I need advice please

Lucy · 05-07-2011, 06:22 AM

I need some advice please. I'm going to pets @ home tomorrow and as I wrote in a previous thread I'm going to try the hamster nuggets. My hamsters currently have Harry Hamster food but Jaffa Cake my Syrian seems to be getting very bored with this food lately . He was always a bit picky but is eating less and less of it now and just moving it around to different places in his cage. I'm certain it's not a health prob as his teeth are fine and he is still eating his veggies and dog biscuit with no problems. I'm thinking of either trying him with just the nuggets but then if he finds the Harry Hamster boring then I expect the nuggets would bore him even more ? Or trying him with the Pets @ Home muesli and a few nuggets. I know the Pets @ Home muesli isn't as healthy as the Harry Hamster but it's better for him to eat a not so healthy food than not eat at all right ? And maybe something a little less healthy will get his appetite back.*
My Robo eats the Harry Hamster food fine so should I keep him on that or swap him also ? There isn't any worry with diabetes and Robo hamsters is there ?*

KatiePillow · 05-07-2011, 07:36 AM

There isn't any high risk of diabetes with robos, all species CAN get it, but it's very few and far between with robos I think. I would leave him on the HH, personally I found the muesli was left more.
Bear in mind that the Hamster nuggets are fairly low in some things, so Jaffa cake will need more extras, such as of protein.
Which bits of the HH i he leaving? out of curiousity?

And I'd try the nuggets, although I've heart selective science pellet food is a better option, and hamsters actually eat it (mine ate a few pellets of the p@h stuff as a novelty, then stopped)

Lucy · 05-07-2011, 07:52 AM

He has always been a bit picky but he used to only leave the alfala pellets really but gradually he has been leaving more and more and now doesn't really eat much of it at all. I'm getting a bit worried but he does still eat his veggies , dog biscuit and treats so there can't be anything seriously wrong. I have been giving him extra baby food the last couple of days to make sure he is eating something.
I thought maybe he was getting to many extras and so wasn't hungry for the Harry Hamster so I cut back on all the extras but this didn't help. So since Wednesday he has only eaten some baby food , some carrots , some spinach
and some dog biscuit.

racinghamster · 05-07-2011, 09:45 AM

Hi Lucy. I wonder if it`s worth stopping all the treats and extras for a week and only give him a spoonful a day of the Harry Hamster and not adding more until he has eaten this? Sometimes if small animals start getting other things to eat, they dismiss their normal mix and that`s when you notice they are not eating it because they sneakily know that mum will give them something better!

My new syrian Boris is on Harry Hamster and since Tuesday, he`s only been storing what he had in his bedding and most of his food is still in his dish, but I don`t want to start over-feeding him or getting overly fussy about him not eating his mix because I know if I start throwing it out and topping it up, he will just waste it. Sometimes under-feeding is`nt a bad thing because it prevents them from becoming overweight and in the wild, hamsters will forage and store anything they find, so I try to mimic this if I can. Changing his dry mix might work, or using two different mixes (a mix and a pelleted food together) might ignite his interest again, but don`t overfeed him. Just give him what he requires and watch to see if he`s storing anything.

**Hamtastic** · 05-07-2011, 09:50 AM

Yes, my cat is a classic example of someone who would rather eat *anything* other than his prescription diet (which he has to eat mainly). So we mix various things into it regularly to help him eat it. I would continue with a healthy mix for your hamsters and not overfeed, so that they'd have time and desire to finish their food, and limit treats to very occasional status (so he doesn't wait for them and leave his regular food untouched).

Lucy · 05-07-2011, 11:09 AM

Thankyou for all the advice

I will try only 1 spoon of HH and no extras and see how he goes. If his still not interested I will try a mixture of HH , nuggets and muesli to see if that helps. Anymore advice is very welcome. Thanks x

racinghamster · 05-09-2011, 05:49 AM

I always feel guilty too when I see food still in the bowl and you automatically want to top it up, thinking it needs refreshed. I hear Boris crunching away in his nest all the time, so I know the little tinker is eating his `stash`!

I have read that hamsters eat very little compared to other small rodents and maybe this is why we see so much food that we think is `waste`, when in fact it`s perfectly good dry food that is yet to be eaten. I would feed a tablespoonful once a day with some added jumbo oats and puffed rice and a few goodies like sunflower seeds on top and leave it at that. If you still see the food in his dish the next day, don`t feel bad. He will eat it eventually. It` s a matter of keeping an eye on his eating patterns really and judging when he needs a top up.