually leave 5 out every time and switch the toys every few days).

The problem: A few days ago I realised he had left some food in his food bowl. He's done this a few times before but he usually just comes back the next day and takes it so I thought nothing of it. However, he doesn't seem as "excited" (for lack of better term) as he usually does when it's time to eat. He kind of ignores the bowl and runs on his wheel or starts digging in a corner and then when he's done he'll go to the food bowl and pick out a few foods. He eats some there and then pouches some more and goes back into his house. Today when I was feeding him I noticed he had left a lot of food and most of them were pellets. I know sometimes when hamsters get older they have a harder time eating hard foods so I was going to try putting the pellets in a tiny bit of cold water and then giving them, but when I was playing with him I decided to give him a pellet from his food bowl to see what would happen, and he ate it like nothing was wrong. So now I'm not sure if he's just choosing to leave all the pellets, or if there's a reason he's not eating the pellets.

The question: What's going on with Sriracha? Does anybody have any recommendations on what I should do? Should I try putting the pellets in a tiny bit of water? Please let me know if your hamster has done something like this or if you can help.

[cypher]

I wouldn't soften pellets or give soft food unless there is a problem with the teeth or with an elderly hamster but at 1 year your ham isn't that old.
Some hams just aren't mad about pellets generally & prefer more natural foods, so it could just be that.
They do change their behaviour at times so it may be nothing to worry about, if he's still active & not losing weight.
Have you changed the food recently? How long have you had it, just a thought but maybe check the best before date.
Not sure where you are but changes in weather or season can cause them to change behaviour too.

[ChocoMintAnswersSincere]

Originally Posted by cypher

I wouldn't soften pellets or give soft food unless there is a problem with the teeth or with an elderly hamster but at 1 year your ham isn't that old.
Some hams just aren't mad about pellets generally & prefer more natural foods, so it could just be that.
They do change their behaviour at times so it may be nothing to worry about, if he's still active & not losing weight.
Have you changed the food recently? How long have you had it, just a thought but maybe check the best before date.
Not sure where you are but changes in weather or season can cause them to change behaviour too.

Okay, thank you! I haven't changed his food recently, however I did buy a new bag about a month ago. Thank you so much for helping me!